DD vs. dad hitting

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Jan 18, 2010
4,284
0
In your face


Ok my hitting guru's. I would like some advice / info / input on my DD's bright idea. She 'thinks' she has developed a new 'punch' swing for herself. So I let her use it a couple of times this weekend. Her theory is to not follow through and punch the ball over the infield.

The first swing is her 'punch'. It worked once over 3 attempts. One went straight to the left fielder, and one did drop behind the SS, this one went foul over deep left field.

The second is the swing I have taught her. In this video it bounced off a 225' left center fence.

So first of all, what do you think about both her swings. Anything that is wrong or right. Should I allow her to experiment on her own idea's?? Or will that breed bad habits in the long run??
 
Last edited:
May 14, 2008
19
1
I would stick with the second swing and forget the first as that punch it over the infield idea has no merit and the swing is all arms as she extends or pushs outside of her power base to make contact.
 
Oct 12, 2009
1,465
0


Ok my hitting guru's. I would like some advice / info / input on my DD's bright idea. She 'thinks' she has developed a new 'punch' swing for herself. So I let her use it a couple of times this weekend. Her theory is to not follow through and punch the ball over the infield.

The first swing is her 'punch'. It worked once over 3 attempts. One went straight to the left fielder, and one did drop behind the SS, this one went foul over deep left field.

The second is the swing I have taught her. In this video it bounced off a 225' left center fence.

So first of all, what do you think about both her swings. Anything that is wrong or right. Should I allow her to experiment on her own idea's?? Or will that breed bad habits in the long run??


Second swing is MUCH better. She's more connected at the POC. That swing will scale.

In the first swing she's disconnected at the POC. That is going to make her vulnerable to off-speed pitches as she gets older.

There's a reason why no good hitters use the first swing at the higher levels.
 
Oct 12, 2009
1,465
0
She is finishing too low on both swings. I like the girl on deck.

She finishes more around than up on the second swing because the pitch is up.

This is normal.

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May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
A question in general. How would you force her to listen to you? I never had much luck at that.

Have you tried sending her to a hitting clinic? Around here, the girls go to UofA and ASU and they see the elite hitters, that are a few years older than them and a light bulb goes off.
 
Jan 18, 2010
4,284
0
In your face
A question in general. How would you force her to listen to you? I never had much luck at that.

Have you tried sending her to a hitting clinic? Around here, the girls go to UofA and ASU and they see the elite hitters, that are a few years older than them and a light bulb goes off.

That's why I posted the vid, so she could hear advice from others besides her 'dang dad'. On one hand I applaud her, she is always thinking and trying ways to better herself with her hitting and pitching. Some are good ideas and some not so good.

Amy, I posted in some of my first posts on here that I / we have had horrible experiences with hitting and pitching instructions when she was young ( 10 ). I vowed to never do that again. We are very blessed to come from a full family of baseball players, we all help correct and train together as often as we can.

I wanted to post real game hitting, IMO hitting off a tee shows very little. I need to see game situational swings, when timing and positions are crucial.

There are others from the 'technical' posts that are more advanced than me, please feel free to evaluate the second swing. Hopefully she will throw the first one in the trash. :)

GD
 
Jan 14, 2009
1,591
0
Atlanta, Georgia
Her starting position is almost identical to Epstein's bat-on-the-deltoid training position. Before her hands turn the corner she has her; back elbow slotted, front forearm max up, hands up and back at rear armpit, and barrel pointing behind her. This position is basically what Epstein refers to as the universal launch position. It's really hard to mess up the swing from this position. A good cue to use from this position can be "scoop sand with the top hand".

Seeing this starting position almost makes me want to go back to using it for the sake of simplicity. My daughter used it from 10U through her first year of 12U.

The down side to this position is it's really hard to get good stretch and separation. IMO, she has little to no stretch and little separation. Her hips do not seem to be leading her hands by a meaningful amount. The fact that she hit it off of a 225' fence may indicate that she will be big enough to get by with what she is doing.

I would be careful with how you progress and what you change with this swing. It's good enough now where there is a danger of going backwards. Although sometimes that needs to happen to make additional progress.

IMO, she has a very good platform to build from. The challenge you now face is whether or not you are willing to get into the finer points of the swing and take it to the next level. It really depends on how serious she is and what her goals are.

As a dad I would probably make some changes because it's fun and rewarding to keep improving. As a coach I wouldn't touch her. However I might share some info with the dad if I felt he were receptive.
 
Oct 12, 2009
1,465
0
Her starting position is almost identical to Epstein's bat-on-the-deltoid training position. Before her hands turn the corner she has her; back elbow slotted, front forearm max up, hands up and back at rear armpit, and barrel pointing behind her. This position is basically what Epstein refers to as the universal launch position. It's really hard to mess up the swing from this position.

Actually, I have seen going from this position increase the likelihood of bat drag in kids who are predisposed to it if you aren't careful.
 

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