Hitting video Hall of Shame

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JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
Thats not a throw with the top hand. That is a push with the top.

It's a good drill. If the drill is performed close to the way the hitter on the right demos the RHD.



When I look at the top drill, I see a whole swing concept being ingrained that is common in softball hitting instruction. There are a lot of folks out there that teach a forward weight shift to a weighted front leg/down to the ball type of swing. From my experience this goes hand in hand with the mentality that a softball swing is different from a baseball swing. We have a girl on our team that has this exact swing. She has good power but is completely incapable of hitting a driven fly ball. It is all hard grounders and pop ups. It's a shame too because Just fixing the weight distribution issue would bring her in more square.
Seems almost like the RHD is being done too soon with her and is self defeating as long as the weight shift is there. No matter what she does with the top hand she will not be able to get the right feel of the throw with the weight going forward like that.
 
Last edited:
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Erik, are you saying the way she is doing it is flawed, or the drill itself is flawed? Cause I gotta be honest, I've seen him have really good results with that drill.

Does he teach pushing the barrel downward into the ball like is being demonstrated in the video?
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
I see the difference. Girl in the right doesn't extend through the ball. She swings around. Pretty good looking swing, but I'm not overly thrilled in how she wraps as opposed to extends as Bustos does. But thanks, I'll be sure to tell him hes teaching wrong next Wednesday. :D

Ok, good may be he'll stop teaching it incorrectly and start teaching the correct way.:p No thanks needed.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
Good points.

To add to this … When searching for information apply filters … for example, ignore Internet personalities and focus on content. Many students could care less where the information is coming from that you use to help them get better … their focus is more on seeing the efforts of their hard work result in an improvement going forward.

As you suggest, each person needs to come to their own conclusion as to what constitutes HOS-type teaching mechanics. Having discussions on particular mechanics helps folks formulate opinions and reach their decision points.

I agree with this perspective. I am not a guru, just a dad trying to learn. I believe I know more now than I did 12 months ago, but others may argue that. That is fine. I am all for debates, conversations, etc. as part of that learning process, knowing that there will inevitably be differences of opinion. And it is ultimately my responsibility to determine what I want to believe. What I don't have a stomach for is when someone posts a video of their son, daughter, or student and someone else rips it apart and takes portions of it out of context for their own agenda.

NOTE: FFS - This is not directed at you, but I have a feeling you can draw your own conclusions.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
I understand the reluctance of some people not to want to post videos. I had the same reluctance, but I decided that the benefit of putting it out there outweighs any possible negatives. I also decided that one of the points of what I am working on with my girls is to be able to show the progress so other dads who come along in the future can see how my kids had certain issues and then the work they did to prove and then one day, hopefully, I will be able to show how it all turned out.

From the perspective of those that claim to know how to teach hitting, I can't think of any better teaching tool then being able to show student A before and student A after. Hopefully with some in between stuff to show the journey. It is really easy to block out faces if that is a concern.

There is only so much benefit you can convey from posting MLB hitter gifs and basically saying "do this".

Take the Wasserman E book for example, he shows a student before and after going through his program and has clips of her doing the drills. It is a really effective way to show that what you are advocating works.

FFS has seen and commented on a few of my daughters swings now over the past year. During that time a huge amount of barell drop/forward shift /bat drag has gone away from the older one. As a result she went from being a good hitter that was really vulnerable to fast pitching and high strikes to a hitter that can now hit any speed she sees in games and can get to a high strike. She hits in the 5 spot on a team of girls a year older. She bats over .500. It is a huge improvement. She still has a ways to go though and still has flaws to fix. But the improvement is really good. Same thing with the little one. Her improvements and performance are really good. But all FFS can do is look at them and see that they don't swing like Miggy and they still have flaws. This is true, but they are so much closer than before. This leads me to believe that he has no idea about the intermediate steps it takes to improve a swing.

So I stand by the POV that if you want to offer advice/criticism and act like a guru then you need to show your work. And I stand by the fact that the work my girls have done has paid dividends and is the right path.

Nice try JJs. Your response to a mild critique of your daughter’s swing was not overly friendly.

Your desire that progress on a swing be shown is not something you yourself have done … but since you believe in doing so, then go ahead and post the progress of your daughter’s swing development. After all, the work your “girls have done has paid dividends and is the right path” … and since you believe that should be shown, the go ahead and show it.
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
Damn-i played "ignore post roulette" hoping there was a new video of bad instruction, only to find you still droning on.

I have posted them FFS in various threads. I was planning on waiting till they fixed the barrel turn more to group the various stages in one spot but if you want to create a thread where you post the progress of one of your students from age 9-10 and one from 11-12 then I will gladly post the the progress of my girls sooner than I had planned.

I prefer game swings since they show the final product in use. But if you want to use practice swings that's cool too.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
Damn-i played "ignore post roulette" hoping there was a new video of bad instruction, only to find you still droning on.

Yes, you do appear to enjoy playing games. Engaging on a topic of hitting can be fun too.


I have posted them FFS in various threads. I was planning on waiting till they fixed the barrel turn more to group the various stages in one spot but if you want to create a thread where you post the progress of one of your students from age 9-10 and one from 11-12 then I will gladly post the the progress of my girls sooner than I had planned.

I prefer game swings since they show the final product in use. But if you want to use practice swings that's cool too.

Only one video of your youngest daughter comes to mind. Just not recalling the various swings you speak of.

Since you are the one that desires that progress be shown, and since your oldest daughter has made significant progress, and is following the right path, then you readily have what you need to generate what it is you desire to see posted. No need to hold off because there is current work in progress … there will always be work in progress … that’s what hitting development is about.

Now, after you decide to punt on that, then maybe drop the games and engage in discussions on the topic of hitting. It really isn’t that tough to do … and honestly, you may find it just as enjoyable.
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
Yes, you do appear to enjoy playing games. Engaging on a topic of hitting can be fun too.




Only one video of your youngest daughter comes to mind. Just not recalling the various swings you speak of.

Since you are the one that desires that progress be shown, and since your oldest daughter has made significant progress, and is following the right path, then you readily have what you need to generate what it is you desire to see posted. No need to hold off because there is current work in progress … there will always be work in progress … that’s what hitting development is about.

Now, after you decide to punt on that, then maybe drop the games and engage in discussions on the topic of hitting. It really isn’t that tough to do … and honestly, you may find it just as enjoyable.

So that is a long way of saying that you are not going to recipricate and post clips of your students right? I figured you'd dodge it. When I think there is something post worthy with my kids I will put it up, as I have always done. In the meantime, I will try to disengage from you yet again, hopefully you get the hint this time and move on.

Ok back to ignore- so we are clear, ignore means I can't see your posts unless I choose to. Won't be making that mistake again anytime soon.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
So that is a long way of saying that you are not going to recipricate and post clips of your students right? I figured you'd dodge it. When I think there is something post worthy with my kids I will put it up, as I have always done. In the meantime, I will try to disengage from you yet again, hopefully you get the hint this time and move on.

Ok back to ignore- so we are clear, ignore means I can't see your posts unless I choose to. Won't be making that mistake again anytime soon.

I'm not the one requesting a video demonstration ... you are .... and since you claim to be on the right path, and to have made noteworthy improvements, then you have what you need to make the demonstrations you desire.

Feel free to discuss hitting at any time.
 

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