Criticism on DD hits please

SB45 said:

any update?

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A whole bunch of rain. >.<
We have been doing some drills focusing on the front hip and the hips/hands separation and it looks to me like she's doing well with it. We have been sticking to mostly tee drills but the end of last week we started doing some soft tosses and she went back to that "gated swing" so we are back on the tee. It's like she loses the seperation when she has to concentrate on hitting a moving ball. We'll keep working on it though.

Djubs said:

A whole bunch of rain. >.<
We have been doing some drills focusing on the front hip and the hips/hands separation and it looks to me like she's doing well with it. We have been sticking to mostly tee drills but the end of last week we started doing some soft tosses and she went back to that "gated swing" so we are back on the tee. It's like she loses the seperation when she has to concentrate on hitting a moving ball. We'll keep working on it though.

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Very common... The more practice she can get with a moving ball, the better off she will be.

FP26 said:

Very common... The more practice she can get with a moving ball, the better off she will be.

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Do you recommend continuing with the soft tosses or go back to tee drills? I've always believed that if they are not doing it correctly in soft tossed you should go back to tee work. I'm not really sure why I have that mind set though. No one has ever said that to me, I guess I came up with that on my own. lol

If the goal is to become good at performing tee swings then stick with tee swings. That isn't my personal goal ... but to each their own.

You have collected a noteworthy data point ... that being that tee work isn't carrying over to live at bats. As FP26 stated, that's pretty common.

I use tee work for two basic purposes ... 1) to warm up ... and 2) to introduce new concepts/feels.

I believe many folks fool themselves into thinking that what they work on during tee swings will translate into games. That's simply not the case. Read up on 'block training' (i.e., tee work) versus 'random training' (i.e., hitting off of a live arm). What I expect you to take away from that research is that 'random training' is superior to 'block training' if the goal is to get a final result in the actual event you are after.

You have collected a real data point ... that being that tee work isn't carrying forward into live pitching ... that is a real data point ... why go back and hammer away via the tee once you realize what you have realized?

FiveFrameSwing said:

If the goal is to become good at performing tee swings then stick with tee swings. That isn't my personal goal ... but to each their own.

You have collected a noteworthy data point ... that being that tee work isn't carrying over to live at bats. As FP26 stated, that's pretty common.

I use tee work for two basic purposes ... 1) to warm up ... and 2) to introduce new concepts/feels.

I believe many folks fool themselves into thinking that what they work on during tee swings will translate into games. That's simply not the case. Read up on 'block training' (i.e., tee work) versus 'random training' (i.e., hitting off of a live arm). What I expect you to take away from that research is that 'random training' is superior to 'block training' if the goal is to get a final result in the actual event you are after.

You have collected a real data point ... that being that tee work isn't carrying forward into live pitching ... that is a real data point ... why go back and hammer away via the tee once you realize what you have realized?

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I use a tee for the same reasons FFS mentions. If I am introducing a new concept, we will start with the tee. Once I feel there is some understanding we will progress to side toss, and then front toss. We will repeat as needed. But the bulk of our time is spent with front toss. For me, a typical session takes approximately 45 minutes. Less then 10 is spent with on a tee.

FiveFrameSwing said:

Read up on 'block training' (i.e., tee work) versus 'random training' (i.e., hitting off of a live arm).

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Is there a 3rd step to the progression: random training with pitch velocity?

I ask, because I often encounter hitters that absolutely MASH front toss,
but don't look nearly as solid against game-speed pitching.

I understand that if the correct mechanics are there, then it just falls to the timing of those mechanics.
But I see a LOT of instructors that only do front toss in their sessions.

I'm not gonna offer anything technical but I have been doing this with my daughter for a few years and I would say, without a doubt, she is ready to move up to an elite team. Certainly by next fall.

corlay said:

Is there a 3rd step to the progression: random training with pitch velocity?

I ask, because I often encounter hitters that absolutely MASH front toss,
but don't look nearly as solid against game-speed pitching.

I understand that if the correct mechanics are there, then it just falls to the timing of those mechanics.
But I see a LOT of instructors that only do front toss in their sessions.

Click to expand...

I throw windmill to my DD from about 15 to 20 feet. At this point (10U) I can get it up there so the reaction time is similar to the best pitchers she will face (low to mid 50's). It would be better if I could
do it from the full distance but my windmill mechanics, along with my old man mobility issues, don't really allow. I went and watched the WCWS and I saw a number of teams throwing BP this way (windmill from a shorter
distance) so I don't feel too bad

corlay said:

Is there a 3rd step to the progression: random training with pitch velocity?

I ask, because I often encounter hitters that absolutely MASH front toss,
but don't look nearly as solid against game-speed pitching.

I understand that if the correct mechanics are there, then it just falls to the timing of those mechanics.
But I see a LOT of instructors that only do front toss in their sessions.

Click to expand...

I throw windmill to my DD from about 15 to 20 feet. At this point (10U) I can get it up there so the reaction time is similar to the best pitchers she will face (low to mid 50's). It would be better if I could
do it from the full distance but my windmill mechanics, along with my old man mobility issues, don't really allow for it. I went and watched the WCWS open practices and I saw a number of teams throwing BP this way (windmill from a shorter
distance) so I don't feel too bad

corlay said:

Is there a 3rd step to the progression: random training with pitch velocity?

I ask, because I often encounter hitters that absolutely MASH front toss,
but don't look nearly as solid against game-speed pitching.

I understand that if the correct mechanics are there, then it just falls to the timing of those mechanics.
But I see a LOT of instructors that only do front toss in their sessions.

Click to expand...

For me the typical lesson is ...
1) tee work ... general warm-up and review of what we'll be stressing live.
2) front toss
3) live arm