12 yo DD swing

[Chris O'Leary]

IMO she had a chance to grab with her hips and lower torso, and if she had, the odds are good that the hands/forearms would have responded ... instead she did as you describe and resorted to powering the swing with her arms.

Earlier this summer I went to the batting cages with my son. In the cage next to us was a female hitter who was struggling. As my son hit, I listened to the dad talk to his daughter. I realized that part of the problem was that he was giving her contradictory advice. Before she started her swing, he would tell her, "Stand up straight," I assume so that she wouldn't drop her back shoulder. After the swing, he would tell her, "You're dropping your hands."

She was doing her best to comply, but the results were predictably bad.

Her swing looked a bit like this.

 

[RayR]

Standing up could mean dont dive across the plate....have some players that do that and telling them to stand up keeps their posture in line....

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Standing up could mean dont dive across the plate....have some players that do that and telling them to stand up keeps their posture in line....

How do you cover the lower 1/3 of the strike zone, then?

 

[Justanotherdad]

One of the biggest battles I fought with my daughter was getting her to hit from a more athletic posture. She wanted to stand upright and like Chris is alluding too struggled with the bottom of the strike zone, particularly low-outside.

Once we finally got her to "sit" in her stance things really started to fall into place for her. I would never tell a kid to stand up in their stance, the best hitters in the world hit from a very athletic stance or know how to get there during their "gather" OR "load"..

 

[softballphreak]

Also, you don't load the quads and glutes when you stand up straight.

 

[RayR]

How do you cover the lower 1/3 of the strike zone, then?

Not by diving across the plate...re read my post again....I didn't mean keeping a vertical posture - I meant that I want them to keep whatever posture they use (read stance) during the swing in line.

 

[RayR]

One of the biggest battles I fought with my daughter was getting her to hit from a more athletic posture. She wanted to stand upright and like Chris is alluding too struggled with the bottom of the strike zone, particularly low-outside.

Once we finally got her to "sit" in her stance things really started to fall into place for her. I would never tell a kid to stand up in their stance, the best hitters in the world hit from a very athletic stance or know how to get there during their "gather" OR "load"..

When kids "sit" in their stance sometimes they still swing from the top and dive across the plate....and blow their front shoulder open too early....that's all I was saying....perfectly fine to sit....I encourage it as well....

 

[Justanotherdad]

Ahh...gotcha.

 

[wvmurf]

Thanks to everyone for the input. I really appreciate those of you who had input on how to make the swing better, not just pointing out the problem....