Hammer

clemenslee1 · Oct 24, 2018

Mudders Brudder said:
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.

The drill would be something similar to what you are saying with the open hand drill if I'm understanding it properly. Would be the open palm facing away from the body in the open position during "Loaded" position. Then take a hand path to get behind the ball. In which the open palm would be facing towards lets say the pitcher? Hopefully that's correct. The benefit I see in the mallet or hammer using the same drill as the open palm is probably 2 fold. 1 - Weight. Our bodies do things differently when weight is present. An open palm has no tension. So how you get behind the ball is a little different in feel. Add weight and now how you get behind the ball at least in my thinking would be a little different. Even though the final result is probably the same. Because now the body has to engage certain muscle groups etc to perform the task presented. That's my first thinking. 2 - With a mallet or hammer which only has one strike surface in the loaded position would be facing away from you just like the open palm. To get behind the ball a person would have to in my mind turn the mallet or hammer in the hand path to strike the ball with the strike surface of the mallet. Correct? That coupled with the weight the player would get the feeling and feed back that they need to swing properly. As in turning the barrel of a bat etc. Also as I stated previously to properly release the bat head. I don't if this makes any sense LOL
To be clear I'm not looking at this to be some magical cure. Teaching a 8yr old feel I believe is one of the most difficult things to communicate through Words. using drills or objects to communicate the same thing without the use of words I believe is priceless at this age.

julray · Oct 24, 2018

Mudders Brudder said:
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.

I'm a visual person MB

. You have a video or anything illustrating your drill?

julray · Oct 24, 2018

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

LOL, seriously. I watched the video without sound first.. and I was a little intrigued about how the back hand/arm worked under the lead arm when he was holding her hand. I thought that was positive.. but after listening, its like you said, very paranoid about the lead side opening

julray · Oct 26, 2018

So major breakthrough my DD and I last night at BP session, wish I video taped it. Posting it here because I asked her to think about the bat being somewhat similar to a hammer (she used a hammer before). We talked about it for a bit, weight being mostly in the barrel, picked up a 32/27 baseball bat to illustrate more and let her swing it and focus on releasing the barrel into the ball. She said she never really thought about it that way before.. I'm glad she figured it out,

. I threw her about 75 balls from 20-25 feet and she hit 98% line drive rockets off the back of the cage or the L screen I was pitching from. I mixed in change up etc, made no difference. I was kind of scared, lol. I asked her what she was thinking about prior to each pitch, where her focus was. She said she was concentrating on her hips... and creating separation (pinching scap while planting front foot). She felt like she was seeing the pitches better, I could tell that she wasn't out ahead of the pitch on her front foot, explains why she hammered the change ups as well. Also she was hitting some the balls inside out, rocket gappers to right field, which is something I have never seen from her before (this probably made me most excited). She has always been a pull hitter, and if she didn't pull, it was off the hands.

Anyway I think the success was a combination of things;

1. Discussion about releasing the barrel into the ball
2. Noticed her back foot was angled towards the catcher, I asked her to fix that by turning it ever so slightly towards the pitcher (like Justin Turner, just not as extreme)
3. Noticed her hips were staying closed, so we worked on some stretch and fire from 90 and 45% and I asked to really focus on generating power from her hips
4. I asked her work on remaining coiled until heel plant (like this girl in the controversial video I posted,

).

Maybe number 3 and 4 was the biggest contributor, I believe she was using her hips effectively and really making way for the rest of her body to get in position to get to any pitch at any point in the hitting zone. Something clicked and it was a batting practice I'll never forget. seriously, I would of been scared pitching windmill from 40 feet.. getting old and reactions are slow,

Guy was there with his boy and asked if I was still alive after batting practice, her said "she hits the ball a ton!" Sorry, kind of a shameless brag post I guess, but it was exciting to see her hit that way,

.

FiveFrameSwing · Oct 26, 2018

julray said:
I asked her what she was thinking about prior to each pitch, where her focus was. She said she was concentrating on her hips... and creating separation (pinching scap while planting front foot).

Julray ... tell me a bit more about this.

She said she was concentrating on her hips... and creating separation (pinching scap while planting front foot).

Was the creation of separation prior to the use of the hips, the pinching of the scap and planting of the front foot?

Was the 'use of her hips' at the same time as the 'pinching of the scap' and 'planting of the front foot'?

Cannonball · Oct 26, 2018

julray said:
So major breakthrough my DD and I last night at BP session, wish I video taped it. Posting it here because I asked her to think about the bat being somewhat similar to a hammer (she used a hammer before). We talked about it for a bit, weight being mostly in the barrel, picked up a 32/27 baseball bat to illustrate more and let her swing it and focus on releasing the barrel into the ball. She said she never really thought about it that way before.. I'm glad she figured it out, . I threw her about 75 balls from 20-25 feet and she hit 98% line drive rockets off the back of the cage or the L screen I was pitching from. I mixed in change up etc, made no difference. I was kind of scared, lol. I asked her what she was thinking about prior to each pitch, where her focus was. She said she was concentrating on her hips... and creating separation (pinching scap while planting front foot). She felt like she was seeing the pitches better, I could tell that she wasn't out ahead of the pitch on her front foot, explains why she hammered the change ups as well. Also she was hitting some the balls inside out, rocket gappers to right field, which is something I have never seen from her before (this probably made me most excited). She has always been a pull hitter, and if she didn't pull, it was off the hands.

Anyway I think the success was a combination of things;

1. Discussion about releasing the barrel into the ball
2. Noticed her back foot was angled towards the catcher, I asked her to fix that by turning it ever so slightly towards the pitcher (like Justin Turner, just not as extreme)
3. Noticed her hips were staying closed, so we worked on some stretch and fire from 90 and 45% and I asked to really focus on generating power from her hips
4. I asked her work on remaining coiled until heel plant (like this girl in the controversial video I posted, ).

Maybe number 3 and 4 was the biggest contributor, I believe she was using her hips effectively and really making way for the rest of her body to get in position to get to any pitch at any point in the hitting zone. Something clicked and it was a batting practice I'll never forget. seriously, I would of been scared pitching windmill from 40 feet.. getting old and reactions are slow,

Guy was there with his boy and asked if I was still alive after batting practice, her said "she hits the ball a ton!" Sorry, kind of a shameless brag post I guess, but it was exciting to see her hit that way, .

Thank you! Folks, here we have a dad who is out there working with his daughter and then sharing what they did and discovered. We need more of this. Far too often people are apprehensive about posting thoughts like this because they then come under attack. For me, what you did made sense. For me, I can walk through that description in my mind. If anyone here wants to try it then great. If not, at least you took the time and made the effort to share. I appreciate it.

julray · Oct 26, 2018

FiveFrameSwing said:
Julray ... tell me a bit more about this.

She said she was concentrating on her hips... and creating separation (pinching scap while planting front foot).

Was the creation of separation prior to the use of the hips, the pinching of the scap and planting of the front foot?

Was the 'use of her hips' at the same time as the 'pinching of the scap' and 'planting of the front foot'?

Very good questions FFS.. however I didn't pry too much. These cues worked for her and I didn't want to overanalyze . What I can tell you is what I observed.

I did a bad job of phrasing this.. "pinching scap while planting front foot". Basically she was resisting with her back side while coiling and striding into heel plant, not all back/all forward.

In regards to her hips, she's had a problem of not really engaging.. a lot of slippage I guess is the best way to phrase it.. and she was never able to open them up. Basically they weren't an active player in her swing. We did some drills to reinforce hip usage (stretch and fire, 90 and at 45 degrees) which really gave her the feeling of powering the swing with the hips, core and lower body

_MIA_ · Oct 26, 2018

Cannonball said:
Thank you! Folks, here we have a dad who is out there working with his daughter and then sharing what they did and discovered. We need more of this. Far too often people are apprehensive about posting thoughts like this because they then come under attack.

If there was a thread dedicated to things Dads said which didn't work or were met with resistance I would be all over it...

Cannonball · Oct 26, 2018

pattar said:
If there was a thread dedicated to things Dads said which didn't work or were met with resistance I would be all over it...

Me too! We have such a good mix here. We have people who have been in on these discussions for decades like FFS. His dd played at a very high level. We have dads who are on the journey. We have all levels of college ball represented here. In the end, everyone benefits from these discussions.

_MIA_ · Oct 26, 2018

Cannonball said:
Me too! We have such a good mix here. We have people who have been in on these discussions for decades like FFS. His dd played at a very high level. We have dads who are on the journey. We have all levels of college ball represented here. In the end, everyone benefits from these discussions.

Well, my comment was meant to be tongue in cheek

I have come to the realization that I am a lousy teacher..which is sort of ironic since that is what I am supposed to do for a living...

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