Assess this still-shot

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Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
Hitting experts far and wide, take a look at this still-shot. She ended up with an over-the-fence home-run. I know what I'm intregued by, but am curious it if aligns with what others see.

31434658_1783513355047909_1264840312161828864_n.jpg
 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
Looks like the bat deflected downward after contact. Lots of backspin on the ball? More pop fly than line drive?

Or was she swinging down from the start?

Edited to add: If I had to guess what you were intrigued with, I’d say her back elbow looks like it should be more extended by that point in the swing. (Could also just be the angle - but the shoulders look fairly well rotated already).

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obbay

Banned
Aug 21, 2008
2,199
0
Boston, MA
. I'm especially intrigued by the orientation of her hands.
Me too! None of the following is intended to detract from the player or the hit, just observations.

To me its good to start with hands like that at pre-load/load, but i expect the hands would have rotated slightly so the “knocking knuckles” (pardon the expression) were more in line at contact. Her bottom hand wrist is bent at an awkward angle as a result, maybe indicative of having a death grip on the bat?

The bat barrel is supposed to be lower than the hands at contact, which is the case here, but that alone cannot tell you the direction of the swing.only that the barrel is below the hands. Also from this angle I can’t tell if the lead arm is straight or bent. I think I can read some tilt in her shoulders that make me think she is swinging with a good launch angle. (More of a line drive than a high fly?)

I also thought that it didn’t look like she was swinging hard or really driving into the ball. Legs Look too straight and posture too upright for lower body to be adding much to this swing. Rear foot looks more like “squishing the bug” than driving off of it. Weight distributed evenly front and back rather than driving forward, But this all may be related to pitch location.
 
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