Help with Hitting- Lefty Power hitter

I have an outstanding kid on my 14U travel team. She struggles with hitting at times and I was looking for some drills we can incorporate into our indoor practices. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

[video]https://youtu.be/OY0VfLDMH2s[/video]

It is true that 'bat drag' ridden swings can be powerful ... very powerful in fact ... but like you described, such swing mechanics will go through periods of struggle.

Clean up the 'bat drag'.

Plus I can't tell if it is just because she is in the gym or if this is just one snapshot in the middle of someone throwing a ball ever 5 seconds at her for 2 or 3 minutes (UGH I can't tell you how much I hate that); but it looks like she is barely engaging her lower half its almost as if she is trying to keep the back foot planted and not releasing so her wing is almost all upper half. I'm no expert just throwing my .02 out there, some of the experts can probably help with drills.

djcarter1966 said:

Plus I can't tell if it is just because she is in the gym or if this is just one snapshot in the middle of someone throwing a ball ever 5 seconds at her for 2 or 3 minutes (UGH I can't tell you how much I hate that); but it looks like she is barely engaging her lower half its almost as if she is trying to keep the back foot planted and not releasing so her wing is almost all upper half. I'm no expert just throwing my .02 out there, some of the experts can probably help with drills.

Click to expand...

What you see is correct. All upper body. Out of the correct sequence

Straightleg

BB875 said:

I have an outstanding kid on my 14U travel team. She struggles with hitting at times and I was looking for some drills we can incorporate into our indoor practices. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

[video]https://youtu.be/OY0VfLDMH2s[/video]

Click to expand...

What is she struggling with? Was this pitch in on the hands ? The follow through (extension) looks a like she may have been adjusting to a pitch on the hands.. Her movements look pretty good other then something strange with her rear leg..

Do You have any other clips?

BB875 said:

I have an outstanding kid on my 14U travel team. She struggles with hitting at times and I was looking for some drills we can incorporate into our indoor practices. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

[video]https://youtu.be/OY0VfLDMH2s[/video]

Click to expand...

Brutal truth is the best I can offer you for her sake. She needs a complete rebuild. I don't agree with everything he believes but you would be much better off doing what FFS tells you to do compared to what you know about swinging a bat. You should spend some time on Siggy's Hitting Clips - ImageEvent and you should start in on your swing education. She may struggle at times against poor pitching. She would struggle all the time against good pitching. That's an awful swing. She's young enough to turn things around and have a good career if she wants it.

Yeah, I know. Heartless, insensitive and cruel. But you fool around piddling with some drills this kid's athletic career slips by and she never becomes what she could be. I'm more interested in that than I am anyone's opinion of my manners. Study the clips on the website I gave you until you can see the details of the differences between those hitters and this kid. Keep posting video on here and listen to FFS. I'd offer to guide you but it's an impossible situation on here for me. FFS is a decent bet for help on here. He knows way more than you do.

Best of luck. If you care about this kid and other kids you coach or will coach, dig into hitting mechanics and figure this stuff out...quick.

I appreciate the suggestions. I have some ideas to work with now. Unfortunately, I do not have any more video clips, but I'm hoping to get more this weekend...

TDS said:

What is she struggling with? Was this pitch in on the hands ? The follow through (extension) looks a like she may have been adjusting to a pitch on the hands.. Her movements look pretty good other then something strange with her rear leg..

Do You have any other clips?

Click to expand...

I have coached her for about a year and a half. She is very powerful, and my #1 catcher. She tends to get underneath everything which produces a backspin on the ball every time.

After I made this post, her mom told me she's started seeing a local hitting instructor I know well and is highly respected. So, I also got some advice from the hitting coach what they have been trying to work on.