What would you recommend ?

Here is my DD swinging a bat during a game . She has done very well this year,but as of late, been struggling at the plate. Not striking out, but hitting most pitches to right field or foul off the right side. I can see her stepping out in the video . I can see some bat drag,when she makes contact she has not started using her hands to swing . I can view in slow motion but can not get that to youtube yet. Maybe some of you can help with that. She is 12. She hits very well in practice but this is pretty much what it looks like in a game . Pitching speeds don't seem to matter. What can we do to get her back on track ?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjWCTfaxuy0

Yes on stepping out. If she steps at all it must be forward. She is not using her hips, that's why she is going RT. Hips = power. They should be more turned toward the pitcher during the swing.

We use 'dry swings' like dry firing a gun to teach or fix proper swings, then move to a cage. But you can use a tee if that helps. Her front toes need to be pointing toward the pitcher to open the hips.

Example= Try standing in the batters box with the feet pointing straight to home plate without turning the front foot. See how little you can turn your hips?? Now do the same and during the swing turning the front toes out toward the pitcher. See how much it will open the hips now? Now practice doing this and getting the timing down.

She does appear to be stepping out. The hips fired just fine. Did she hit to right field in this clip? It looks more like a pop up. Another clip might show her better.

SP that swing was a pop up that landed on the dugout . Look at the other video beside adesdad1 on youtube , the ball was just foul about halfway between 1st and the out field fence. Pretty much the same swing though.
GD are you sure she doesn't use her hips ? Do you mean she should turn her hips sooner?

Ade's Dad --

IMO your daughter has a good foundation to build on. She does two things that all good hitters do. She stays back (doesn't lunge) and she keeps her hands inside the ball. The key to keeping the hands inside the ball is to tuck the rear elbow and get the lead forearm up across the letters very early; before the hands turn the corner. Your daughter basically gets into Epstein's bat on the deltoid training position prior to swinging.

I don't like commenting a whole lot on other kids so I'll just use my experience with my daughter as we are two years ahead of you. My daughter hit for years starting with the bat on the deltoid. The reason we did this is because it pre-set her back elbow and front forearm in the proper position prior to swing launch. She hit really well from this position.

However, she did what I see your daughter doing, which is she tended to drag the bat when she started her swing. Which lead to some bat drag. For the longest time I couldn't figure out what she was doing to cause the bat drag. Then I stumbled onto this quote from Mankin:

This vision of how the swing is initiated presents a real problem in developing high level mechanics. From the hundreds of swing reviews I have done for young hitters, I would say that about 95% of the batter's problems in generating power and bat speed stem from how they initiate the swing. The defining difference between those that have real pop in their bat and those that don't is determined from how much rearward bat speed they develop from the launch to the lag position. Call the mechanic THT or whatever term you choose, all great hitters keep their hands back at the shoulder and apply forces at the handle and accelerate the bat-head rearward -- First, 90 degrees rearward to the lag position, then 90 more degrees around toward contact. -- Hitters with less pop initiate the swing by driving the hands and knob forward while leaving the bat-head dragging behind the hands well into the swing.

This quote lead me to the discovery that even when starting with the hands flat with the bat on the deltoid, my daughter still needed to use her top hand (THT) to initiate her swing. Last fall I had her switch to a vertical bat handset in order to help her feel how the top hand works early in the swing. The problem with the vertical bat handest at the younger ages is that it's a challenge for the kids to correctly get into the universal launch position (back elbow tucked, front forearm up across letters) on time.

So...starting young players with the bat on the deltoid causes less timing issues, but it may lead to their not understanding how to use the top hand to initiate the swing. It really boils down to how much time the player is willing to put in, swinging the bat. My daughter isn't willing to put in the time so the process gets dragged out. The kids that are willing to put in the reps, should be able to pick it up fairly quickly. I would recommend using Jen Yee as a model.

If you can get your daughter to use her top hand more to initiate her swing, I believe you will find that her hips will lead more than they do now and she will get more separation. Applying top hand torque momentarily freezes the hands at the rear shoulder giving the hips time to get out front.

You may also want to consider having your daughter load her hands some as she strides. Some refer to this as loading the scap. Either way, the effect is that the front shoulder will turn down and in. You don't want her to just twist her upper body around a vertical axis.

You've already mentioned the stepping out issue. Most hitters hit with their feet staggered, which is not the same as stepping away from the pitcher. My daughter has her feet staggered in her stance, but she understands that her back foot has to get closer to the plate for every inch of stagger she has. IMO 2 to 3 inches of stagger is ideal and helps the hitter maintain balance throughout the entire swing.

Good luck.

I would think throwing. As you step out you seperate back with hands

She could seperate her hands back as the pitcher goes back. I would also raise her back elbow up. Relax the front elbow.

Her pop ups are partially causes by her back elbow slotting right away ahead of her hands.

Look at the video of my daughter in the hitting videos of reverse hand drill. Try having your daughter hit some off the tee with the back elbow about that high.







Straightleg

torque

Ade's Dad said:

GD are you sure she doesn't use her hips ? Do you mean she should turn her hips sooner?

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I mean she is 'turning' her hips, but not 'torquing' her hips. In the vid it looks like she stops her hips after contact and they are facing between first and second base. Deep power hitters should follow through ( driving the ball ) and end up with the hips facing the pitcher.

Now I wasn't a bad hitter back in the day, I have tried to teach mine the same technique in this crazy sport we call girls fastpitch.

Notice the foot positions, both feet are pointing toward the pitcher during the drive. Her hips are pointing toward the pitcher at the drive. She is utilizing all her power from the legs, hips, and core in one motion. ( torque )

This is my DD 2 years ago, Its the only good one I could find to show hip and feet angles. I don't like the up cut with the bat, but it was a good rise ball.

Thanks Wellpht , Staightleg and Goingdeep we will work on your suggestions . GD,thanks for the clarifications I now see what you mean. Why is it so hard to see what is going on with your own child ? I will put up another video after this weekend and see if we made any progress.

Ade's Dad said:

Why is it so hard to see what is going on with your own child ?

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We all have that problem my friend. That's why I like this forum, we are all here to help each other without beating up each other's kids. No one on here is perfect, and I have learned so much from the members.