Swing adjustments

clemenslee1, don't coach the athletcism out of your dd. She is off to a great start. Little steps will reap big rewards. There is a lot to say about letting her play and have fun. If it were my dd, I'd read some of the various suggestions, pick one or two that make sense to you and that she can understand, work on those a little bit but not in an intrusive manner where it become work and not fun and then, when you like the progress, post a swing and get some more thoughts. I continue to read all of the various philosophies, comments, drills, ... and wonder how in the heck can any player absorb all of this stuff being thrown at them. Small is better and making it fun at the age of 8 is the most important aspect of helping your dd improve. JMHO!

pattar said:

My DD's 10U team practices 3 times a week when they don't have tournaments and played about 2 tournaments a month as a first year 10U team. Looking at the tournament schedule they
have this year, as a second year 10U team, they are probably playing about 2.5 a month. Even with that schedule I was still able to work with my DD 3 or 4 times a week. We would hit and field one or 2 days
and then on the days the team would only field, I would hit with her before practice and on the days they hit, I would hit her ground balls before practice. In the summer my DD has all day until I come home
for work to do normal 9 year old activities

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That's awesome. If I remember correctly: The schedule for this spring was the following. They were going to play up in 10u in the Local Rec which is Monday s and Thursdays. Then play at least 3 8u tournaments a month. They said a lot of them would be 3 day tournaments. That's a lot of Game time and little practice time if you ask me. If you include 1 day of practice that's pretty much softball around the clock. Now I think when they officially move up to 10u they would strictly do tourney only. I want to make clear though I'm not dogging them as coaches or a team. Just in case somebody reading this might get the wrong Idea LOL!

Cannonball said:

clemenslee1, don't coach the athletcism out of your dd. She is off to a great start. Little steps will reap big rewards. There is a lot to say about letting her play and have fun. If it were my dd, I'd read some of the various suggestions, pick one or two that make sense to you and that she can understand, work on those a little bit but not in an intrusive manner where it become work and not fun and then, when you like the progress, post a swing and get some more thoughts. I continue to read all of the various philosophies, comments, drills, ... and wonder how in the heck can any player absorb all of this stuff being thrown at them. Small is better and making it fun at the age of 8 is the most important aspect of helping your dd improve. JMHO!

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This ^^^ is very important. I made the mistake of overwhelming my 8-9yo DD with all the new information I was learning from DFP'ers. I was excited and wanted to fix everything all at once. She was confused. It lead to a lot of frustration for both of us. Take it slow. At 8yo, the road ahead is long.

Cannonball said:

clemenslee1, don't coach the athletcism out of your dd. She is off to a great start. Little steps will reap big rewards. There is a lot to say about letting her play and have fun. If it were my dd, I'd read some of the various suggestions, pick one or two that make sense to you and that she can understand, work on those a little bit but not in an intrusive manner where it become work and not fun and then, when you like the progress, post a swing and get some more thoughts. I continue to read all of the various philosophies, comments, drills, ... and wonder how in the heck can any player absorb all of this stuff being thrown at them. Small is better and making it fun at the age of 8 is the most important aspect of helping your dd improve. JMHO!

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Totally agree. She really is taking it slow. I generally only add 1 or 2 things to work on at a time until she gets them down. That's why at the beginning of this thread I said Small things to work. Because I like you believe in only adding or changing things a little at a time. It can get too much to fast esp. at 8 to take in. I always try to make it fun in some form or fasion for her. She gets real excited when I say we going to do something new.

clemenslee1 said:

Totally agree. She really is taking it slow. I generally only add 1 or 2 things to work on at a time until she gets them down. That's why at the beginning of this thread I said Small things to work. Because I like you believe in only adding or changing things a little at a time. It can get too much to fast esp. at 8 to take in. I always try to make it fun in some form or fasion for her. She gets real excited when I say we going to do something new.

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At this point I have pretty much stopped trying to fix anything with my DD's swing. No matter how nicely I say it she takes it as I think she isn't any good, it is frustrating because she will listen to her coaches crappy advice but flip out when I tell her anything. So we just go and hit. Part of the issue is that she is hitting well, and always has. At some point this will probably stop and she might be willing to listen to me, hopefully it won't be too late by that point....

pattar said:

At this point I have pretty much stopped trying to fix anything with my DD's swing. No matter how nicely I say it she takes it as I think she isn't any good, it is frustrating because she will listen to her coaches crappy advice but flip out when I tell her anything. So we just go and hit. Part of the issue is that she is hitting well, and always has. At some point this will probably stop and she might be willing to listen to me, hopefully it won't be too late by that point....

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I just want to post an observation. I've read your thoughts here and elsewhere. You are doing it right. All along you have tried to learn and have shared what you know. I am positive that it is the same when you are working with your dd. There comes a time for all of us where you wonder if you have done all that you can. I believe that you are! Good luck!

clemenslee1 said:

Been working with my daughter on some the suggestion that you've guys made. Which by the way thanks for all of them. Not only am I learning myself but also her. Still trying to work on keeping the back knee from floating over the back foot. My main question is, in the video below is she turning the barrel more now, that we've been working on it? I don't know how to make a Gif to really see. By the way hope you all had a great new year!

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Getting back on topic (sorry...), getting over the back knee some isn't a death sentence if you don't get stuck on your backside as you try to move out. Yelich gets pretty far over his foot:


That said your DD still doesn't create much stretch/separation as she moves out. Keep working that Justin Stone drill that was suggested to you a while back. In terms of turning the barrel, your DD does
a decent job...I have seen a lot worse "push swings" at her age. Keep working at it.

pattar said:

At this point I have pretty much stopped trying to fix anything with my DD's swing. No matter how nicely I say it she takes it as I think she isn't any good, it is frustrating because she will listen to her coaches crappy advice but flip out when I tell her anything. So we just go and hit. Part of the issue is that she is hitting well, and always has. At some point this will probably stop and she might be willing to listen to me, hopefully it won't be too late by that point....

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I had the same hurdle in the early years. One thing I tried to get my DD to understand was that she isn't expected by ANYONE to have the same swing as a pro. However, pros are the guides we use to make sure we are improving things the right way, which is why we compare to the best in the game. It's not about pointing out that you're bad, it's about finding the things to help you get even better than you are right now. If you can get her to watch video of herself, focus on the good things she is doing (find something), and MAYBE slip in something that can be improved toward the end of the discussion. Also, look at video that isn't her and talk about some of the technical things. Down the road, you will probably find that a lot of that info has sunk in.

Cannonball said:

I just want to post an observation. I've read your thoughts here and elsewhere. You are doing it right. All along you have tried to learn and have shared what you know. I am positive that it is the same when you are working with your dd. There comes a time for all of us where you wonder if you have done all that you can. I believe that you are! Good luck!

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I agree with this 100%.

clemenslee1 said:

Been working with my daughter on some the suggestion that you've guys made. Which by the way thanks for all of them. Not only am I learning myself but also her. Still trying to work on keeping the back knee from floating over the back foot. My main question is, in the video below is she turning the barrel more now, that we've been working on it? I don't know how to make a Gif to really see. By the way hope you all had a great new year!

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I’m viewing from my phone and can’t do frame by frame but this looks much improved. Nice work! What suggestions and cues did you give her?

Spartans21 said:

I’m viewing from my phone and can’t do frame by frame but this looks much improved. Nice work! What suggestions and cues did you give her?

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I basically showed and had her perform what the video below shows against the mattress. I used that concept with the cue of attacking. I explained to her without getting technical that if its just hands or knob to the ball you aren't attacking ball., but if its barrel to the ball then you are attacking the ball. I even asked her to show me what is not attacking the ball with bat vs what is. I even asked her what part of the bat she wants to hit the ball with. Even a child understands its the barrel. I think the drill helped give her the visual and feel that she needed.