Too much elevation on hitts to outfield - "getting under it?"

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May 7, 2008
174
18
working with a player that tends to hit the ball with too much lift, ie easy fly out. basic swing mechanics look pretty good.

What are the most common casues of this?

My suspicion ( hard to see these things in real time in game situations...) is she is hitting the ball a bit too far in front of the proper contact position and not getting full power of extension into the ball. These hits are not infield popups but 150-180 foot drives to the outfield but high enough that the fielders can get under the ball even if hit in the gap. Ie move the contact positon back 6-9" and its now a towering shot to or over the fence....

Thoughts?
 
Jan 14, 2009
1,591
0
Atlanta, Georgia
I am seeing more and more girls getting on plane twice. They are using lateral shoulder tilt to get on plane, plus they are dropping their hands to get on plane. When you combine the two during the same swing you get a lot of high fly balls.

If the girls are going to use rotational mechanics they need to learn how to keep their hands back and up near their rear arm pit as their hands turn the corner. Dropping the hands is the kiss of death when using rotational hitting mechanics.

Of course there is always the chance that she is doing everything correctly and in a couple of years those 180 foot routine fly balls will be home runs.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
I used the TCP balls, for the first time this morning. I was impressed at how well they work. You can tell by the way they come off the bat, if you are hitting them correctly. The students were making the corrections themselves.

One little boy (9 YO) finally got ahold of one and it appeared to me that it was coming right back at my face. I covered up and ducked (I got smacked pretty good a couple of months ago, with a real ball) and the ball flew about 10 feet and fell like a wounded duck.

The kids loved the balls.

With video, you would really be able to see where the ball is contacting the bat.
 
Jan 14, 2009
1,591
0
Atlanta, Georgia
When is dropping the hands not the kiss of death (beyond coach pitch or maybe the first year or so of kid pitch)?

Many of the girls I see in 14U "slot then swing". If they get a pitch above the belt and swing with level shoulders they can and do hit some pretty impressive line drives. It's a very long swing and there is a ton of bat drag, but if they drop the hands early enough and keep the barrel level until contact they will usually hit the ball pretty hard.

I have pitched team batting practice using a full windmill motion multiple times per week on every team my daughter has played on since she was in 10U. I have seen every swing imaginable. I know where the weaknesses and strengths are in every type swing as I have pitched thousands of balls over the years.

The point of my first post was to say that if a player isn't willing to put in the time and effort to learn how to keep their hands from dropping, they are better off swinging with level shoulders and using a linear approach.
 
Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
The point of my first post was to say that if a player isn't willing to put in the time and effort to learn how to keep their hands from dropping, they are better off swinging with level shoulders and using a linear approach.

This is true. A girl can semi-chop at a ball, and when she meets the ball in the center hit some line shots with backspin often enough for a parent to say the you are "ruining their swing" by teaching better mechanics.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
working with a player that tends to hit the ball with too much lift, ie easy fly out. basic swing mechanics look pretty good.

What are the most common casues of this?

My suspicion ( hard to see these things in real time in game situations...) is she is hitting the ball a bit too far in front of the proper contact position and not getting full power of extension into the ball. These hits are not infield popups but 150-180 foot drives to the outfield but high enough that the fielders can get under the ball even if hit in the gap. Ie move the contact positon back 6-9" and its now a towering shot to or over the fence....

Thoughts?

Make greater use of the "top hand".
 

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