PVC pipe “wall”.

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Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
That kid is wearing an LSU shirt for a reason.

Swing parallel to the wall. Great tool to improve bat path. Swing out from your body, not around it.......

I'm not saying that this kid isn't a stud. That particular swing initially looked like a bug squish to me... as noted in previous posts, However if you hadn't jumped the gun you'd have seen we've already had this conversation with RDBASS
 
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
So, I went to Lowe's yesterday, bought some material, and built a wall...
Now my personal beliefs of the swing do not align with Teachermans camp. However, He does offer many good points. Maybe my wall it too tall, my swing sucks, or whatever... but I can't hit anything but crap grounders when the wall was up. I took the wall away, and my power and launch angles increased dramatically.
I've always taught negative bat angles, and I believe this wall is a tool to reinforce that... what else is it useful for?
 
Dec 4, 2013
865
18
So, I went to Lowe's yesterday, bought some material, and built a wall...
Now my personal beliefs of the swing do not align with Teachermans camp. However, He does offer many good points. Maybe my wall it too tall, my swing sucks, or whatever... but I can't hit anything but crap grounders when the wall was up. I took the wall away, and my power and launch angles increased dramatically.
I've always taught negative bat angles, and I believe this wall is a tool to reinforce that... what else is it useful for?

Coach J,

The big thing for me with the wall is it helps kids see/feel swinging around the body vs out from it. I usually demo both swings and then ask kids to not let their bat cross the wall (Eventually it will but hopefully very late in the swing).

The wall does make some kids very uncomfortable. Swings and misses, hitting the wall, not squaring the ball up.

When first starting with the wall with a kid we usually take some swings without striding, at less than 100% effort. I have them get into an athletic position, rest the bat on their trap/shoulder, point the knob in line with the ball. Now I ask them to "turn the knob upwards" or "slice the ball in half with the knob". I feel like if the knob initially goes towards the ball or downwards, you are going to have problems with the wall later in the swing. Biggest thing for me with this drill is focusing on what the knob does. If the knob initially begins turning, so will the barrel, and the wall shouldn't have an effect on the swing.

I've also learned that set up is huge. Especially when a kid is first learning. I make sure all kids have the bat resting in the neck slot and the knob in line with the ball. It makes turning the barrel so much easier. So many times when kids "don't get it", their handset isn't in a position to turn the barrel from. Once kids are comfortable with this we incorporate their personal style back into the picture.

Hope that all makes sense.
 
Nov 4, 2015
320
43
Coach J,

The big thing for me with the wall is it helps kids see/feel swinging around the body vs out from it. I usually demo both swings and then ask kids to not let their bat cross the wall (Eventually it will but hopefully very late in the swing).

The wall does make some kids very uncomfortable. Swings and misses, hitting the wall, not squaring the ball up.

When first starting with the wall with a kid we usually take some swings without striding, at less than 100% effort. I have them get into an athletic position, rest the bat on their trap/shoulder, point the knob in line with the ball. [/COLOR]Now I ask them to "turn the knob upwards" or "slice the ball in half with the knob". I feel like if the knob initially goes towards the ball or downwards, you are going to have problems with the wall later in the swing. Biggest thing for me with this drill is focusing on what the knob does. If the knob initially begins turning, so will the barrel, and the wall shouldn't have an effect on the swing.

I've also learned that set up is huge. Especially when a kid is first learning. I make sure all kids have the bat resting in the neck slot and the knob in line with the ball. It makes turning the barrel so much easier. So many times when kids "don't get it", their handset isn't in a position to turn the barrel from. Once kids are comfortable with this we incorporate their personal style back into the picture.

Hope that all makes sense.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm having trouble visualizing the "point the knob in line with the ball" portion of this. Are you saying point the knob "at" the ball to start and swing from there with no load? Then as they get the concept, to incorporate the load? Thanks for any help.
 
Dec 4, 2013
865
18
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm having trouble visualizing the "point the knob in line with the ball" portion of this. Are you saying point the knob "at" the ball to start and swing from there with no load? Then as they get the concept, to incorporate the load? Thanks for any help.

tumblr_pfqjqaEgFC1usf292o1_250.gif


Above is a good example of what I am referring to about the direction of the knob. Watch her align her knob before she swings. If the tee was at shoulder height the knob would be pointing straight across (parallel to the ground).

I think the question about the load is a tricky one.

Is the girl shown above loaded? I'd say absolutely. She doesn't have any momentum, but she is definitely loaded.

As previously discussed, if you see the action of her rear leg it lets you know that she was loaded. I think the load can be as simple as getting your hands near your arm pit area, and creating a little resistance against your rear leg. When you turn the barrel rearward, the rear leg begins to turn and the stretch/loading intensifies (Missing frames/gears). It's the good stretch that most kids never achieve. Loading doesn't have to look like the traditional "rock the u" that Miggy does.

I'm a huge fan of getting rid of momentum when learning to swing. Almost all kids have a momentum based swing and never learn how to load efficiently. Because of this we initially focus solely on correcting the barrel path w/o momentum. When you get the barrel path right a lot of the other things fall into place. Turning the barrel correctly is priority #1. When you have mastered this, we can add momentum back into the swing

I got a little bit off track there......So to answer your question, yes we don't really talk about loading initially. Put the bat in your neckslot and keep your hands near your arm pit area. From here, turn the barrel perpendicular to your rear forearm. Nothing else allowed. Just turn it. Knob up. Torque the handle. Work the barrel under your hands.....
 
Last edited:
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
. "Put the bat in your neckslot and keep your hands near your arm pit area. From here, turn the barrel perpendicular to your rear forearm. Nothing else allowed. Just turn it. Knob up. Torque the handle. Work the barrel under your hands."

I have asked in another thread how to teach, where to start, a brand new beginner how to hit.( or maybe a girl that has had no formal instruction) This ^^^^^^ which may sound like advanced hitting advice may actually be where to begin. You would get a lot of raised eyebrows from parents and other coaches for sure.
 

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