Critiques/comments on this swing welcome.

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May 3, 2014
2,149
83
sorry, I don't know how to make this slo-mo.
this was from a game the other day and is not necessarily typical, but was the swing that I caught when I thought to whip out my phone. not a good day at bat.

I see some DBSF, but not entirely. looks like she gets too low, stays in bat-lag a little too long and reaches extension late, so that she doesn't achieve maximum batspeed at contact.
what say you?


Dropping hands as she strides out. It's subtle but that's the pattern,

Now compare to Mauga from Arizona - even with a nice adjustment she keeps pulling back

3ARarA.gif
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
You can shift back a little back without it being what is commonly thought as a swaying action. I don't think this is a real swaying issue.

Not all hitters FBC, they might all coil, but not FBC. That said I think opening the hips/stance which creates more FBC might look/work really well with this hitter. Leave everything else the same.Same rythm, hand position in stance.


Sway:to lean or incline or cause to lean or incline to one side or in different directions in turn.
tumblr_ooxnthyeOV1usf292o1_250.gif

Not all hitters FBC, they might all coil, but not FBC
This hitter doesn't 'coil'. Refer to belt line/waist.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
I think what I would do is have her watch the video and instead of dropping her hands have her reach back and up with her back elbow (just flat not more than parallel).

Look at the still there you can see the back arms is basically parallel to the ground. Just make sure she is still either reaching back or holding until her front foot comes down, then that triggers the pressure on the back leg to release the hips, basic what she is doing is starting to release her hips as she comes forward which is leaking power and getting her out of sequence.

One reason I emphasize position when front foot comes down is because it will tell whether you are in sequence and if you aren't when your front foot comes down you can't fix it after that, big strong kids can power through with todays technology but it does not mean they are doing it right.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,048
0
Portland, OR
In golf the forward swing is referred to as the 'down swing'.

In the baseball/softball swing the hands go from a high position to a lower position at/into impact. In a very real sense ... from a perspective of the hands ... it is a downswing. A hitter that truly understands this will think in terms of getting on plane with the ball properly ... late ... and not early ... they will attack from the top ... they will have a much improved hand path ... and with a proper hand path realized, the barrel will be more 'controlled/supported', and energy flow can be maximized.

Don't be afraid to think in terms of the swing being a 'down swing' ... because from a hands perspective, that is what it is.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,048
0
Portland, OR
You can’t ‘swing down’ on something if you first bring your hands ‘down’ before ‘swinging’.

Hitters that ‘level’ (i.e., put the bat on plane), and then ‘swing’, tend to have a sense of getting behind the ball ‘early’. Hitters with a good hand path tend to have a better sense of getting on plane ‘late’ … they ‘level’ ***AS*** they ‘swing’.

Worked with several hitters this past weekend. One of the kids hit a ton of fly balls … she ‘leveled’ the barrel during her ‘reading of the pitch’ and then swung forward … she had a “level-then-swing” mechanic … which is not what we want. I stopped her and instructed her to swing down on the next pitch with the goal of one-hopping the ball to the back wall of the cage … the result was a line-drive to the back of the cage. I stopped her again and explained to her what I saw … her hands finally worked ‘down’ from above the ball, while going forward … at impact her hands had leveled off and from there went forward pretty much ‘level to the ground’. I explained to her that this was my concept of ‘swinging down’. She continued practicing this for the remainder of her hitting session. She went from a steady stream of fly balls to a steady stream of line-drives.

An extra plus … the Mom astutely noticed that there was additional power in her daughter’s hits. I explained that the mechanic of “level AS you swing” results in faster barrel speeds than a mechanic of “level THEN swing”.

You can’t “swing down” if your hands are already down. To swing down your hands need to initially be ‘high’.

What is ‘high’? Passing through an ‘upright vee’ (rear arm) is ‘high’. Passing through an up-right vee also provides mechanical support, which allows high energy flow rates without ‘dumping’ the barrel … i.e., provides control.

The hand path is highly important. In my teaching I treat it as the third most important portion of what I want mastered.
 

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