MS made TB swing worse

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May 15, 2016
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DD had heard playing MS ball will weaken a TB player's swing because a girl who is used to hitting off of talented TB pitching will alter her swing to deal with slow, arcing pitches of most MS pitchers. That was what she heard last winter. Her swing did get a little worse during her MS season last spring. Now she is thinking she should not play MS ball in this coming school year, so her swing won't get worse.

Any suggestion for a TB girl to not let lousy MS pitching create bad habits for her?
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
That's a cop out IMO. A fundamentally sound swing can hit fast, slow, good, bad or any type of pitching. The swing shouldn't change, it's just a matter of timing.
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
What next......just saying.
'Now DD is thinking she should not play High school ball in this coming school year, so her swing won't get worse'.
Agree with the Greenmonster, who knows things.....:p
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
That's a cop out IMO. A fundamentally sound swing can hit fast, slow, good, bad or any type of pitching. The swing shouldn't change, it's just a matter of timing.

I know squat about the finer points of batting. I heard many times this past spring how TB players will tend to drop their back shoulder when they see pitches that are consistently arcing, whether in school ball or Little League.

If I could find a way to make sure my DDs don't drop their back shoulders, that would be great.
 
Feb 12, 2014
648
43
Just an observation from my DD's MS experience - the pitching was actually pretty good. You're going to see girls who may be older (as was always the case for my DD since she skipped a grade) and who pitch for their travel teams in the summer. Are you going to run into a bad pitcher from time to time? Sure, but we see that in pool play in the summer, too. I'd venture to say that 90+% of the pitchers we saw pitched for a travel team in the summer.

The difference that I saw was outside of the pitching. You have many girls with no travel experience batting and playing the field. Lots of mistakes that you would rarely see in the summer.
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
'Now DD is thinking she should not play High school ball in this coming school year, so her swing won't get worse'.

That is what DD1 was thinking last night. I am under the impression the head of her TB organization would like them not to play MS ball. Then there is the flip side of the issue. At a mini-camp with college recruiters last December I asked them directly whether colleges want girls play school ball, or should they skip school ball. The recruiters said they wanted girls to play school ball.

This morning I reminded DD1 of what the recruiter said. That was the decision right there because she will follow the advice of a recruiter.
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
I know squat about the finer points of batting. I heard many times this past spring how TB players will tend to drop their back shoulder when they see pitches that are consistently arcing, whether in school ball or Little League.

If I could find a way to make sure my DDs don't drop their back shoulders, that would be great.

You do know that your DD may see some good pitching/pitchers in MS and HS. TB players/pitchers play MS & HS ball also. The only differences, that not all MS & HS players on a MS & HS team play TB.
will tend to drop their back shoulder when they see pitches that are consistently arcing
Tell your DD to not, not change her swing for 'bad' pitching. Also the swing drops the rear shoulder dependent on the pitched ball. It's not drop the rear shoulder then swing.
 
Mar 20, 2014
918
28
Northwest
DD always had an adjustment period when going from HS pitching to TB pitching and back while she figured out the timing. She is a power hitter so she also had to adjust bat angle a bit. BA would suffer for a little while and then she would get back in the groove.
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
You do know that your DD may see some good pitching/pitchers in MS and HS. TB players/pitchers play MS & HS ball also. The only differences, that not all MS & HS players on a MS & HS team play TB.

She did see MS pitching this past spring, and most of it was Little League level pitching. We saw one pitcher who I thought looked like a reasonable 12u pitcher. Even on her MS team, the star pitcher played second in TB. This girl was the star pitcher on their LL team, but couldn't even make 4th or 5th string pitcher on her TB team.
 
Last edited:
May 15, 2016
926
18
Tell your DD to not, not change her swing for 'bad' pitching. Also the swing drops the rear shoulder dependent on the pitched ball. It's not drop the rear shoulder then swing.

Thanks, but I told my DD to talk to her batting coach for suggestions on how not to drop her back shoulder. I don't know enough to give any advice.
 

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