Analysis of 10U DD Swing

[mdgtoothy]

My wife hates this time of year (season starts in 2 weeks) because I am spending way too much time learning from the folks on this site. With that said I have posted two clips of 10U DD, one softtoss and one off T. Any comments would be great. Only Softoss is at 1/2 speed.

MDG

 

[Daddy O]

I am by no means a hitting expert, that is why I take my daughter to one. But I will take a stab and get it started. Looks like a powerful swing but she drops her hands and has classic bat drag. Not much bat angle if any and finishs by wrapping bat across the back of her shoulders instead of finishing high. Looks like her hands are too high to begin with which is probably the cause of her dropping her hands to get leverage and swing for all its worth, which is what she is doing. Look at the expression on her face, gotta love it. Also thought she was simply squishing bug but if you stop it close to contact it appears that she is up on her toes and then settles back onto her foot after contact. I am sure others will chime in soon. Good Luck.

 

[Hitter]

I would start with bending at the waist first and then softening the knees more.

Next have her stride more forward as she is stepping out. I cut up old rubber bat mats so they have a line of force to see where they are actually stepping. Chalk works well also and do not use a bat as they could roll an ankle. I have a 4 x 4 that they kick or bump into that works also that I use at the house.

The hands and elbows are too high for me however she does get them down as she is starting connection. However I feel if the lead elbow is lower the lead elbow will make a better first move and stay connected with the back elbow better. The lead arm is nearly straight at contact and her finish is right at the shoulder and could be a little higher. Look closely at and during contact that the lead elbow folds up. In my opinion this is a female trait as they truly do not feel extension until you show them. The hand over drill gives them that feeling they are missing in the lead arm. We did this drill in Springfield over the weekend and had great results doing it!

Also suggest to her to look through the net and track the ball to the tee verses staring at the ball on the tee the whole time.

I would also suggest using a separate throw down tee in relationship to the one she is using so she has a point of reference as to where she is setting up as it looks like she is almost in front of the tee at toe touch. We like to do all our tee work from the back corner of the tee when we measure off so we know if anything is changing during the stride.

Also look at when she is opening the shoulders as it may be a little late. If the ball was going up the middle I would say the head would not be turned as far if the shoulders had begun a little sooner.

You have diamond in the rough and have done a fine job especially if she is 10! What I have suggested in not a major over for me, it is fine tuning. I tell my girls to listen to an FM station and lets say it is 103.5 and then tune it to 103.4. 103.3 and now back to 103.5 and listen to the difference. We are fine tuning your swing!

Thanks Howard

 

[Mark H]

Good posts. I too love this kid's malicious intent to do the ball harm. This one will be a lot of fun to coach. Need to get a handle on this bat drag now though if she wants to go far. This swing will make her inconsistent in the future when she faces good pitching. Takes too long from first move of the bathead into the swing plane till contact.

Study clips 20 through 24. http://imageevent.com/siggy/hitting...7zzg4st1.tiger_s?n=0&z=9&c=4&x=0&m=20&w=0&p=0 Freeze your DD's swing right at the point you see the #24 still at and compare. Now your DD is much more athletic appearing than the kid in this still but the problem is the same. Your DD will doubtless punish average pitching with surprising power for her size. Trust me though, she will struggle when the pitchers start throwing hard and changing speeds because she will need about 30% more time to complete her swing than she will have available to her. She will still hit good pitchers hard. Just not frequently enough.

 

[mdgtoothy]

This is why I am such a big (and recent) fan of this site and the posters on it. All the input I have gotten on this subject (my DD) and the tips, drills, etc are invaluable to me as a coach, not just for my DD, but for all the girls on our 10U rec team. Thanks again.

We have been working on getting bent at the waist, softening her knees and bringing her stride directly toward the pitcher and have made some big improvements in the last few months. I noted the hand position in the video is really high and didn't realize that until seeing it on video and have thus become a video convert and will be bringing my camera to practice today. To me she takes a big stride and I have wondered if having her widen her stance slightly wouldn't result in a shorter, quicker stride as well as prevent her from the little preloading action she gets sometimes.

I guess I am not too familiar with the "bat drag" concept and am not sure what to look for. Clarification would help on what I should be looking at re: bat drag.

Again, Thanks for all the superb input.

 

[cshilt]

I guess I am not too familiar with the "bat drag" concept and am not sure what to look for. Clarification would help on what I should be looking at re: bat drag.

Chris' bat drag essay is still the best reference out there...

Bat Drag 101

If your hitter is suffering from Bat Drag, using the "reverse top hand" is a good way to start to reverse that trend.

 

[NWITom]

Guys ,one thing I have discovered looking at bat drag is the lead arm tends to wrap around the chest. If you get them to lead with the elbow and hands towards pitcher also and keep separation around swing it seems to help a ton. Is this what you all have seen.? From my 3 DD's it seems to have helped a lot

 

[Mark H]

My problem with the lead with the elbow and hands toward the pitcher is you end up with the result in the still above. That's a problem too.

 

[straightleg]

My problem with the lead with the elbow and hands toward the pitcher is you end up with the result in the still above. That's a problem too.

In that photo is her front arm to far away from her chest? What else do you see



Straightleg

 

[cshilt]

In that photo is her front arm to far away from her chest? What else do you see



Straightleg

I see the shoulders rotating more than the hips.