need help/advice on DDs hitting, 2nd year 10u

joined new TB team last fall, with paid coach, who also does individual instruction and clinics. we have sent DD2 to several of her clinics, and done some ad hoc private lessons (ie nothing regularly scheduled). one of the things working towards is more power in her hitting. Was making a lot of contact, but not much power overall, although it improved somewhat last couple of tournaments. leading up to those tournaments, I was working with her, trying to instill in her that she needs to swing all out, swing through the ball, etc. Basically, she was concentrating so much on contact, that she was slowing her swing down. Was telling her to focus on smashing the ball as hard as she could, not just contact. and she had some good results for a couple of tournaments, but still would like a little more power. got as few very high popups, some sharp ground ball singles, etc.

Set up a couple of lessons with coach, and she has her keep bat on her shoulder, trying to get force her to load up more for more power, but seems to me swing is slower, and less contact overall now, and confidence at plate is dropping (leading to a couple of Ks looking this past weekend, coach hates this).

what to do?> talk to coach and see if she can go back to not having bat on shoulder, but elevated and more upright (not completely upright, hands at cheek level), at least through season, then make changes in offseason? or go to another instructor completely (and how do we tell HC this).

Other things we are going to do are when we are not going to be able to work, or no practice, have her hit 50 or 75 tee shots, just to get reps in, build muscle, etc.

when I can work with her (~2 times a week), I generally do couple buckets of soft toss and couple of buckets of live pitch from about 25 feet (trying to simulate speed for reaction time, I cannot pitch as fast as what she faces), go to cage every now and then. these sessions also include defense work, we generally alternate (ie bucket of soft toss, some fielding, bucket of live pitch, more fielding, bucket of soft toss, fielding, etc.) to keep it interesting and not overstress joints/muscles.

I have mix feelings about this.

In general I do not like changing batting or pitching to much during the season but she is at an interesting age. If she lacks power with the 11" ball wait until next year with 12" ball, might be better to start addressing it now.

If you want to try a new coach just tell them, no reason to make it a big story. If they are that thin skinned you probably should not be playing with them to begin with.

Bat on shoulder - Does your DD DBSF?

If your daughter (or you) doesn't understand what the instructor is trying to accomplish, then tell the instructor you don't understand. A good instructor will have different ways of teaching the same thing. What works for one person will not necessarily work for the next one.

The bat on the shoulder is one way to learn how to use the hands during the swing - it encourages the hands to turn the barrel rather than having the barrel affected by what the arms are doing.

It can also help her feel how her shoulders should be used - if she’s rotating out of sequence, the bat likely won’t come off her shoulder as cleanly. This may be what the coach is aiming for regarding her load.


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I think you answered your own question, by working on swinging harder. It's not just swinging harder when someone slows the swing to make contact, it's also swinging quicker. So you want better bat speed and quickness.

bmakj said:

couple of buckets of live pitch from about 25 feet (trying to simulate speed for reaction time, I cannot pitch as fast as what she faces), go to cage every now and then. these sessions also include defense work, we generally alternate (ie bucket of soft toss, some fielding, bucket of live pitch, more fielding, bucket of soft toss, fielding, etc.) to keep it interesting and not overstress joints/muscles.

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With regards to bolded, try throwing from closer (15 feet or so)

With regards to your connundrum, if she is just launching from her shoulder without any other modifications I doubt she is going to get more power. Bat path may be improved, but if she isn't creating additional stretch/separation from that position power won't be increased much at all. As a matter of fact, I can envision it being rather easy to lose power from that position if one just launches it from there. Take a look at George Brett's swing. Is she "pulling back" like he is from a similar position?



All that said, how big is she? You can have the best mechanics in the world but if you are a 4'7 70 lb child you aren't going to be Barry Bonds no matter how mechanically sound your swing is..the smaller guys who hit for power
in MLB are grown men..

pattar said:

With regards to bolded, try throwing from closer (15 feet or so)

With regards to your connundrum, if she is just launching from her shoulder without any other modifications I doubt she is going to get more power. Bat path may be improved, but if she isn't creating additional stretch/separation from that position power won't be increased much at all. As a matter of fact, I can envision it being rather easy to lose power from that position if one just launches it from there. Take a look at George Brett's swing. Is she "pulling back" like he is from a similar position?



All that said, how big is she? You can have the best mechanics in the world but if you are a 4'7 70 lb child you aren't going to be Barry Bonds no matter how mechanically sound your swing is..the smaller guys who hit for power
in MLB are grown men..

Click to expand...

Great clip of the lowerbody/hips starting stretching up into the upperbody.

"With regards to bolded, try throwing from closer (15 feet or so)" little scared to do this she can rip it, and sometimes from 20-25 I barely have time to defend myself. might need to use net.

will maybe try to post video, going to work on it tonight, might have her swing both ways to see difference and exactly what is going on.

bmakj said:

"With regards to bolded, try throwing from closer (15 feet or so)" little scared to do this she can rip it, and sometimes from 20-25 I barely have time to defend myself. might need to use net.

will maybe try to post video, going to work on it tonight, might have her swing both ways to see difference and exactly what is going on.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was assuming you had an L-screen..don't pitch from 15 feet without one

Got any video you can share? It's much easier to offer advice when we can see what the issues are.

Front toss from 15-ish feet is good stuff. A net is a must!

You commented that she slows her swing down to make contact. I have seen this frequently. She's likely afraid of striking out, and has probably found success earlier by just putting the ball in play and letting the defense screw it up. Learning how to generate power, while still being in control takes practice. Get out on a field, and ask her to try to hit the ball as far as she can. Then try to break that mark. Repeat....