10U Hitter Swing Progression

[WinThemAll]

Here is a 10U hitter that started over a year ago.
The video shows three different clips from the spring '09, fall '09 and recently. Any input would be great.

 

[bosoxfan]

This is more for my own education to see if I see these things correctly when the guys who know what they are talking about weigh in.

I see bat drag because the bottom elbow is out in front of the hands.

In the last clip it almost looks to me like she is shifting her weight forward and then pushing it back with her front leg. if that makes sense.

 

[Hitter]

Here is a 10U hitter that started over a year ago.
The video shows three different clips from the spring '09, fall '09 and recently. Any input would be great.

Very nice progression. I would suggest she separate the hands rearward just a little more and clear the back elbow away from her a little more also. On the last clip you can see her finishing over the shoulder more and that is a plus.

She is till squishing the bug however. Try putting a concrete block on the outside edge of her back foot and have her stride.

If you would without saying anything to her...ask her to throw a ball like she is an outfielder trying to hit the cut off person and observe. Did she step to throw? Did her front knee flex upon landing and di she land on the ball of the foot? Did the ball hand break down first out of the glove and then come up? Did her glove hand elbow tuck under her arm pit and finally did the back leg release and follow through?

When I see a hitter swing like her they usually do not throw well because they have not been shown what momentum is or what a weight shift can do for you.

If you have time could you show us her throwing as it could be a huge teaching point or at least it has been for me at clinics when I observe this.

Belly button up she has made a big improvement!

Thanks Howard

 

[WinThemAll]

Hitter, funny you should mention that, she does have throwing issues. I will upload her throwing soon. I agree a lot with what you have posted about throwing and hitting. I have been working with her on trying to "feel" momentum and weight shift.

Last night we worked on not squishing and weight shift.

Thanks Bosoxfan.

 

[WinThemAll]

Throwing motion.

 

[Hitter]

Throwing motion.

What we teach in the throwing motion...I have them step forward to throw and stop and ask them to give me their ball hand and I grasp the index and social finger and try to pull/ guide them forward and if they feel resistance in the fingers I ask them to be more on the ball of the lead foot and to flex the lead foot knee more and think their nose is over the toes and finally they glide forward with no resistance. This is huge for the girls.

I noticed in the clip that when she is on her knee I would like to see her chest come more forward to her knee and the glove hand tuck under her arm pit more. At about .24 you can see her stepping flat footed and the weight is not transferring smoothly, as she almost hops over verses glides, although see is coming around and releasing from the back side. We start our kids side ways in a hitters stance, bend at the waist and soften the knees with the glove and ball in the middle of their ches or what we term as the gathered position. Then we slide the back foot forward so the back foot comes up against the instep of the lead foot and then we step forward with the lead foot and drive off the back leg. When the lead foot goes forward we emphasize to land at about 45 degrees and on the ball of the foot with a flexed/ bent knee. As we land on the ball of the foot we break our hands apart and glove arm is angled so we can see the back of our glove and the ball hand comes down and out of the glove with the elbow up and hand down and then we circle up and throw. Once they get this after a few throws we add a martial arts move. When punching in martial arts as we punch we go forward with the palm up in a fist and turn the fist hand over as we strike. Then as we pull back we turn the hand over again and the elbow tucks in under our arm pit and for throwing we allow the elbow to go even further rearward to allow the throwing arm shoulder and arm to develop more power. You can see this not happening with her as she basically just allows the glove to lay or rest on her chest and a lot of momentum was lost by doing this. The head on shots are not showing an athletic type move as would be expected if she were hitting by indication of her stepping on her heel as if she were walking. Our move side ways is what we term a slide , step break and throw. We expect it done with a little rhythm and timing. As she is going forward in the head on shot at about .49 you actually see her hip turn and and her foot rolls in and she is still too up right in my opinion and the gloves is laying passively on her chest.

To teach the tucking of the glove we stand in front of the hitter/ thrower and clasp and lock fingers of the glove hand and as I throw I tuck my glove arm in under my arm pit and pull her towards my glove side to add emphasis to the tucking in of the glove to add assistance to the power of the throwing arm and shoulder. Within a few attempts they will grasp the concept and you will hear a difference to the person they are throwing to and you will see them using momentum as they will be more balanced and on the balls of their feet.

At the end of this we do the ball in a hand drill by them getting into their hitting stance, and interlocking the lead hand index finger to the baby finger of the top hand with the ball in the top hand. Get the hands in their hitting position load, stride and separate the hands rearward slightly just as if we were throwing and remind them since the hands are together they can not go as far back however we are generating a sense of momentum by doing this just like we did when we were throwing. I stand next to them at the outside edge of the back foot so they can not turn the heel or squish the bug. However I never say anything to them until after they do it as I want them not to think about it. Now tell them to hit or I mean throw, as for me it is the same as we are trying to get them to use a sense of rhythm and timing to hit and throw and the flex in the front leg is helping them learn how to shift their weight and control the hips. When they throw from this position I have NEVER had one kid try and squish the bug! Why? Because they still think they are throwing when they are actually hitting! Get a bat in their hand at once and let them do the face the fire drill and we are on our way to never having to talk about squishing the bug any more! With our girls this is the light bulb moment of now I know what you were talking about using my legs for the first time!

To whoever posted the clip, thank you for allowing me to use your daughter or player as an example.

Thanks Howard

 

[WinThemAll]

Thank you very much Howard!

We will try this, this weekend.

One thing I have noticed recently is that some of my kids will actually move their hiney backwards when they are bending at the waist throwing on one knee. I noticed this player doing this and tried to correct it. I will try to find a clip.

I have also notice this also with a few of them when hitting (particularly in the cage).

 

[Hitter]

Thank you very much Howard!

We will try this, this weekend.

One thing I have noticed recently is that some of my kids will actually move their hiney backwards when they are bending at the waist throwing on one knee. I noticed this player doing this and tried to correct it. I will try to find a clip.

I have also notice this also with a few of them when hitting (particularly in the cage).

Try this when teaching balance...bend at the waist and soften the knees next and take a bat and put it under the butt cheeks. If they or you feel like they are sitting on the bat they are not balanced. Now repeat and have them move their knees more out towards their toes so they will not become erect with their spine which is why they felt like they were sitting down. They looked balanced however are not and if you push on their back or chest they will fall off balance. If you walked into a room you could not tell iif the person was balanced or not until you tested for it. That is why I never use the word posture as it only describes what balance looks like and until you test for balance your posture looks good.

Thanks Howard

 

[SBdad]

One thing I noticed on her hitting and throwing ( slow motion throw especially), the front foot doesn't open up enough. Looks like it's restricting her follow through. If you keep the front foot closed when you hit the ball, front leg will stay too stiff and hips won't rotate properly. Front foot should open up to about 45 degrees when hitting the ball, and when throwing, toe on front foot should be facing target when ball is released. Take some dry swings and throws with front foot closed and then front foot opened up, and you'll feel the difference of the hips rotating around. I know there are other things to be corrected, as stated from others, but this is what I see.

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[KYFastpitch]

Pride,
Suggestion with the hitting, but everyone else has hit on something that I see, it seems that her lead arm "bars" or straightens and the back elbow moves in front of the hands. This might be causing the dragging of the bat and casting. Also, more on the back toe with her rotation. Maybe more of a hip-load and driving of the knee will help.

Howard,

I've been reading your theories on hitting recently and I thought that I should tell you that you saved my marriage! Let me explain.

I've been newly transplanted into an area that seems to be teaching hitting that would make people on this boards skin crawl. I've been trying to persuade my husband (recent College D1 BBplayer) that high-level softball hitting mechanics are similar to a rotational MLB swing. However, he (and everyone else) seems to think it is some parallel universe where all softball players should only hit the top-half of the ball and out run grounders. Anywho, after reading your posts, some other fine member posts, siggy's clips and lots of "discussing" he is finally convinced.

I just wanted to thank you for putting in words what I was struggling to say!