A Hitting Thread - Kind of:

[Cannonball]

No, I have not taken the tee away and had them hit front toss with that pad still on.

 

[Cannonball]

I wanted to give you an idea of what are some of the things I am looking for in the evaluation. Here are some, but not all, of the swing flaws I'm looking for in that initial evaluation:

• Hips not fully rotating
• Chicken wings
• Not fully finishing on back toe - note, doesn't have to be all the way forward on tip but does have to have a sense of not spinning.
• Stride issues – over stride or no stride
• Weight shift
• Arm swing
• Rising on the swing
• No control of the middle – spinning, weight on front foot or leaning forward,
• Timing
• Tilt – both pelvic and lateral
• Weight shift
• Two part swings – this might be something like getting the front foot down early and having the momentum of the swing stopped then started again.
• Swinging around the ball

The ability to be coached is really important and I have told some parents before that I don't think that their child could benefit from my/BB's instruction. So, now, after the assessment, I can have a sense of what the individual needs to do but also, how their makeup will work into our drills work.

Side note - BB was here this morning after having a very early private tryout for her 14U (8th graders) Elite Team. I bet she was not here 5 minutes before we started talking hitting and she was up demonstrating some stuff she had seen in a hitter recently. (Not the one from today.) As some of you have seen before, it is sometimes difficult to determine "style" from potential swing flaws. I sat there thinking that this is pretty neat with her talking about something I have loved talking about so much and now, we are equals as coaches talking about this stuff.

PS, I wanted to add this. It is so important the the hitting instructor and the hitter have an ongoing dialogue. I need to know that the hitter understands what is being taught.

 

[Greenmonsters]

I wanted to give you an idea of what are some of the things I am looking for in the evaluation. Here are some, but not all, of the swing flaws I'm looking for in that initial evaluation:

• Hips not fully rotating
• Chicken wings
• Not fully finishing on back toe - note, doesn't have to be all the way forward on tip but does have to have a sense of not spinning.
• Stride issues – over stride or no stride
• Weight shift
• Arm swing
• Rising on the swing
• No control of the middle – spinning, weight on front foot or leaning forward,
• Timing
• Tilt – both pelvic and lateral
• Weight shift
• Two part swings – this might be something like getting the front foot down early and having the momentum of the swing stopped then started again.
• Swinging around the ball

The ability to be coached is really important and I have told some parents before that I don't think that their child could benefit from my/BB's instruction. So, now, after the assessment, I can have a sense of what the individual needs to do but also, how their makeup will work into our drills work.

Side note - BB was here this morning after having a very early private tryout for her 14U (8th graders) Elite Team. I bet she was not here 5 minutes before we started talking hitting and she was up demonstrating some stuff she had seen in a hitter recently. (Not the one from today.) As some of you have seen before, it is sometimes difficult to determine "style" from potential swing flaws. I sat there thinking that this is pretty neat with her talking about something I have loved talking about so much and now, we are equals as coaches talking about this stuff.

PS, I wanted to add this. It is so important the the hitting instructor and the hitter have an ongoing dialogue. I need to know that the hitter understands what is being taught.

Teach them how to fish and they'll never go hungry.

 

[Cannonball]

Teach them how to fish and they'll never go hungry.

That's right and so, my goal is for my hitters to not need me at all.

 

[Cannonball]

I'll add to this thread by adding:

List of drills we use:
1. Chair Drill
2. Happy Gilmore
3. Happy Gilmore with side toss bounced tennis balls
4. World’s Greatest Drill
5. SNF
6. Whip hit/tennis balls
7. Front Toss
8. Front Toss Progression Drill
9. Two Feet Drill/walk away from the hands drill
10. Stork Drill w/front toe started behind back knee
11. Bat Flat Drill/Turn the barrel drill
12. Stay back Tee Drill

Some eye drills:
1. Harper Drill with knob of the ball
2. Eyes focused on softball 12 feet away and have to knock down tennis balls with right and left hand as they are being tossed at the hitter
3. Eyes closed, feeder tosses ball and says ball. Hitter then has to find and catch the ball.
4. Knots tied on a 15 foot rope. Every 3 feet, there is a knot tied. One end of the rope is tied to the corner of the cage and the other, the hitter puts to their nose. The goal is for the hitter to focus on the knots in progression from farthest to nearest as fast as they can but they must try to focus on each knot.
These drills, with the exception of drill #1, come from an eye doctor who used to specialize in sports medicine.


So, this is what we do. Again, I had a member here I respect a lot ask me to make this thread. Some others have asked via pms for me to address certain things we do. BB and I are not experts. I'm just a guy who is a nobody who once was almost a somebody. I hope that you all can glean something out of this thread. I'd like to ask some of you others to make similar threads like this letting us know what you do. I would love to read some of your thoughts and see where we differ.

 

[CoachJD]

You said in the OP that in IL we only have 25 contact days, but in that rule (3.153) it says "These limitations apply to all sports except Baseball and Softball."

I'm just learning all the rules since I'm a new coach, but I read this to mean that there is no limit on contact days in the summer.

 

[Cannonball]

Yes, I though I added that. I guess I didn't but did add that my AD wanted to make sure that there was never any question about what I was doing.

Edited to add:

I did add that a lot of HS coaches also coach TB. So, I wasn't clear enough that those rules don't apply to baseball and softball. However, there are rules now that do and so, you have to be careful that you are not violating those rules.

 

[Gags]

I'm just a guy who is a nobody who once was almost a somebody.

While I acknowledge and respect your efforts towards humility - based on the comments from members who've met you, I think you may be (slightly ) underestimating the impact you've had!

Love the quote, though - has a very similar "feel" to one of my favorite (albeit depressing) quotes from Stephen Donaldson (Sci-fi / Fantasy author - no relation to Josh that I'm aware of!):

"Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?"
Absently he replied, "I was, once."
"And you gave it up? Ah, that is as sad a tale in three words as any you might have told me. But a life without a tale is like a sea without salt. How do you live?"
... Unconsciously, he clenched his fist over his ring. "I live."
"Another?" Foamfollower returned. "In two words, a story sadder than the first. Say no more -- with one word you will make me weep."