New Development - Everything off the hands

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May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Hi,

My DD has always been a head of everything, so much that she was ripping our hardest pitchers into the third base dugout. Lately we have been working on her swing and now she's hitting everything off the hands... even off the tee! This to me does not indicate a timing issue, but more of a mechanical issue. Currently at a tournament and she only truly squared up one hit this weekend and it was an outside pitch to opposite field... which is a positive thing because she's always been a pull hitter. However we have a problem, anything down the middle or inside part of the plate is off the hands.

Latest swing, notice how she hits the ball off her hands.

https://youtu.be/WSBGmmAPG-A
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
Had this with a hitter yesterday.

First went over the normal walking-away-from-the-hands sequence and taking out the slack out of the system. However this young lady wasn't working the barrel exceedingly well.

We reviewed the core action during the lateral tilting action. That helped, but she wasn't fully working the barrel.

Gave her a goal-based cue.

Told her ahead of time that the instruction I was about to give her was not fully correct, but that I wanted her to follow it and that I would follow up with clearer instruction shortly. The young lady agreed.

I asked her to "turn the barrel" from launch to the ball. She did ... and she had the same release issue your daughter exhibits above.

I told her she did exactly what I expected and that she did a great job. Then I told her that here comes the follow up instruction.

Instead of turning the barrel to the ball, only "turn it" through the point in the swing that I refer to as an "upright vee" (... think of a slotted rear arm). Let's work the barrel and then let the barrel do the work.

The lady did well ... hitting shots to the outfield.

Nice improvements ... just a bit overcooked IMO.
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
Not seeing 'off her hands'. I'm seeing swinging around your DD's body & not finishing her swing.
tumblr_ot7798WRx51usf292o1_250.gif

Set tee up for outside pitches. practice hitting Opposite field. Get the feeling of hitting 'out from' her body and not 'around' her body. If my DD I would be doing this drill until DD understands what 'finish your swing means'.
tumblr_ot77x9MPAS1usf292o1_400.gif
 
Last edited:
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Not seeing 'off her hands'. I'm seeing swinging around your DD's body & not finishing her swing.
tumblr_ot7798WRx51usf292o1_250.gif

Set tee up for outside pitches. practice hitting Opposite field. Get the feeling of hitting 'out from' her body and not 'around' her body. If my DD I would be doing this drill until DD understands what 'finish your swing means'.
tumblr_ot77x9MPAS1usf292o1_400.gif

It's not off the handle, about a inch or two where the barrel begins. This is where she is hitting everything of late. Yes I Know her extension needs a lot of work. But right now, more importantly I need to find out why she is hitting everything off the hands...or not the good part of the bat anyway. It's not a timing issue because she does it off the tee as well
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Had this with a hitter yesterday.

First went over the normal walking-away-from-the-hands sequence and taking out the slack out of the system. However this young lady wasn't working the barrel exceedingly well.

We reviewed the core action during the lateral tilting action. That helped, but she wasn't fully working the barrel.

Gave her a goal-based cue.

Told her ahead of time that the instruction I was about to give her was not fully correct, but that I wanted her to follow it and that I would follow up with clearer instruction shortly. The young lady agreed.

I asked her to "turn the barrel" from launch to the ball. She did ... and she had the same release issue your daughter exhibits above.

I think I need to understand this a little better.. why isn't this truly correct? I thought this is exactly what my DD's goal was here. Turn the barrel to the ball, if not, then we know what the problem is, :)

I told her she did exactly what I expected and that she did a great job. Then I told her that here comes the follow up instruction.

Instead of turning the barrel to the ball, only "turn it" through the point in the swing that I refer to as an "upright vee" (... think of a slotted rear arm). Let's work the barrel and then let the barrel do the work.

Does this mean, turn the barrel to the elbow slot and then just guide the bat, let momentum take over?

The lady did well ... hitting shots to the outfield.

Nice improvements ... just a bit overcooked IMO.

Thank you very much she has been working hard. I know her follow through/extension/"long through the ball" needs work. However my big concern here is at contact she seems to be hitting the ball more towards the handle, live pitching and tee. From what I've seen, extension and being short to the ball results in the ball being hit of the end of the bat, kind of like "cuing it". I'm not seeing that with my DD :(, I can't figure out why. It seems her bat is arriving at the right time, maybe she's leaning over the plate too much. She seems to have better plate coverage, just getting tied up inside and down the middle. Should I ask her to move off the plate a little

2017-07-17 10-18-19 AM.jpg
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
I think I need to understand this a little better.. why isn't this truly correct? I thought this is exactly what my DD's goal was here. Turn the barrel to the ball, if not, then we know what the problem is, :)

Many that over cook "turning the barrel" end up doing what your daughter is doing here. Can lead to a stuck rear elbow, lack of extension, and/or poor release.

The very first thing I thought of when I saw this swing was that she was following some advice to "turn the barrel".
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
Many that over cook "turning the barrel" end up doing what your daughter is doing here. Can lead to a stuck rear elbow, lack of extension, and/or poor release.

The very first thing I thought of when I saw this swing was that she was following some advice to "turn the barrel".

tumblr_ot7798WRx51usf292o1_250.gif

JMHO. I don't see this hitter turning the barrel with her hands but, with her rear elbow. Because of the that, the swing ends with a push into the ball. Rear elbow needs to 'get through' which it's not and is glued to the rotation of the body around.
 
Aug 24, 2011
161
0
Had this with a hitter yesterday.

First went over the normal walking-away-from-the-hands sequence and taking out the slack out of the system. However this young lady wasn't working the barrel exceedingly well.

We reviewed the core action during the lateral tilting action. That helped, but she wasn't fully working the barrel.

Gave her a goal-based cue.

Told her ahead of time that the instruction I was about to give her was not fully correct, but that I wanted her to follow it and that I would follow up with clearer instruction shortly. The young lady agreed.

I asked her to "turn the barrel" from launch to the ball. She did ... and she had the same release issue your daughter exhibits above.

I told her she did exactly what I expected and that she did a great job. Then I told her that here comes the follow up instruction.

Instead of turning the barrel to the ball, only "turn it" through the point in the swing that I refer to as an "upright vee" (... think of a slotted rear arm). Let's work the barrel and then let the barrel do the work.

The lady did well ... hitting shots to the outfield.

Nice improvements ... just a bit overcooked IMO.

Do you have a drill/cue to work on lateral tilt?
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
i would like to see a live swing looked through some of the other swings via youtube its all off a tee.

There are some obvious things but her alignment and contact point would be interesting to see live, maybe its the angle or lighting but she does not look square.

If the pitch is middle out she cant hit the ball near her hands unless she is casting out and stepping into the pitch.

The follow through also looks almost forced given the tilt and direction she should be following through up but almost looks like she is forcing it down and around.

Here is a quick snap shot at heel plant to illustrated that her position as not quite right (look at hand position and back elbow seems like she is too tight to her body not enough separation although not as bad as I first thought) and IMO this is the key position because correcting after this is almost impossible.

heel down.jpgjosh foot plant.jpglauren foot plant.jpghitter foot plant.JPG
 
Last edited:
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
i would like to see a live swing looked through some of the other swings via youtube its all off a tee.

There are some obvious things but her alignment and contact point would be interesting to see live, maybe its the angle or lighting but she does not look square.

If the pitch is middle out she cant hit the ball near her hands unless she is casting out and stepping into the pitch.

The follow through also looks almost forced given the tilt and direction she should be following through up but almost looks like she is forcing it down and around.

Here is a quick snap shot at heel plant to illustrated that her position as not quite right (look at hand position and back elbow seems like she is too tight to her body not enough separation although not as bad as I first thought) and IMO this is the key position because correcting after this is almost impossible.

View attachment 12050View attachment 12051View attachment 12052View attachment 12053

Hi DJ, I hear ya, I can post a live swing no prob at all. But first I think we need to solve this problem off the tee. If she's getting jammed on the tee (yeah I know, how does that happen, :)), then I need to figure out why, correct it and then go from there.
 

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