What does she need to work on

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May 4, 2016
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right now it is hands through the ball, tightening stomach on contact, and not popping her inside shoulder up.
 
Sep 29, 2014
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Yeah...that would be a little scary to me if those are the cues from the instructor. The biggest thing she needs is starting from the beginning with solid foundation she has very typical DBSF type swing; in the front toss video she actually has her hands down at hip level and is bending her knees to hit a low pitch. It does not look like she is building the proper foundation/sequence. Even in what she is doing it is not consistent she steps out on tee swing and then does not even lift foot just pivots toe she is not building repeatable habits that get her ready to swing, not that either of those would be good things.

flat swing.JPG VS...how you should attack a low pitch with proper bat angle ContactLauren.JPG
 
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May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Do some research on sequence. Getting her sequence right will take her a long way towards being on a better track.

Also...

As DJ mentioned, this is a swing dominated by a DBSF movement pattern. Look at what her hands to prior to her launch to contact. Her intent is to swing the bat level with the ground at the height of the pitch, so she moves her hands to that position prior to launching the swing. Not only does this give up a lot of power potential, but it makes the swing very long to execute, which will be a real problem against decent-quality pitching.

What we want to see is the launch to contact happening from near the rear shoulder, with the hands taking a more direct (and shorter) path to contact, the bat rotating around the hands, and using a diagonal barrel path to contact (hands above the ball).
Cabrera_FB_highside_sync.gif


Notice that Mig's hands get into almost exactly the same position near the rear shoulder prior to launch on both pitches. From there, the hands take a direct path to contact.

Another issue is weight shift. Currently, she's loading everything back over the outside of the rear foot before bringing everything forward with her swing. What we want to see is the weight shifting against the inside of the rear foot (pressure long the instep), and a coil around the rear leg. This is a sequence issue.

Although I don't know what the point of the lesson was at the moment, so my next comment may be out of context, but I'm concerned that the instructor commented "good" on the tee swing. This sounds to me like she may be paying more attention to the result than the swing mechanics. Get good mechanics in place and results will take care of themselves.
 
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May 4, 2016
200
28
Thanks I looked up DBSF. So that would make sense with her wanting her to get her shoulder angled downward which is what you see when you look at good swings. I have a question about something she said as we were leaving that would seem to contradict getting this into muscle memory. She told my daughter that she wants her hitting off a higher tee. Does that make sense? Thanks for all the help I played baseball in the 70’s and 80’s and it was basically see ball hit ball. So I am at a loss when it comes to teaching a technically proficient swing.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Thanks I looked up DBSF. So that would make sense with her wanting her to get her shoulder angled downward which is what you see when you look at good swings. I have a question about something she said as we were leaving that would seem to contradict getting this into muscle memory. She told my daughter that she wants her hitting off a higher tee. Does that make sense? Thanks for all the help I played baseball in the 70’s and 80’s and it was basically see ball hit ball. So I am at a loss when it comes to teaching a technically proficient swing.

A high tee can be helpful for learning the feeling of launching from a higher hand position.

When my DD started playing at 8yo, I had zero knowledge of swing mechanics (my sports background was ice hockey and bicycle racing). I got serious about educating myself in order to be the best guide I could be for my DD. I read, and read, and read, and tried things for myself. You can do it, too.
 

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