Side Toss

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Oct 10, 2011
1,572
38
Pacific Northwest
We have new HS coaches here. Open gym the girls are sidetossed and then they are given advise and instruction on how to "fix" their swing.

Flaws such as letting go of the bat. bad timing. Long swings. moving hands. and 'swing level" advise.

The girls struggle with side toss.

one girl that struggles with side toss.
FURY-2017
https://mann.smugmug.com/FURY-2017/

Notice her back ankle. !4 years old anyone have a fix on this? and i would like to voice my concerns of side toss, whats your's?


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May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Can you be more specific about the "ankle" issue. The linked pics show what looks like a batter getting ready for SNF and 45 degree SNF drills.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
They are video clips. First of all that's not really side toss. Looks like 45 degree angle toss or closer to front toss. Maybe my eyes are deceiving me. All in all it's not a bad swing. The ankle thing may have been an anomaly and that particular pitch was very low anyway. Letting go of the bat is not necessarily a bad thing. It's a preference. The one that caught my eye is that swing does not finish and hips should be open at finish. I don't have a problem with side toss unless that's all they do. I would prefer to see vids of her tee work. Would like to see her in the box in a ready position rather just standing there. There are other folks on here that could break the swing down better than me. Is she taking hitting lessons? Does she play TB?
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
lexigif-S.gif

This swing? All the swings look to be front toss with a 45 degree SNF. If you talking about the rear foot turn in/pigeon-ed toed I wouldn't have a problem with that. I'd be more concerned about the dropping of the rear shoulder.
 
Oct 10, 2011
1,572
38
Pacific Northwest
the clips are me front tossing. rdbass front side needs more scrunch, so the rear shoulder drops to soon? no side toss from me.


More open on inside less on outside iMO Orange Socks

If the swing begins while the pitcher is in motion, and she is 43 feet away, how do you time a side toss from 4 feet away?
Side toss is inside and outside, out to in as it arrives, how does one deal with that?
Side toss is up and down, high and low, how does one deal with that, as a hitter?

sidetoss from HS coach to one of my tb girls
audragiffsidetoss-M.gif
 
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May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
lexigif-S.gif

This swing? All the swings look to be front toss with a 45 degree SNF. If you talking about the rear foot turn in/pigeon-ed toed I wouldn't have a problem with that. I'd be more concerned about the dropping of the rear shoulder.

Agreed. Front shoulder never gets lower than rear shoulder (attack position/front-side scrunch). Also, a dropped rear shoulder limits the ability to develop stretch/tension between the rear hip and scap.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
I'm with you on the "side toss" if we are thinking about the same thing. Not a fan.... Soft toss (different from my definition of side toss) from the side is fine for a warm up. Tee is fine for a warm up or basic drills. But most younger hitters will have a different "game swing" than a "drill swing". So trying to analyze or fix anything based on that isn't of interest to me.

Simply put. If you do a lot of tee work. And then instruct from the tee work. Guess what the hitter ends ups with? You got it... A very nice tee swing. It's only valuable if their game swing is the same.
 

shaker1

Softball Junkie
Dec 4, 2014
894
18
On a bucket
Not a fan of side toss. BUT, some coaches do it all the time. They even do it quick, suppose to make your swing faster. Drives me nuts. DD does the command drill on side toss and anything they do that limits the stride. Then back to the normal stride on front toss.
 
Oct 16, 2008
164
18
SE Michigan
I am a fan of some side toss. Use it so I can force contact locations...eg outside and deep or inside and out front. When we do it , the coach gives a verbal cue cadence to initiate sequence and moment of ball toss. I have the player look out an imaginary Pitcher at the start and only looks to find the ball at the verbal cue. I think it has helped my hitters with their sequence and to hit to all fields.

Have used different cues to emphasize different aspects. For example, SET_COIL_SHIFT_FIRE where ball is tossed on SHIFT.
 
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