All Out?

[guero_gordo]

DD's coach is always on her to swing as hard as she can at the plate. Her previous HC was careful to slow her down in lessons to what he felt was about 80% of full speed. Talked to my nephew this weekend, and his HC also tries to get him to slow down and not just fire away in games. Both are big kids, making plenty of power, and both HC's are well-respected.

I'm not looking for mediation on who's right here, but I am curious what the conventional wisdom is on this. From a purely anecdotal perspective, it always appears that when the girls hit the snot out of the ball, the bat doesn't seem to be moving that fast.

Thoughts/ridicule/invective......:

 

[David Carter]

It's kinda of like how big a bat should I swing the answer is as big as you can and maintain bat speed and control.

The same goes for swinging you need to swing as fast as you can and not break down mechanically, I would hope at some point muscle memory gets you to the point were you can swing 100% and keep your mechanics. But there is always the old adage of trying too hard there is no need to swing at 110%.

my two cents

 

[quincy]

The picture that came into my head when I read your post was 100 yard runners in the Olympics. It never looked like Carl Lewis was even trying let alone giving 100%.

 

[JAD]

We coach our power hitters to swing hard with 0 or 1 strike. Not "come out of your shoes" hard, but a good, under control 100% swing, that if they hit it on the sweet spot should go a long way. With 2 strikes we want them to choke up a little and put the ball in play with a 80-90% swing that they are comfortable making contact.

As our players have gotten older (bigger, stronger, faster), they do not have to hit the ball "swinging out of their shoes" to hit home runs on a 200 ft fence.....

 

[nanotech14]

100% all the time, put in the time working on your swing. Why not letting it rib. It's the laser show, the laser show baby! Sorry big Dustin Pedroia fan and he let's it rip most of the time. That's my 2 cents, it in my nature all or nothing. I do some what agree with Jad, just not the choking up on the bat and going only 90%

 

[coach james]

JAD and I are 100% on the same page!!!
"We cant score of your not on base..."

 

[MountieSB]

I never have kids alter their swing speed - I want them swinging as fast as they can through the zone every time they take a swing. I may have them adjust their strike zone (smaller and more selective early, bigger later or look where the pitcher's been throwing), but we're always trying to drive pitches. Slowing down may make them tentative, and I want killers!

 

[nanotech14]

See Jad & coachJ's point, but I have a hard time telling a girl, that has put countless hours, day after day for years working on her swing to lay over to just put the ball in play. Live by the sword, die by the sword. That's why we train so hard for that moment. Do I hear the song eye of the tiger playing in the background?

 

[Greenmonsters]

What inevitably happens when you ask pitchers to slow down to throw strikes? IMO, use the same swing with 2 strikes that you've practiced 10,000 plus - smooth and controlled, hit it where its pitched. If you've got a power hitter who has an above average tendency to swing and miss, have them use the same swing but choke up a little to improve bat control and increase the potential for contact. Protective swings that put the ball weakly in play are worse than good hard swings that result in a strikeout because there is limited upside potential IMO.

 

[softballphreak]

The better the player is skilled with her bat, the more capable they are. They need to have practiced over-swinging, for example. They need to be able to hit fly balls as well as ground balls or line drives, or pull hits, or hits to the opposite field, how to hit it easy, how to slash, how to poke, etc.

But nobody does that.