13 Year old DD Critique

It is a bad camera angle, but she is counter-rotating a bit to me. I like almost everything about her set-up (maybe a little wider and more 'sat' but that's a personal preference). To stop the counter-rotate a couple of things -- have her keep her belly button centered even as she loads. That will tighten up her links and stop the counter-rotation and sway back. Also, explain to her what a hip coil is (she's already doing it naturally), and how to 'pull-back' with her back and drive through/under with her back -- see this post and this thread for info on that: https://www.discussfastpitch.com/so...meagan-wiggins-george-brett-7.html#post496173 Work on that and a lot will change for her.

Finally, that ball is set up very low. Given her current mechanics, she is plunging her arms down to it rather than tilting behind and through it.

All that said, she is doing a lot of things right with a very aggressive stretch and launch.

Shawn said:

Yes, try to bring the lead arm down (lead elbow) so it is hanging around the bottom of the chest like Donaldson. Don't start out with the lead arm up in the plane of the shoulders (elbow pointing toward the other batter box) like she is currently doing. It feels more natural to bring the front shoulder down and inside the front hip with the arm lowered.

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As Donny would say ... "Lead elbow down and thumb up".

Donny also described a "U Method" to help young developing hitters learn the upper body positioning.

The U is a line drawn from the point of the lead shoulder, down the lead arm , across the forearm, and back up the barrel.

One option for group teaching LL players is to form the U and then rock the shoulder unit back ( rock the U) until the tip of the lead elbow is behind the belly button

This is a position the kids can see easily and remember and is a reliable preloaded upper body.

Teaching them to cock the hands , maintain the U and rock the U to a point behind the belly button is important.

Another Donny comment ....

Hitters that fail to get OR keep the hands cocked and the lead elbow behind the belly button to foot plant cannot hit very well.

Yet another Donny comment ...

The relative elbow positioning. The lead elbow will come down nearer the body as the rear elbow moves up and in

I believe she possesses a lot of potential. With that being said, I feel that she doesn’t understand how to create tension within in her body the correct way. She counter rotates a lot to create the tension she is looking for. I like looking at Bergman for examples of creating tension without all of the counter rotation. Watch the video link below and see if you can feel the tension in his upper body during his set up. When I watch video of him I can feel the tension he creates if that makes sense. I find he starts preloaded which my help your DD get a feel of the correct way to tension the body. Over time she may be able to work that tension in through her movements/sequence. This is just my honest opinion on what may help her.

https://twitter.com/tjhannam10/status/1086423982314831872?s=21




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FiveFrameSwing said:

As Donny would say ... "Lead elbow down and thumb up".

Click to expand...

Yes, I was thinking of Donny.

You know, posture aside the swing isn't all that bad. The hands drop a little, but nothing I haven't seen before.

Show her the photo comparison and use a mirror. The posture must be fixed before you can work on anything else.I MO Good news is she look really strong.