Upright/hands high left-handed hitters?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
I have a lefty who starts upright, a little bit like Griffey but with her back elbow down (for her it never gets up, which is the biggest flaw in her swing). I believe in generally working with what the hitter wants to do naturally as much as possible, so if she prefers to start upright with hands high, I will first try to make that work.

Who else other than Griffey starts upright/hands high?

And, I guess I should ask this: Is there any reason why I shouldn't use this approach? Seems to me like it might be easier to show a side-by-side of her and Griffey (or whoever fits best) and say "You start out similarly, now watch what he does here and here compared to what you do."

Edit: There's no reason why a right-handed hitter who starts upright/hands high wouldn't work as a model, I suppose.
 
Last edited:
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Don't want to post video here since it's not my DD.

I agree that the stance is style. I'm trying to work with the style she's comfortable using. It's mostly for a visual. I think it'd be easier for a younger player to see a similar starting position and then see where they diverge than to look at a generic high-level swing and try to figure out how it applies to her. Does that make sense? If I want her to get to Point B, I think it'd be easier to show her a model hitter who has a similar Point A.
 
Mar 4, 2018
126
28
I like the idea of showing her a player that has a similar style to her own. Then show her how many of the great hitters all get to a similar swing also.
 
Oct 13, 2014
5,471
113
South Cali
Lefty hitters that have low back elbows off the top of my head were Ted , Wade Boggs. As far as girls Megan Langenfeld had a low back elbow as well.
 
Oct 13, 2014
5,471
113
South Cali
Lefty hitters that have low back elbows off the top of my head were Ted , Wade Boggs. As far as girls Megan Langenfeld had a low back elbow as well.

Actually most hitters I can think of don't let their back elbows get higher than their armpit their entire sequence . Low elbows aren't really a bad thing imo.
 

Chris Delorit

Member
Apr 24, 2016
343
28
Green Bay, WI
I have a lefty who starts upright, a little bit like Griffey but with her back elbow down (for her it never gets up, which is the biggest flaw in her swing). I believe in generally working with what the hitter wants to do naturally as much as possible, so if she prefers to start upright with hands high, I will first try to make that work.

Who else other than Griffey starts upright/hands high?

And, I guess I should ask this: Is there any reason why I shouldn't use this approach? Seems to me like it might be easier to show a side-by-side of her and Griffey (or whoever fits best) and say "You start out similarly, now watch what he does here and here compared to what you do."

Edit: There's no reason why a right-handed hitter who starts upright/hands high wouldn't work as a model, I suppose.

Correct JD. Superimpose with Rightview, or another. Video is an invaluable comparative asset for your demonstration.

In terms of a baseball hands high example, Jim Thome. Softball example, Colin Abbott. Baseball very high level, Craig Counsell. Softball, Nathan Nukunuku. Baseball hands low, your example. Softball, Nick Shailes.

At the HS level where you are, you're probably looking at just covering the upper strike zone. Not necessarily a plane changer, just the high strike. If you think your player can adjust with good hand-eye coordination and cover the upper zone, your probably fine.

If you have kids that can't, and/or you find your kids are overwhelming struggling with the mid-high strike zone then you'll probably want to consider trying a higher hand starting position. But remember, there are other areas of the arm "triangle" that may need small tweaks as well, which can have an impact on improving hand path.

Chris
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
At the HS level where you are, you're probably looking at just covering the upper strike zone. Not necessarily a plane changer, just the high strike. If you think your player can adjust with good hand-eye coordination and cover the upper zone, your probably fine.

If you have kids that can't, and/or you find your kids are overwhelming struggling with the mid-high strike zone then you'll probably want to consider trying a higher hand starting position. But remember, there are other areas of the arm "triangle" that may need small tweaks as well, which can have an impact on improving hand path.

So, about this girl. She was our best hitter by far last year, and it was her first year batting left-handed. I turned her around to slap around the summer of '16, but she's hesitant to actually slap. Instead she just hits, and she's already much better than she ever was right-handed. But she has some pretty obvious swing flaws that we're now working to fix. At our level, she can handle pretty much everything, but there's no reason why I shouldn't work to turn the base hits and doubles into something more, and she'll be more prepared to face better competition if I can ever find any for her. She turns 17 later this week, has never played TB, and wants to play in college. She has the potential to be good enough to play somewhere, but she's really running out of time. The most I can do for her is to get her swing to the point where maybe she can walk on wherever she ends up going.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top