13 yr old hitting video

[fivepotsogold]

Did some video of my 13 yr old hitting off T and soft toss yesterday ...
Tryouts for 14U start the 11th for her.

Did not get to bat 20 times (at bats 18 or 19) this past year (since May) in Travel so we have a lot to do .....

She did sub for a team a few weeks ago in a double header ... travel teams like hers and got to bat 6 times .... one walk, 3 real lines over SS and 2B, one fly over RF head (might have been caught by a better fielder)

She does load back a lot .. is this OK if she does ths while pitcher winding or she we completely change?
Is she tranferring weight OK...
Hips turn good .. but not every singl time ...

 

[Mark H]

They aren't opening for me. I just get a page of gibberish letters. Is it me or the link?

 

[fivepotsogold]

Not sure why they aren't linking correctly ...
I did cut paste into search in both AOL and my Explorer link and they worked.

Sorry for the glitch!

The pitching videos seemed to work a few days ago ...


I'm getting dragged into the yard to pitch so I'll be back later ...

 

[class_of_2012]

i will make an attempt to help. i am not a professional instructor, but am a softball player so take it for what it's worth. the videos worked fine with me, using firefox and downloading to windows media player.

my humble advice, and i will admit my bias is more of a rotational one (p-c-r), though i used the major league swing (combinational) for many years, and recently converted:

1) invest in a tripod. you can buy them for $20-$40. it would have been nice to see her entire body during the side toss, not just upper.

2) for me, her hands are to high and too far away from her shoulders. this results in less bat control. it's also harder to keep her hands inside the ball this way. i believe ted williams said he gradually lost control of his bat anytime his hands were more than 6" away from his body.

3) she doesn't seem to be finishing with her upper body. she seems to roll her wrists almost right after contact rather than maintaining her extension longer. at the end of your swing, your shoulders should be almost doing a complete 180 ala josh hamilton:

4) i think you are side tossing the ball slightly too high for her so she has to hit it as it comes down. the proper way to side toss is to be at a 45 degree angle to the side and front of her slightly, on your knee, and toss straight up from low so she can hit the ball on the way up or at its apex. your tosses are a little too loopy which causes your daughter to have to make some awkward adjustments.

5) i think she could be in more of an athletic stance, tilting down a little more at her waist. she is too erect.

6) her hands should be more inside the ball. she shouldn't go after the ball with her arms, but tilt more with her upper body to reach pitches that are farther away. right now she appears a little disconnected, meaning her hands are operating independently or her torso rotation. you should tie her hands in with her torso rotation to maximize her power.

 

[Mark H]

Well the problem was me since the clips open fine on my laptop. 2012 makes some good points though I would take issue in some cases. She is hot on the trail of learning and it shows.

Obviously you guys have been working at this with a purpose. Let's talk about one clip and one little part of that clip. Looking at the first swing on the first clip-lets call the frame where the ball is gone and the bat is just past the tee, frame number 7. You see how in frames 6 and 7 the wrists uncock/the bathead whips into contact? Now imagine that whip and that contact finishing about frame 5. That's the first goal I'd focus on for now. Move the tee back in to take away all that working room and yes she will likely hate how it feels. Load the hands back a little more and try to keep the lead arm close to the chest for as long as possible. Englishbey has several great drills on this on the private side but you can figure some things out on your own such as the old grab your shirt sleeve before and through much of rotation trick.

 

[Mark H]

Letting the ball come deep/avoiding pushing the hands foward thus delaying whip on inside pitches.

MPEG4 8 of 16, Fastpitch

Photo 10 of 16, Fastpitch Notice the scap load/hand load back and the timing of shoulder rotation relative to heel plant here vs what your DD is doing.

Photo 14 of 31, Analysis

And like this on the outside. I'd really like you to look at this one and compare it to your DD on the arm action. Maybe one of the video champs on here will work you up a side by side clip synced to contact. Photo 6 of 16, ULL vs. UNT

 

[fivepotsogold]

rotational approach

OK...

Today we worked on bat up higher, hands back closer to body.
I actually put a bunji cord around chest elbow so she could see how it feels to keep her elbow in hands close.

Timing still off a bit .. but expected a we haven't been at this long.


Is this correct sequencing

1, hands close to body, but back, bat pointing up
2. load back slightly
3. weight shift foward
4. hips rotate, body follws but ands remain back close to body (elbow very close to side/waist
5. Ball contact hands move away from body so bat follows ball

I did pick up Kens video for $12.50 .. Explosive rotational hitting..
(still have an 11 yr old girl, 8 yr old boy, 4 yr old girl coming up)

One thing today ...although all is not perfect...her bat speed was way up from just yesterday ....

Got her a Miken Rain Lite 32/20 last night for under $200 new ....

THANK YOU!

 

[Mark H]

OK...

Today we worked on bat up higher, hands back closer to body.
I actually put a bunji cord around chest elbow so she could see how it feels to keep her elbow in hands close.

Well I'm not sure I know what you mean about the hands but using a bunji cord to keep the lead arm close to the chest longer is brilliant. The use of constraints like this to learn different movement patterns is a big deal. This is something Englishbey really focuses on.

Timing still off a bit .. but expected a we haven't been at this long.

Better today than yesterday but not as good as tomorrow.

Is this correct sequencing

1, hands close to body, but back, bat pointing up
2. load back slightly
3. weight shift foward
4. hips rotate, body follws but ands remain back close to body (elbow very close to side/waist
5. Ball contact hands move away from body so bat follows ball

Probably. I'd have to explore more what you mean on definitions.

I did pick up Kens video for $12.50 .. Explosive rotational hitting..
(still have an 11 yr old girl, 8 yr old boy, 4 yr old girl coming up)

I'm unfamiliar with that video. I'd recommend Englishbey's video.

One thing today ...although all is not perfect...her bat speed was way up from just yesterday ....

Good. Keep focused on bat quickness.

Got her a Miken Rain Lite 32/20 last night for under $200 new ....

THANK YOU!

My pleasure.

 

[RayR]

1, hands close to body, but back, bat pointing up
2. load back slightly
3. weight shift foward
4. hips rotate, body follws but ands remain back close to body (elbow very close to side/waist
5. Ball contact hands move away from body so bat follows ball

I would focus on #4 Bolded part. IMO, really good things start to happen once good pelvic action is figured out.

 

[jimginas]

sounds like you are gettinng good advice, but quite honestly, its VERY difficult to provide insruction without seeing her swing each time. I video my pitchers and watch the DVD when done, and often times, young pitchers are NOT consistant yet, so one vidoe clip wouldn't be useful for me.... its seeing her and working with her, OVER and OVER, continuously working reps to get MORE consistsant at the good habits and slowly break the bad habits.....
** BOTTOM LINE: Suggest you invest a few $$ (same as you ight for gold lessons!) and find a VERY good batting instructor for her to see once ini a while, whatever is reaonable for you.......