13 YO DD hitting video

[FiveFrameSwing]

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.

JAD ... no, I have not used a TCB ball, or one of the similar balls that also weigh 2-lbs.

They don't "weigh a little more than two x the weight of a regulation softball" ... they weigh almost 5x the weight of a regulation softball.

So let's talk about hitting heavy objects ... because that is what we are discussing here. At 2-lbs, these balls weigh 50% more than a basketball.

My whole point is with what the "objective" is when hitting heavy balls. What is one trying to accomplish? What is one trying to enhance? Softballphreak mentioned muscles ... and when I ask coaches and hitters to point to the muscles they think they are developing with the exercise of hitting heavy balls, they often point to their arms and/or wrists. What I hear all too often as a goal here ... from both coaches and hitters ... is, IMO, not a good goal.

I'm not saying that hitting heavy balls isn't useful ... but the goal listed on the TCB website should be better clarified IMO.

The advantage of hitting a heavy object is not to develop strength of the arms/wrists as they push through extension. It isn't to develop arm strength at all ... and it certainly isn't to develop sore wrists. The benefit IMO, is taking a swing that has been trained to be initiated at transition, so as to establish connection, and to entice the hitter into exploding more forcefully with the lower body action at transition. That's the area that I want strengthened. That's what leads to 'extension' as a 'result'. That's what leads to bursting through the point of contact and training a hitter to "swing through the ball". I wouldn't give a kid the objective of building arm strength by hitting heavy balls ... as I personally believe that's a faulty goal/objective when hitting heavy balls. Personally ... I'd encourage deep contact when hitting heavy balls, and the favoring of amplifying the enhancement of the explosive action at transition ... and not the building of strength in the arms through extension.

Can there be a benefit to exploding into a heavy bag? Yes. But I bet these balls are a lot more fun.

 

[starsnuffer]

The point of TCB balls is not to hit a heavy object, the point is to hit balls that can be thrown on a quick horizontal plane in the wind with limited room in order to warm up before a game. They do have other benefits when teaching bunting, slapping, and learning to hit on the same plane as the pitch (if you hit a TCB ball off plane the ball will spin in a clear oblong shape and not go very far).

-W

 

[softballphreak]

I agree with FFS 100%. I want the ball to get deeper so they can feel the strength of connection, of the torso powering the swing, so to speak. Specifically, I want those that are out on top of their front foot lunging to feel the lack of power they have when they hit the 2-lb ball.

I learned a little more tonight about a heavy bat. The college coach of the kid I was working with tonight has put the word out that no one would be swinging less than a 24 oz bat. I brought out my old wooden Al Kaline Big Stick. It's heavy. The kid was hitting hard line drives back at me. The heavy bat had a significant effect on the ball.

The point I was emphasizing tonight was exploding into the ball at contact. I believe from what alabama was saying that the small balls would be too light for what I want. It sounds like they are good but not for me pitching front toss with the kids I work with. This same kid I worked with tonight broke my nose with a tennis ball when she was a sophomore in HS. She's a rising college senior now.

I have been using a weight bag for years but I think I like this better.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

The point of TCB balls is not to hit a heavy object, the point is to hit balls that can be thrown on a quick horizontal plane in the wind with limited room in order to warm up before a game. They do have other benefits when teaching bunting, slapping, and learning to hit on the same plane as the pitch (if you hit a TCB ball off plane the ball will spin in a clear oblong shape and not go very far).

-W

From the TCB website .... "The Total Control Batting Ball was developed for the Fastpitch Softball and Baseball hitters to develop strength and extension through the hitting zone and provide instant feedback to the hitter."

 

[softballphreak]

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?

She needs to understand that the shoulder is going to open, for sure. That's natural. Have her do a normal slow swing hitting the ball off the tee and then hold her pose at finish. Feel where the shoulder is.

Now have her swing the hardest swing ever and hold her pose at finish. It won't be where the slow swing shoulder was. But it should be. Now she has to figure out how to make it happen.

As far as hitting outside pitches to opposite field, the belly button will face in the direction of the hit ball. The arms will extend out further toward the opposite field hit.

Opposite field hitting is about the least fun hitting. But the more they do it the better they will get. A common mistake to watch out for is slicing the ball. Don't let the bat head drop and create a bent swing. The reward of doing this tedious drill is the powerful hits she'll get when she's expecting outside and gets one near the middle. Then it's to the fence. Hardly any batter likes working outside pitches.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

The point I was emphasizing tonight was exploding into the ball at contact. I believe from what alabama was saying that the small balls would be too light for what I want. It sounds like they are good but not for me pitching front toss with the kids I work with. This same kid I worked with tonight broke my nose with a tennis ball when she was a sophomore in HS. She's a rising college senior now.

I have been using a weight bag for years but I think I like this better.

Bingo! And that, IMO, is what hitters should be emphasizing when they hit into a punching bag or hit heavy balls.

IMO Alabama's kid doesn't have the Forward-by-Coiling action down yet. She doesn't know how to pull back with her lower back muscles, or basically have much of a hint of the Forward-by-Coiling action. And since the explosive action that we wish to enhance is immediately following the Forward-by-Coiling action, she wouldn't, IMO, be obtaining the full benefit of hitting weighted balls. I personally wouldn't have a kid hitting into a punching bag or hitting heavy balls until they could demonstrate the Forward-by-Coiling action and capture the transition process of using an explosive lower body to initiate their swing. That's the action I want enhanced when hitting into a punching bag or heavy ball ... the explosive lower body action immediately following Forward-by-Coiling.

 

[starsnuffer]

From the TCB website .... "The Total Control Batting Ball was developed for the Fastpitch Softball and Baseball hitters to develop strength and extension through the hitting zone and provide instant feedback to the hitter."

Yep, and I'm telling you what they're actually used for. I'm surprised anyone older then 19 doesn't automatically ignore anything that clearly sounds or reads like it comes from a marketing department. Then again, I hear people actually watch commercials on TV, whodathunkit?

-W

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Starsnuffer, I understand that the marketing of Total Control Sports may be more geared towards selling a product than in giving a great description of how best to use a product. Yet, you wrote ... "The point of TCB balls is not to hit a heavy object" ... and my comment back to you is that these 2lb objects are used to hit ... and they are relatively heavy ... weighing 5x that of a regular softball. I'm just trying to stress what not to emphasize, and what to emphasize, when hitting such heavy objects.

 

[softballphreak]

Bingo! And that, IMO, is what hitters should be emphasizing when they hit into a punching bag or hit heavy balls.

IMO Alabama's kid doesn't have the Forward-by-Coiling action down yet. She doesn't know how to pull back with her lower back muscles, or basically have much of a hint of the Forward-by-Coiling action. And since the explosive action that we wish to enhance is immediately following the Forward-by-Coiling action, she wouldn't, IMO, be obtaining the full benefit of hitting weighted balls. I personally wouldn't have a kid hitting into a punching bag or hitting heavy balls until they could demonstrate the Forward-by-Coiling action and capture the transition process of using an explosive lower body to initiate their swing. That's the action I want enhanced when hitting into a punching bag or heavy ball ... the explosive lower body action immediately following Forward-by-Coiling.

When I suggested the weight ball my theory was that if she pulled off of the ball she wouldn't feel the good solid impact feeling and then she would adjust to be able to feel that impact.

Hitting into a punching bag would also expose the shoulder trying to fly open. They tend to slide off the bag. So, alabama, if you have access to a punching bag that might do the trick.

Another trick to try is to hang a carpet or something similar over a clothes line and hit it with the main purpose of creating a LOUD POP on contact without letting the shoulder pull the bat away.

 

[Justanotherdad]

JAD ... no, I have not used a TCB ball, or one of the similar balls that also weigh 2-lbs.

They don't "weigh a little more than two x the weight of a regulation softball" ... they weigh almost 5x the weight of a regulation softball..

FFS, in the interest of anyone who comes across this posting lets be clear that I am personally speaking of the the smaller total control balls which are barely 2x the weight of a softball. I believe Amy said the same thing.

From their website: "The TCB Ball is a MUST HAVE for the serious Fastpitch or Baseball hitter and their teams. Designed to develop maximum strength and drive through the hitting zone.

TCB Ball is 3.2 inches in diameter and weighs 425 grams."

From Google: 425 Grams = 14.99 oz

From Wikipedia: The size of the ball varies according to the classification of play; the permitted circumferences in international play are 12±0.125 in (30.5±0.3 cm), in weight between 6.25 oz (178 g) and 7.0 oz (198.4 g) in fast pitch;

Therefore, I am not incorrect in saying = barely 2 x the weight of a regulation 12 inch softball.

There are bigger TCB's and I understand that the 2lb balls were brought up in this thread, but I personally don't use them and as Amy said none of the coaches I know advocate them.