Looking for some help, are we headed in the right direction?

pantherdad said:

Thanks petriccia,

We know the back foot coming up is a good thing, but you are exactly right when you say she is picking it up and moving it herself. We have talked about the actual momentum of the hips should be the reason the foot is pulled off the ground, it just hasn't set in yet. We have a coach we use and he is working on getting her to start the hips before the hands. Hopefully when she learns to create that torque the rear foot movement will come along with it. We scrapped her old swing about 3 months ago and started with this one. We are pretty happy with the progression knowing we still have a ways to go.

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It looks to me like you are on the right track. I agree much more with the coach you currently have working with her than the other local coaches you mentioned. Honestly, for her age, she is off to a very good start. Good luck!

Panther,
I would be concerned about landing on the heel of the front foot.

Hips (more specifically the rear hip) and hands (active hands). That is the 2 things IMO that are the foundation of swing mechanics.

Coiling/stretching in the rear hip. Turning the barrel. Learn those 2 and the swing becomes a reaction. We don't have time to adjust to pitches in the box AND have mechanical thoughts such as "turn my hips before my hands". We do have time to load (or need to make time) and react. The swing should be a release of energy. Sudden. Start with with a good load and turn the barrel with resistance and the "hips before hands" will be a sudden reaction, not a slow forced movement.

rdbass said:

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Sorry off subject (well I guess the subject could be hands), but ever notice how much he split grips at times?

pantherdad said:

Thanks Lou,

All great points to work on. The positive feedback is appreciated. I posted the video hoping to reinforce the direction we are headed. I was getting a lot of negative feedback from some local coaches/dads telling me that she shouldn't be striding, the back foot should never come of the ground, keep the weight on the back foot, she should be swinging down at the ball, knob to the ball, etc... I know enough to filter most of these cues and discard them. Looking for some outside advice so i decided to post here. Greatly appreciated!

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Thanks. Mostly we're a friendly bunch here. many who have gone through or are going through the same thing with our own DDs.

rdbass said:

Panther,
I would be concerned about landing on the heel of the front foot.

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Not me. I had a hitter that landed heel first ... the kid hit bombs and played at a national level.

So with 'this' hitter you see no problem with landing heel first?

rdbass said:

So with 'this' hitter you see no problem with landing heel first?

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This hitter has significant issues. She looks to have been taught a mechanical process that ignored first understanding her natural movement patterns. The advice given to take her to a hitting instructor was good advice IMO.

Landing flat footed, toe first, or even heel first shouldn't be this kid's focus IMO. She has much bigger fish to fry.

pantherdad said:

Thanks petriccia,

We know the back foot coming up is a good thing, but you are exactly right when you say she is picking it up and moving it herself. We have talked about the actual momentum of the hips should be the reason the foot is pulled off the ground, it just hasn't set in yet. We have a coach we use and he is working on getting her to start the hips before the hands. Hopefully when she learns to create that torque the rear foot movement will come along with it. We scrapped her old swing about 3 months ago and started with this one. We are pretty happy with the progression knowing we still have a ways to go.

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This was my concern(hitting coach) and scrapping old swing 3 months and starting with this swing.