I have a couple of girls that have a good 45 degree bat angle until they load then the bat droops level, sometimes even before they load. I checked to see if the bat was to heavy and it was probally 18 ounces and this is a bigger strong girl. Im trying to get her to cock her wrist and angle the bat towards 3b dugout to get her not to level (plane)bat until she swings. any suggestions.
bat droop after load
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I have been fighting that issue with many kids. Here is what I do with them. Use a mirror so the can see what they are doing. I find that working with girls you must have them see it and feel it. When they load I tell them the bat goes toward the catcher face about 3 inches or you can call it walking away from the hands. In RVP we call it separtion. Next the drill, since if you watch some of the videos that are posted. Most girls drop their hands. The video 5 frame posted shows this very well. I use a T that I can put about 3 inches above the top of the strike zone. Use a bucket with on a T on it if you don't have a T you can get that high. Now have them practice hitting that high of a pitch by keeping the elbow and hands above the plane of the pitch. They cannot drop the hands. The rise ball in softbal is the toughest pitch to hit and most girls cannot hit it, because they drop the hands and have a poor first move and hand path.
- Feb 8, 2009
- 271
- 18
I believe many times the dropping of the bat head is caused by one hand dominance. Try reminding them to let their hands work together. Sometimes I make them pull the bat head out of my hands, so they can't drop it.
Another thing you can try is giving them something else to do with their hands. One thing I like to see them do is push the bottom hand back a bit, which will move the bat head over their heads a little.
by one hand dominace do you mean the top hand? and would Howards hand over drill help?
The hand over drill is to get the kids to feel what extension and finish feels like , so they do not roll the wrists and hit themself in the back. I have filmed my kids and used Howard idea of having them see themself in a Mirror. Kids just are not aware of what they do ? Watch the front elbow. To drop the bat the elbow has to be coming up and they are unhinging the wrists. Why Howard has them doing the hammer drill. The old baseball term is keeping the bat in the slot position. Fastpitch for years taught kids to start with the bat in the position I think you are talking about, which looks like a slow pitch swing.
One of the drills we do is for the hitter to get on the back knee and stretch out the lead foot for balance.
The hitter prepare to hit and I soft toss from the side and as I lower my hand they separate and as I toss the ball up they think elbows, knob inside the ball and hit the ball exactly up the middle and finish over their shoulder.
Just a nice flow to the ball. I found taking the legs out of the swing causes them to focus more on what the hands and elbows are doing helps.
Then we are back up on the feet and I have a 3 foot piece of foam pipe insulation that has duct tape on it to keep it from breaking or chipping off.
I stand behind the hitter and off to the first base side a little and hold it so it is parallel to the ground at elbow height.
As they load and separate to toe touch IF their arm comes straight back they bump the foam with their elbow.
IF they turn the shoulder inward too much or coil they miss the end of the pipe completely.
If the elbow goes up verses back they miss the pipe and if they drop the hands they miss the pipe.
Being able to bump the end of the pipe re enforces the elbow takes the bat rearward slightly.
Be careful that you have at least 3 foot of pipe as top hand release hitters could present a swing of the bat to you so stand off to the side towards the first base man a little for right handed hitters in my opinion.
If the hit the foam pipe it hurts nothing.
I made another one that is a little more sophisticated however I would have to film it so you could see how it works.
Thanks Howard
The hitter prepare to hit and I soft toss from the side and as I lower my hand they separate and as I toss the ball up they think elbows, knob inside the ball and hit the ball exactly up the middle and finish over their shoulder.
Just a nice flow to the ball. I found taking the legs out of the swing causes them to focus more on what the hands and elbows are doing helps.
Then we are back up on the feet and I have a 3 foot piece of foam pipe insulation that has duct tape on it to keep it from breaking or chipping off.
I stand behind the hitter and off to the first base side a little and hold it so it is parallel to the ground at elbow height.
As they load and separate to toe touch IF their arm comes straight back they bump the foam with their elbow.
IF they turn the shoulder inward too much or coil they miss the end of the pipe completely.
If the elbow goes up verses back they miss the pipe and if they drop the hands they miss the pipe.
Being able to bump the end of the pipe re enforces the elbow takes the bat rearward slightly.
Be careful that you have at least 3 foot of pipe as top hand release hitters could present a swing of the bat to you so stand off to the side towards the first base man a little for right handed hitters in my opinion.
If the hit the foam pipe it hurts nothing.
I made another one that is a little more sophisticated however I would have to film it so you could see how it works.
Thanks Howard
Last edited:
- Oct 12, 2009
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What do you mean by this?
- Feb 8, 2009
- 271
- 18
Yes, I did mean the top hand. We use the top hand turned upside down in many practices. It would be hard for me to say this drill helps that particular problem - I don't know.
The bat head is getting parallel to the ground and the back arm is up against the rib cage before the swing(which slows their swing down and causes extreme bat lag along with not so good swing plane) I know get your back elbow up is probabally not the preffered cue but with these girls there is no seperation. I would prefer some seperation between the back arm/elbow when they are loaded. So should I say get the back elbow up? Im going to try the mirror drills and the knee drills also. Thanks Eric
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