13 year old swing mechanics help!

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Jul 21, 2008
414
0
Looking some feedback GOOD or BAD about my daughter swing. She just turned 13 and video was shot with game pitcher. Hit was a single to right center.

What would you do to improve on this swing.


 
Sep 29, 2008
1,399
63
Northeast Ohio
That high pitch is actually a tough pitch for these young girls to hit. They have a hard time keeping up with it. How does she hit in general? What is her favorite pitch and what does she do with it? These might be relevant questions rather that trying to disect an entire swing mechanic with one swing. Here are a few observations worth investigating.

Does opening the front foot and hip so much make her vunerable for the low and outside pitch? That is where a lot of girels like to pitch it. It is possibly something to address.

At 7 to 8 seconds when she wants to first initiate the actual swing her move that involves over tucking her back elbow and barring the lead arm definately costs her valueable time and perhaps bat speed.

Lots of weight falling back on the back foot at point of contact. She is rotating but reallu not getting into the pitch.

Looks like a real gamer though! She wants to obviously kill it! Pretty good form.

Regarding this particular pitch experiment with a very high tee and soft toss up in that zone and see if she can begin to adjust to getting on plane and hitting it more out front to drive it.

As always compare to your favorite swings in the Model Swing Sticky thread.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,019
0
Portland, OR
2ngx5d4.gif


'Coil' is weak to marginal.

'Stretch' is virtually absent from the swing.

Hands remain fixed at the rear shoulder … almost as if she is attempting to be “connected” early … bad idea IMO. The idea is to “establish” “connection” ***WHEN*** the swing is initiated … and not before. One of RudyJ’s absolutes is what he considers “separation” … which in Rudy's usage basically equates to the feel of “walking away from the hands”.

A few examples follow.

rmpmpw.gif



dpgveu.gif
 
Oct 12, 2009
1,460
0
2ngx5d4.gif


'Coil' is weak to marginal.

Coil is the least of her concerns.[1]

First, this swing is just a step beyond bat drag. It's not as bad as some, but she fans the front foot open and then leaks her back elbow forward.

Second, she seems to push her hands forward as if she's taking her hands to the ball.

I'd try some front arm swings to start with.

[1] FFS is reminding me a lot of a young kid with a new hammer. He sees everything as a nail (something that coil can fix).
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,019
0
Portland, OR
CO ... I agree that 'coil' isn't this kid's biggest issue.

IMO, this kid is out of sequence ... so I would start by teaching a correct sequence. Establish pre-set conditions ... then Coil, Stretch and Swing.

The Coil can be significantly improved ... and since that is the start of a sequence, I would personally cover that.

Biggest issue, IMO, is the lack of "Stretch".
 
Oct 12, 2009
1,460
0
CO ... I agree that 'coil' isn't this kid's biggest issue.

IMO, this kid is out of sequence ... so I would start by teaching a correct sequence. Establish pre-set conditions ... then Coil, Stretch and Swing.

The Coil can be significantly improved ... and since that is the start of a sequence, I would personally cover that.

Biggest issue, IMO, is the lack of "Stretch".

What would you do about the arm bar, back elbow leaking, and the push through contact?

What about fanning the front foot open?

Don't you think those are issues?
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,019
0
Portland, OR
What would you do about the arm bar, back elbow leaking, and the push through contact?

What about fanning the front foot open?

Don't you think those are issues?

CO, IMO the arm bar is a 'result'. Had she created "Stretch" and properly "established" "connection" at "swing initiation", then I believe the 'result' would have been different in this regard.

The fanning of the front foot is again a 'result'.

The kid is basically swinging out of the basic pattern of Coil-Stretch-Swing. Her swing collapses quickly because, IMO, it is improperly based.

I'd start by teaching a cleaner sequence. That's me.

Do I see other issues? Yes ... but I'd first work to get this kid in a cleaner sequence, and then work on cleaning up the issues.

I place a lot of emphasis on the swing sequence ... and this swing sequence, IMO anyway, will have this girl performing poorly when she faces solid pitching.
 
May 13, 2008
824
16
Here are some of my quick observations while I'm on my lunch break. The stride foot opens too much and she lands flat. She never fully comes off of the backside. Her first move is with the back elbow and the barrel dumps a little. The lead arm bars a little and appears to be "swinging level". At extension the bat is actually pointing down. I agree with CO that there are lead arm issues that require some lead arm isolation drills. First, however, I'd address the base and work on swinging from the ground up.

Here is a practice swing of my own DD on a high and tight pitch. Not a perfect swing, but there are some good things in it...

 
Oct 23, 2009
966
0
Los Angeles
Looking some feedback GOOD or BAD about my daughter swing. She just turned 13 and video was shot with game pitcher. Hit was a single to right center.

What would you do to improve on this swing.




Anyone else notice that she toe touches twice before POC. Specifically, she moves her front foot back 6 inches, touches, and them moves it forward to the original starting point. I am no expert but I don't see any elite hitters do that move.

As a side note, was this a practice game? Her coaches are sitting on buckets in the field of play, which is not allowed since they need to be in the dugout if they are not base coaching.
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,928
Messages
680,981
Members
21,678
Latest member
Pitch Machine Pros
Top