Forget the technical aspects....

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Sep 17, 2009
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If you don't/can't/prefer not at this time focus in on technical aspects, then focus in on drills that have results. Can your DD hit line drives to the right "fields" 10 out of 10 times on balls in-middle-out-up-down off a tee (make sure to move the tee to the right contact position). While you don't need to do a technical diagnosis at this point, it will probably help to give her a little guidance on how to accomplish those tasks. And then she'll learn by try/fail.

Next, can you stand behind a screen and soft-toss to those same approximate tee positions and can she hit the ball squarely and to the right "fields"? Again, try fail...to perfection.

You can work a long time with your DD -- probably multiple seasons depending on her age -- until she can really excel at those two drills and along the way she'll figure out a lot about her swing just by achieving these "results"...and by that I mean anything but a perfect result is *not-good-enough* and must be fixed the next swing.
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Good question .... what drills can you perform while remaining ignorant of technical aspects?

Honestly, most drills do not 100% duplicate the swing. Often only a segment of a drill applies wrt the final swing you may be after ..... meaning that there will be segments of the drill that do not apply to what you may be after. It is why doing drills blindly (lacking an understanding of technical aspects) can result in making hitters worse.

Some folks ask for drills as if they had a patient that was sick and they wish to give them a pill. Not an approach I personally advocate.

All that said ... here are some words from Ted William's on a drill he liked.



Ignorant? Not really.. just I know my DD and she overthinks things. She is very methodical in her approach and it's sucking the fun out the game for her. I don't want all that technical jargon in her head when hitting, and some say she shouldn't be thinking about this while hitting in a game. But everybody is different, and people like my DD can't turn it off. Need to get to basics, see ball, hit ball and let her athleticism take control again. She's always had tons of power, but she needs to be more consistent squaring the ball up and learn that you can't pull everything. Eric suggested lots of front toss and I agree. But maybe if there were variations of it so we could keep things interesting.

I can understand your "Pill" analogy.. but that's not what I'm after. We want to keep things more practical and leave the theory behind for a while.. less words and more action
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
I used to yell at DD alot during any drills to make her mad. Then she hits the snot out of the ball. Now she laughs at me, and still hits the snot out of the ball.

Funny thing, when she gets pissed with me, she hits the ball really hard and consistent. I think it's because she forgets about hitting when she's mad at me... instincts take over which has always been good from day 1. I convinced her we needed to change something in her swing.. it's hurt her performance. Now we need back to basics :)
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Funny thing, when she gets pissed with me, she hits the ball really hard and consistent. I think it's because she forgets about hitting when she's mad at me... instincts take over which has always been good from day 1. I convinced her we needed to change something in her swing.. it's hurt her performance. Now we need back to basics :)

The "basics" of the swing is sequence. If the sequence is not correct, the results will be limited.
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
The "basics" of the swing is sequence. If the sequence is not correct, the results will be limited.

I hear ya mate, she use to all back, and all forward.. and she still killed the ball. One of the hardest hitters in the province for her age. Now I understand there is always room for improvement, but I think I fed her too much at once.. sucked the natural ability and instinct out of her game. I like your advice of front toss and hit it as hard as you can.. I think she will figure it out with that kind of practical approach
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
Ignorant? Not really.. just I know my DD and she overthinks things. She is very methodical in her approach and it's sucking the fun out the game for her. I don't want all that technical jargon in her head when hitting, and some say she shouldn't be thinking about this while hitting in a game. But everybody is different, and people like my DD can't turn it off. Need to get to basics, see ball, hit ball and let her athleticism take control again. She's always had tons of power, but she needs to be more consistent squaring the ball up and learn that you can't pull everything. Eric suggested lots of front toss and I agree. But maybe if there were variations of it so we could keep things interesting.

I can understand your "Pill" analogy.. but that's not what I'm after. We want to keep things more practical and leave the theory behind for a while.. less words and more action

If you don’t actively work on making changes, then don’t expect to see any changes.

Over the years I’ve seen hitters with somewhat odd/interesting/non-optimal movement patterns, that years later had virtually the identical movement pattern. I can see a hitter three fields away, where I can’t recognize their face, but see them perform a swing and immediately know who they are … … … that’s just how much a swing remains the same without actively attempting to make progress towards improving it.

During live at-bats it really can be as simple as “see ball, hit ball” … or something a bit more predator like. You shouldn’t be thinking of your mechanics during a live at-bat. If your daughter is receiving good instruction then she will ‘feel’ her game swings and know what is deficient … she can use the time between pitches to perform dry-swing mechanics and build short-term muscle memory for the next “see ball, hit ball” swing.

Again, if you don’t actively work on making a change, then don’t expect to see a change. I’ve seen hitters that basically looked the same for several years … they may have performed thousands and thousands of swings during that time, but that didn’t change their underlying flaws.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
I hear ya mate, she use to all back, and all forward.. and she still killed the ball. One of the hardest hitters in the province for her age. Now I understand there is always room for improvement, but I think I fed her too much at once.. sucked the natural ability and instinct out of her game. I like your advice of front toss and hit it as hard as you can.. I think she will figure it out with that kind of practical approach

You asked for simple.

Here's the thing...I don't subscribe to the "she will figure it out" approach until they already have a good foundation in place, and a decent understanding of the swing. Even then, I see young players drift into bad habits that can be easily avoided if someone is there to give guidance.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
If you don’t actively work on making changes, then don’t expect to see any changes.

Over the years I’ve seen hitters with somewhat odd/interesting/non-optimal movement patterns, that years later had virtually the identical movement pattern. I can see a hitter three fields away, where I can’t recognize their face, but see them perform a swing and immediately know who they are … … … that’s just how much a swing remains the same without actively attempting to make progress towards improving it.

During live at-bats it really can be as simple as “see ball, hit ball” … or something a bit more predator like. You shouldn’t be thinking of your mechanics during a live at-bat. If your daughter is receiving good instruction then she will ‘feel’ her game swings and know what is deficient … she can use the time between pitches to perform dry-swing mechanics and build short-term muscle memory for the next “see ball, hit ball” swing.

Again, if you don’t actively work on making a change, then don’t expect to see a change. I’ve seen hitters that basically looked the same for several years … they may have performed thousands and thousands of swings during that time, but that didn’t change their underlying flaws.

100%!!!

One of the things I often talk about with hitters is feel. I ask them to pay attention to what their best swings feel like in their own body, and to try to duplicate that feeling. As they improve their self-awareness, they start to recognize when things aren't correct, and learn how to make their own adjustments.

In the box, take swings that feel good...and be a predator (I love that description so much!).
 

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