8u Daughter Batting Help

[Softball_Dad]

My daughter is just beginning to learn the game of softball. I am trying to teach her to bat correctly, but it is a pretty complex skill and I really don't know where to start. I have looked at many of the post here and have tried to identify issues with my daughters swing, but though it might help to get feedback from the forum. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/nEKQZFz21GU

 

[softballphreak]

How heavy is the bat?

Her swing looks pretty good but the bat drag is bad. See how her rear elbow gets ahead of her rear hand? That's not good. Get her to keep the elbow back behind the hands. A too-heavy bat can cause that; it can make her pull the bat barrel to the ball instead of throwing the barrel through the ball.

 

[Softball_Dad]

Her bat is a 29" and 17oz. She just got a new bat recently. I definitely see her elbow getting way ahead. I'll get a lighter bat tonight at practice and get some video with that bat. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[softballphreak]

She's also barring out her lead elbow. That should be bent and follow a path similar to elbowing a friend in the shoulder.

Also, have her focus on leading with the hips more. The rear foot initiates the move, hands it off to the hip, the hip pulls the rear heel up as the hip leads the swing, the hands follow. Everything starts from the ground up.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

That's not a bat problem. Her bat is fine. Choke down on it, though. Choking up is a bad cue.

She just needs some tee work and front toss and don't over analyze her. She looks great for her age. I do agree that there is bat drag, but I bet she will be successful.

 

[softballphreak]

That's not a bat problem. Her bat is fine. Choke down on it, though. Choking up is a bad cue.

She just needs some tee work and front toss and don't over analyze her. She looks great for her age. I do agree that there is bat drag, but I bet she will be successful.

Sometimes when you see them choking up like that it's an indication the bat is too heavy.

 

[CobraAssist]

I'm an assistant coach on an 8U Select team, and where some people don't think bat size is that big of an issue, I can't help but strongly disagree. We have played against some teams with girls that are swinging tree trunks, but are crushing their daddies pitching. This is mainly because he knows there swings, and throws it where the bat is going to be, and they in turn, are hitting the ball forever. BUT, this is teaching them NOTHING. Next year when they start facing a girl that isn't TRYING to throw it up there so she can hit it, there are going to be lots of strikeouts, fly balls, and weakly hit balls all because their parent fell in love with watching their daughter pound the ball to the fence. Get your daughter a bat that doesn't weigh a ton, teach them good mechanics (or have someone else do it if your kid is like mine and won't listen to dad....not that what I learned back in the day is even applicable now), allow them to struggle a little (that's what I'm going through with mine right now), and they'll be a better softball player for it. I went through the whole heavy bat phase when my daughter was 7, and I'm paying the price for it now.

 

[Mr T]

At young ages I would start with grip + basic swing and not work on advanced stuff like hip coil.

She has nice balance and gets her hands back, which is more than many girls at this age.

The bat drag issue is the obvious place to start. And as already pointed out would do a retry with a lighter bat.

I would also look at the grip. It's very hard to see in videos like this. But it appears there might be some grip problems. The bottom pinky is coming off the bat maybe, there might be a little gap between the hands. The hands need to be together and start with a consistent grip where all fingers are on the bat together.

Her left wrist is bent, and if her alignment is off that will promote bat drag. You can bend your wrist and wrap your hands too far around each other and take a pretend swing and feel how it forces you pull your front elbow up and drop your back just to get the bat into the hitting zone. Have her "un-wrap" her hands a bit if say her punching knuckles are lined up, and try straightening the front wrist a bit.

BTW, this is why I personally don't like how so many parents give the cue to "make a triangle" with their elbows and/or keep the back elbow so high because to do a proper swing from that position means dropping the back elbow back down and that can lead to leading with the back elbow too much.

 

[softballphreak]

She actually already has a pretty decent load. The hip coil doesn't have to be exaggerated. Her hip already leads a bit but I think a little more in that area will help with the bat drag.

Hip coil is a basic, not advanced instruction. The swing starts from the ground up. She already has that down pretty good it looks like. I agree we shouldn't be over technical but she looks pretty ready for some tweaking.

 

[Dragoncoach]

She looks to be stepping as she is swinging. Have her move her hands slightly back and up as she strides,(ask her if she feels her lower and upper body sererating) but make sure she stays low. I call this the load. when she is fully loaded I like to get them wrist cocked toward catcher and barrel across the pony tail hole with the front shoulder lower than the rear with some rear elbow seperation. Make sure she understands that her shoulders will not rotate level and show her what contact looks like and how to release bat head with her wrist (Howards Hammer). Have her stay strong and not roll her wrist until after extension, try to get her to finish high. (no back slapping). Hope this Helps. Dragon