13 YO DD hitting video

[Amy in AZ.]

The hitting instructors that I communicate with aren't using the 2 pound balls for batting practice. The baseball sized ones that are slightly less then one pound, are what my friends use exclusively.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

The hitting instructors that I communicate with aren't using the 2 pound balls for batting practice. The baseball sized ones that are slightly less then one pound, are what my friends use exclusively.

Thank you Amy. I've had hitting instructors and coaches demonstrate their use of hitting heavy balls ... and what they are producing, IMO, is "arm powered" swingers ... not what I'm after. I'll ask a hitter mid-way through their sequence of hitting heavy balls ... "what do you feel is powering your swing when you hit these heavy balls" ... and the answers I have received have generally made me cringe.

 

[Justanotherdad]

FFS - Have you ever used a TCB ball or seen one demonstrated? To me, the real benefit of the ball is not in the fact that they weigh a little more than two x the weight of a regulation softball, but in the way they react when not hit correctly. I think they are a valuable tool in that regard.

In my experience the girls that have bad mechanics won't drive these balls for crap. In fact, it will just reenforce the fact that they have crap mechanics.

If a girl has good mechanics they will drive these balls and drive them hard. There are girls on my daughers team who can hit these balls 50+ feet and they are the best hitters on the team. There are girls on the team that can at times hit a regulation ball 200+ feet that can not hit these balls for crap.

 

[softballphreak]

Softballphreak ... does it look anything like this 2-lb fitness ball?

Walmart sells these below in a package of two ... do these look similar?

Yeah, they're similar. Golds Gym is the brand name.

 

[softballphreak]

Softballphreak, the literature on the TCB website states that the purpose of these balls is for “hitters to develop strength and extension through the hitting zone”.

A typical softball weighs 6.5oz. At 2-lbs, the TCB ball weighs almost 5x that of a normal softball.

I wonder about the notion of using these balls to “develop strength and extension”. To me anyway, extension is a ‘result’ of good upstream mechanics, and not a late ‘push’ through & beyond contact that needs to be muscled. What is one trying to "strengthen" here ... is it the arms?

I actually wanted the 1-lb balls but Walmart was out of the small balls. Not sure of their weight.

I tested the 2-lb balls on myself. Don't tell anyone, but I self-tossed and hit one in the aisle at Walmart. But I did buy the package I hit.

What I've seen so far is a full speed swing and whatever results from contact. Other than correct fundamentals, I'm not emphasizing anything other than hit it right now. I'm not encouraging extension at all. Like you said extension is a result. What I noticed last night with the male power hitter is after hitting the 2-lb balls I could hear the softballs going by. He was amazed at the difference; and that was after hitting only about a dozen or so pitched weight balls.

The feedback from a couple of the batters was they could feel muscles that were affected by hitting the balls. One said the only shock they felt was when I threw fast inside. When I, myself, was hitting, that's the only shock I felt. That surprised me. I thought it would be more like hitting a deflated basketball but it was not near that.

To the girls, I really didn't pitch fast; but I didn't arc it either. I don't think speed is important for those drills.

 

[softballphreak]

FFS - Have you ever used a TCB ball or seen one demonstrated? To me, the real benefit of the ball is not in the fact that they weigh a little more than two x the weight of a regulation softball, but in the way they react when not hit correctly. I think they are a valuable tool in that regard.

In my experience the girls that have bad mechanics won't drive these balls for crap. In fact, it will just reenforce the fact that they have crap mechanics.

If a girl has good mechanics they will drive these balls and drive them hard. There are girls on my daughers team who can hit these balls 50+ feet and they are the best hitters on the team. There are girls on the team that can at times hit a regulation ball 200+ feet that can not hit these balls for crap.

I haven't had a chance to use the small balls but I was thinking someone should be hitting them further than the 20' they mention. The ones I have pitched to so far with the 2-lb ball are just barely getting it back to me from about 20'.

You're right about the design of the ball exposing bad mechanics. One of my primary anticipations is watching our lungers try to hit it hard off their front foot. I don't think it's gonna happen. One other thing I discovered right out of the box, if you pull off the ball, it goes absolutely nowhere.

And if they arm swing it's not going to be very effective. They will have to stay connected. Otherwise, there may be some arm soreness.

 

[alabama_lowlife]

I bought 3 of the baseball sized "stress" balls. They had the 2 lb balls as well as 5 and 8 lb balls.

 

[softballphreak]

I bought 3 of the baseball sized "stress" balls. They had the 2 lb balls as well as 5 and 8 lb balls.

Let us know how well they work. How much do they weigh? Do they have a valve like the larger balls?

 

[alabama_lowlife]

Ok, the baseball sized balls are a little too small IMO. She and a friend were both able to hit them to the grass when they hit them squarely. They said it didn't jar their hands though, and they were amused by how the ball distorted when it was hit lol.

We spent most of the time working on outside tee and it was a pretty disheartening session. I tried to explain to her the feeling of keeping her shoulder in by using your suggestion softballfreak, and had her place her left hand on my right hand but it just wasn't an effective cue for her. I still do not have a very good understanding of it, so i really was at a loss when trying to explain it to her. I demonstrated hitting it off the outside tee but i'm not sure if my swing was exactly as it should have been. I know i initiated it with my hips and hit it well over the right field fence, but i'm 6-1 220 so i don't really have to get it "just right" to hit it over that fence. Most of her swings resulted in hitting the top of the ball or hitting it off the end of the bat. She did hit a few solid line drives, but not enough for her to get the feel of it.

I browsed through the model swings thread briefly looking for a good example of somebody hitting to the opposite field but didn't see one and my internet connection doesn't really handle that thread very well. I saw several who appeared to be pulling outside pitches but it might have just been the angle. I just don't know how to tell her to get the bat out to an outside pitch or down to a lower pitch. Even to me in seems counter intuitive to even swing at something out or low while still maintaining connection. Don't you HAVE to get your hands out or down to get to them? What verbal cues do you use to describe hitting those pitches? Does anybody have a good clip of somebody driving one hard the other way?

 

[alabama_lowlife]

Let us know how well they work. How much do they weigh? Do they have a valve like the larger balls?

They didn't have a weight listed on them that i could see. Yes, they do have a little valve on them.