Hammer

clemenslee1 said:

Guys I was thinking of my daughters swing and hand path, wrists etc. As some of you know she is only 8. A idea came to me, when I was at work. What if I taught her how to use a Hammer properly, to teach hand path and wrist mechanics? Thoughts?

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Working with young 8yos can be tough. Often the sense of body awareness hasn't quite matured.

In terms of 'hand path', what about a 'hammer' would be better than a 'bat'?

In terms of 'wrist mechanics' ... I'll assume that you are after the teaching of the 'release' ... as in your kid is 'pushing' into impact rather than 'releasing' into impact. For many I work with, the real issue is that they simply haven't developed sufficient speed earlier in their swing ... and when they learn to do that the need to push through impact pretty much goes away.

Whatever tool works ... if that is a hammer, then go for it ... although for me that doesn't cure the real issue ... which is often not using the torso-engine and forearm/hand-engine sufficient enough to develop barrel speed earlier in the swing.

Ok FFS are you saying releasing is better than pushing? Does the hitters grip stay relatively loose (relaxed) thru the entire swing? Or does the grip instinctively go loose - tight(impact)- loose. Do both hand grip with the same intensity?

RH, you ask about the 'grip', whereas Clem wrote of 'wrist mechanics' ... not quite the same.

However, we have a reasonable example of why CB made the comment that he made. If one is going to use a hammer to teach muscling of the wrists into impact then that isn't a step in the right direction.

In thinking about the mallet, you need to imagine the action of the wrist, the resistance on the back side, ... all. It isn't as simple as having a player swing a hammer. Also, you need to know what the wrist/bat and bat barrel look like at impact and then mimic that. I use the mallet drill to try to get my hitters see the articulation of the wrist in that tight movement as a hitter tips and rips - points the knob and delivers the barrel. This probably a poor description and I'm not very good at typing this stuff. I like the drill but would not use it for every hitter I coach as a standard.

It just occurred to me that Howard Dobson also has a one handed mallet drill on the internet. I remembered that I had a link but it no longer works. I'm betting that you can find something if that is what you are looking for.

https://coachesinsider.com/softball/videos-softball/one-hander-mallet-drill-howard-dobson-lsu-video/

I don't exactly like the hand path in this drill..too direct straight line down to the ball IMO... but I can understand the feeling of release.

Sorry guys if maybe I wasn't very clear in my purpose of using a mallet. To use a hammer or mallet properly, a person let's the weight of the head do the work. Hence your wrists naturally cock and release do to the feeling of the head weight. Now maybe I don't understand the technical aspects of the swing good enough, but isn't that what we do when we swing a bat. We don't necessarily muscle the bat around but let the weight do the work. After all a bat like a hammer is heavier on one end than the other, correct?

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julray said:

https://coachesinsider.com/softball/videos-softball/one-hander-mallet-drill-howard-dobson-lsu-video/

I don't exactly like the hand path in this drill..too direct straight line down to the ball IMO... but I can understand the feeling of release.

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Someone is a bit paranoid about the lead side opening up.

As an FYI, I don't use a mallet like Dobson does. I had the link marked a very long time ago and for me, that link does not work. Also, I only do it with the top hand.

Curious to hear the instructions that you're (meaning whomever) using when attempting to get the player to achieve whatever it is you're looking for from the drill...and IOWs, what you're hoping to teach or instill in the hitter by using it.

While I don't use a hammer, I do a similar rear "hand path" drill...simply by having the hitter stand with an open hand up in their "loaded" position (thus the open hand is somewhere near their rear ear/shoulder), and then instruction them in letting me see the "hand path" they'd take to get their hand "behind and through" the ball in order to hit (or "lift") a LD over F6 for a righty, and F4 for the lefties.

If you try that now yourself just with those instructions...where does your hand automatically go, and depending on how you were holding it at the top...what does it do w/o being coached on it?

I only ask that because I'm not sure I see the actual benefit of having a hammer or mallet in one hands for the lesson. I could be wrong though, and why I'm curious to here the drill instructions, and what can only be taught with a hammer in hand. Thanks in advance.