Undoing what DD learned

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Oct 2, 2017
2,283
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Guys, I'm curious of your opinions. I'm not able to make my daughters practices and since Tuesday they were doing batting practice, I had my wife take video of our DD performing the different Drill stations they had players doing. After watching the videos of DD practice sessions, I was upset because I hope they don't undo what she has been working really hard on. Here are the problems that I saw: 1 - They did side toss (No issues there) but the problem was that they fed the ball so fast, it didn't give the players including my DD enough time to get into a proper position which means that DD had to just react in way that made her do all sorts of bad mechanics. Especially DBSF and bat drag. I don't believe that they gave instructions (According to DD) about what was expected or purpose of the Drill. 2 - She hit off this pitching machine that shoots foam ball (No issue there) but the problem to me is that (Even as DD told me) there was nothing to time the ball. Therefore everything was thrown off mechanically. Again in the video DBSF, Bat Drag, No Sequence etc. She was also not given any instructions on expectations or anything in this drill as well. Now I don't believe the coaches even realize any of this and its not just my DD but many of the players. My question is should I bring this up to the coaches? or work with what they are doing and use them to teach certain things. For example the side toss: I could tell my DD to get in a full stride position with the lower half turned in which she would then coil and explode. Like a Stretch fire drill? I just don't want what she has worked hard on to be undone!
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Guys, I'm curious of your opinions. I'm not able to make my daughters practices and since Tuesday they were doing batting practice, I had my wife take video of our DD performing the different Drill stations they had players doing. After watching the videos of DD practice sessions, I was upset because I hope they don't undo what she has been working really hard on. Here are the problems that I saw: 1 - They did side toss (No issues there) but the problem was that they fed the ball so fast, it didn't give the players including my DD enough time to get into a proper position which means that DD had to just react in way that made her do all sorts of bad mechanics. Especially DBSF and bat drag. I don't believe that they gave instructions (According to DD) about what was expected or purpose of the Drill. 2 - She hit off this pitching machine that shoots foam ball (No issue there) but the problem to me is that (Even as DD told me) there was nothing to time the ball. Therefore everything was thrown off mechanically. Again in the video DBSF, Bat Drag, No Sequence etc. She was also not given any instructions on expectations or anything in this drill as well. Now I don't believe the coaches even realize any of this and its not just my DD but many of the players. My question is should I bring this up to the coaches? or work with what they are doing and use them to teach certain things. For example the side toss: I could tell my DD to get in a full stride position with the lower half turned in which she would then coil and explode. Like a Stretch fire drill? I just don't want what she has worked hard on to be undone!

Depends on your relationship with the coaches, personally I wouldn't say anything. With regards to rushing through the side toss, just have her step out of the "box" after every swing and then get reset. If they ask her to stay in the box she can tell them that she needs to be comfortable in her stance before they throw. They will probably then let her get set in the box before tossing to her. With regards to the machine, that is surprising unless the coaches didn't coach 8U MP before 10U (was 8U coach pitch?) Most MP coaches will have some sort of arm action to try and simulate an actual throw.
 
Last edited:
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
What age?

Rec league?

I agree that a message coming from you daughter will do better than coming from you. If she simply pauses long enough to get set, and says "I need time to get set between pitches" I would bet that by the end of practice coaches are saying "Take your time to get set" to the girls who do the drill after your daughter.

On the machine, you or your wife could probably say "I see some coaches do an arm circle before loading the machine to help the girls with timing". That seems gentle enough that most coaches would say "good idea" and start doing it. They want what's best for the girls, they usually just don't want to be shown up and told how to do their job.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
Oh, and I wouldn't worry about it much, especially if she works with a hitting coach and practices with you at home.
 
Oct 2, 2017
2,283
113
Depends on your relationship with the coaches, personally I wouldn't say anything. With regards to rushing through the side toss, just have her step out of the "box" after every swing and then get reset. If they ask her to stay in the box she can tell them that she needs to be comfortable in her stance before they throw. They will probably then let her get set in the box before tossing to her. With regards to the machine, that is surprising unless the coaches didn't coach 8U MP before 10U (was 8U coach pitch?) Most MP coaches will have some sort of arm action to try and simulate an actual throw.

The machine had a ball shoot that all the balls are in. Which are fed automatically, so there is no timing. Yes 8u here is Coach pitch not MP. I will talk to her about stepping out the box after each swing or letting her know that she has to get set before being fed the ball.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
The machine had a ball shoot that all the balls are in. Which are fed automatically, so there is no timing. Yes 8u here is Coach pitch not MP. I will talk to her about stepping out the box after each swing or letting her know that she has to get set before being fed the ball.
Hmm..there was no way to track the ball rolling down a chute or anything? Or a light that went on? If not that is a lousy pitching machine...
If there truly is no way of timing the ball then you may want to have her approach hitting off that machine using a command drill
setup.
 
Last edited:
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
Deal with kids everyday that are on different ASA and HS teams. Not a big deal. They tell me what their coaches have them doing ... sometimes I agree and I reemphasize what I want extracted from the drill ... sometimes I have a slight modification ... sometimes I disagree with the instruction given with a drill, but find a way to make the drill work for the hitter ... sometimes I tell the kid that the particular instruction is destructive and that we want to get through a particular drill without actively learning anything from it.

Remind the kid ... they are responsible for their swing. They will receive swing advice from many well meaning people throughout their playing time. At all times, they are the one's that are responsible for their swing. Filter out the bad, and filter in the good ... keep swinging and keep learning.
 
Oct 16, 2008
164
18
SE Michigan
For side toss, it's very helpful for hitter to look at imaginary P and for tosser to use a verbal cue to help hitter start her sequence and visualize timing a real pitch. For example, we often use COIL-PULL-FIRE where hitter starts COIL looking out at P and tosser tosses after PULL and hitter tracks eyes back to pick up ball after hearing PULL. Use different variations of cues depending what the hitter is focusing on.
 
Oct 2, 2017
2,283
113
Hmm..there was no way to track the ball rolling down a chute or anything? Or a light that went on? If not that is a lousy pitching machine...
If there truly is no way of timing the ball then you may want to have her approach hitting off that machine using a command drill
setup.

That's what I'm thinking
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
What age?

Rec league?

I agree that a message coming from you daughter will do better than coming from you. If she simply pauses long enough to get set, and says "I need time to get set between pitches" I would bet that by the end of practice coaches are saying "Take your time to get set" to the girls who do the drill after your daughter.

On the machine, you or your wife could probably say "I see some coaches do an arm circle before loading the machine to help the girls with timing". That seems gentle enough that most coaches would say "good idea" and start doing it. They want what's best for the girls, they usually just don't want to be shown up and told how to do their job.

THis is good advice ^^^^^^
 

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