Batting Skills

[Mark H]

I would say Mark and I agree more than we disagree . I like Englishbey's stuff and combine them. Doesn't matter how old they are, you can still teach them the correct way. If they are teaching Squish the Bug, Swing Level or Down on the ball, throw your hands at the ball find a new person to learn from. There are some good posts on this site in the hitting section that are free on web pages.

Agreed.



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[Mark H]

Just my humble opinion, but at the 10U level I would make sure to not give them anything more then get in an athletic stance, keep the barrel up, take a small step and swing - keeping your head still and your eyes locked on the ball. Too many drills at this age suck the athleticism out of them...You can never screw them up by letting them develop athletically and be a gentle guide. Too much instruction at this age is counter productive - again IMHO...

Again. Agreed.

 

[newsoftballdad]

Thanks

Thanks to all for their guidance. This is an overwhelming venture for me and I will come here often.

 

[FJRGerry]

With young girls especially, I'd recommend lots of hitting off a tee. For fun draw a silly bug on a couple of balls and align the ball on the tee so they have a good target to focus on. Without getting into all the details of the perfect swing, that others here with much more experience have, explain they need to hit the bug and sending it flying across the field (line drive) while keeping good balance from beginning to end of the swing.

Gerry

 

[3'sDad]

At 10U this is what we work with them to do:
1. Line up the knocking knuckles when gripping the bat.
2. Wiggle you fingers while gripping the bat....white knuckles make tight muscles and tight muscles are weak muscles....loose muscles= strong muscles
3. Throw you hands at the ball as you swing
4. Eyes on the ball and swing as hard as you can....swing harder.
5. Make sure your chest is facing the pitcher when you finish your swing (causes the hips to rotate)....

If we can get them to do 3 orf the 5, they're fine, 4 of 5 and there in the top 10%.

At 12U we get a bit more involved.

 

[Mark H]

Seems to me the "how" in #3 is a big deal.

 

[vdubya]

"3. Throw you hands at the ball as you swing"


This takes a long time to unteach when you want the kid to have a high level swing later. At this age just tell them to start with their hands high (back ear cue) and to start the swing from there. Next have them get the feel of pulling the bat with the bottom hand rather than throwing the hands. Make it smooth and at contact they should be palm up/palm down. Even young kids can get immediate feedback if you get really quiet and have them pull nice and smoothe and fast and listen to the bat cutting the air. Like a WHHHHhhhht. They'll never get this by throwing the hands.

You could demo the effect with a rope bat and they would remember it. It will be very obvious which way puts power to the bat head. Throw the hands and you'll be holding a limp noodle. Let them see this.

Throwing the hands not only robs a lot of power and bat speed, but it is also an added movement. In fastpitch, you want an efficient and powerful swing. Extra motions that rob power are a double no-no.

Good luck!
VW
PS: Also disagree with the 'knocking knuckles' cue, but the gurus continue to let this slide and still use it. It actually hyperextends both wrists and gets the elbows almost touching and is very awkward. For my money, the back or top hand knocking knuckles should line up with the base knuckles of the bottom hand. Observe high level hitters and you see them doing this even though they mostly verbalize the 'knocking knuckles' cue.

 

[Mark H]

I agree with all that but a couple of notes. I quit worrying about the grip thing because I don't see it hurt kids. They pretty much forget about it and ignore it come game time IME. On hand throwing, it depends on how you throw them. Give this cue to a 10 and you probably get what you fear. Give this cue to a high level hitter and they probably interpret it as use rotation to throw the hands and the cue gets them in plane (Adair's rock on a rope analogy). So it depends on HOW you throw the hands. Instructionally speaking, I agree it's a problematic dangerous cue.

 

[vdubya]

True enough and worth mentioning is that individuals interpret verbal cues differently, often strikingly so. (no pun)

The only time I care to see anything resembling throwing the hands is after contact when the hands extend out front, but I use different verbage for this as I try not to ever say 'throw the hands' to a young'n'. That said, the cues often mean different things to different people. I'd bet this is why 'squish the bug' fell out of favor as a descriptive phrase.

VW

 

[Dusty]

At 10U this is what we work with them to do:
1. Line up the knocking knuckles when gripping the bat.
2. Wiggle you fingers while gripping the bat....white knuckles make tight muscles and tight muscles are weak muscles....loose muscles= strong muscles
3. Throw you hands at the ball as you swing
4. Eyes on the ball and swing as hard as you can....swing harder.
5. Make sure your chest is facing the pitcher when you finish your swing (causes the hips to rotate)....

If we can get them to do 3 orf the 5, they're fine, 4 of 5 and there in the top 10%.

At 12U we get a bit more involved.

I also coach at 10u and use a similar approach of simplification but I replace #3 with "knob to the pitcher" and #4 with "quick to it, long through it".

On #3, I'll take a softhands and hold it just off the left side of their chest (Rt handed hitter) and have them poke it with the knob of the bat. With #4 I don't want them to think about the push/pull of the bat with their hands, just that they extend the barrell over the plate and swing freely and loosely after step #3 and have a smooth follow through.