Back when I was coaching a team, I had one of several fun activities set up for kids who arrived early. One of those was setting out TCB's and having kids go out and self toss. Glove tag was another favorite...
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Drills to improve hitting sequence
- Thread starter cbullard
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Back when I was coaching a team, I had one of several fun activities set up for kids who arrived early. One of those was setting out TCB's and having kids go out and self toss. Glove tag was another favorite...
Sorry for the lateness of my reply but long tee would be hitting off a tee in to an open field instead of a net. It provides better feed back for the hitter.
Hi... a good idea is to break the skill down if you want to ensure that the hips are rotating before the hands. Stand facing a tee with the bat held behind the back cradled in the elbows horizontal to the ground with the bat head on the right or left side depending on which way you hit. Now pivot the hips to hit the ball on the tee to emphasize the hips. Feeling the hips move is often more difficult than the hands because we see the hands move much more obviously than the hips. Then move to the correct positioning for hitting off a tee and have the batter get in a ready position to hit the ball and the coach holds the bat, while the hitter swings in slow motion so you direct the rotation sequence by holding onto the bat until the hips have turned. This way she/he knows kinesthetically how it feels. Slowly allow the batter to speed up the swing until she/he is at 75% speed. Then allow the batter to hit at full speed. You will see the difference as the batter focuses on the correct rotation sequence until it becomes natural.
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
I like getting the hips going. DD's team coaches do something like described. Hips first then hands/barrel. I get it in the sense of the hips leading the hands but for a hitting drill, not a fan so much. Like the kid in the video the girls back foot is always weighted. The weight doesn't get shifted, energy that should be going into the ball is being left behind. Be judicious when using some of the drills available.
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Three drills I use quite often for this. One, I call the Happy Gilmore drill. This has already been mentioned and I prefer the step behind method as well since it pre-coils the hip and puts the girls in the correct hip coiled position to launch. The second one I like is the one that FFS showed more for illustration purposes as opposed to a true hitting drill. Last but not least, I like the step-out drill. Have them start with both feet together. Have them step out (stride) while coiling the hips and at front foot plant, fire the hips and "throw" the barrel of the bat.
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- Nov 19, 2017
- 5
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Actually, there are many ways to improve. Some of them that one must learn about are the dry swing drill, sequence tee drill and the reverse sequence drill. These are relevant in a softball hitting drills swing development.
I can see how this drill might some value for a 8u newbie but it seems to promote out and around with spin action instead of inside out with drive action. At least that what I've seen when I see players actually doing it.
Cannonball
Ex "Expert"
- Feb 25, 2009
- 4,881
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"Squash that bug hard?" Really? Look at around 1:07. The young man is actually starting to do the rotation correctly and this instructor stops him. Look at the back knee driving inward. Had the guy kept his mouth shut, the kid would have rolled over onto the side of the front toes and then onto the tip of the toes. Instead, he has him squash the bug.
Perfect. Exactly what I was saying. 
You could also put a ball behind the back foot heel and have them hit the ball with their heel to reinforce the pivot.
You could also put a ball behind the back foot heel and have them hit the ball with their heel to reinforce the pivot.
