critique my 9yo DD swing...

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May 12, 2016
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Stride is very short.. If you look way back at the beginning, she had an all back all forward swing. Somehow, that all got worked into a short stride. Her batting coach has ultimate say and the style of swing that her organization teaches is counter to what many desire in a swing. I try to work on the smallest of details... I've been trying to get her to keep the angle of the bat the same as she draws her hands back, instead the angle slightly decreases (knob pointing towards pitcher vs catcher). Also, I like to see balance throughout the swing. Little things like the back knee are interesting too, I'd like to look into that. Overall, I want to see a little more power generated in the coil, from launch onwards seems to be the domain of the batting coach..
Very nice! I believe all back all forward got worked out because she is now coiling/loading into back leg/hip and not past it. Basically the back knee is staying inside back foot. Great to see your DD doing so well!!
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
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Woodstock, man
She is able to make this stride work sometimes because she is doing a few other things well to toe touch:
1) her elbow is back at toe touch
2) her rear forearm is flat/horizontal
3) her bat is pointed roughly up in the right spot

however, her weak rear leg drive on the stride is causing her to push her bicep way, way away from her body from hip/elbow slot to contact. (she has to use the front knee straightening to do all the work) (notice in this pic that the bat is not even at contact yet and the fron t bicep has allready detached from the torso, and the back elbow is already well forward of the hip.

14460

I'm guessing this was a HR down 3B line (pull). So only pull balls will be well hit. Anything fast or outside will be popups, fouls or dribblers.
 
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May 7, 2015
844
93
SoCal
Sorry for the late reply, was out fishing! Anyway, attached are 4 stills from a front toss session at the end of this weekends practice. Hopefully, it gives a little more insight to her swing than the above grainy screen grab. What I see is the recurring bat drag that she's been dealing with forever. It's funny, when we work on bat drag, she can consciously nearly eliminate it. In situations where I'm not working on it with her, she reverts.

14510
14511
14512
14513

@efastball regarding the HR, it was to right-center. She mostly hits up the middle to middle right.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
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Really want to see launch position, toe touch/heel plant. Not liking the first still much just seems to be very arm bar and flat bat which you don't usually see in elite swings, just reread your post yeah this is the bat drag you are talking about. If you post the video I can try and post still frame like this (below) and compare her to and elite swing and you can see if you can spot the differences, also try and be a little more centered next time but this should work. These swings look a lot different but only real difference is pitch location; Laurens swing looks loopy because her pitch is low and outside while Joshs pitch is belt high and inside.

six frame both j.jpg
 

fanboi22

on the journey
Nov 9, 2015
1,138
83
SE Wisconsin
Really want to see launch position, toe touch/heel plant. Not liking the first still much just seems to be very arm bar and flat bat which you don't usually see in elite swings, just reread your post yeah this is the bat drag you are talking about. If you post the video I can try and post still frame like this (below) and compare her to and elite swing and you can see if you can spot the differences, also try and be a little more centered next time but this should work. These swings look a lot different but only real difference is pitch location; Laurens swing looks loopy because her pitch is low and outside while Joshs pitch is belt high and inside.

View attachment 14515
Both of these swings look like they have arm bar. Is there a good arm bar and a bad arm bar?
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
I'm not really seeing an arm bar (straightening out of the arm) in Josh's swing on the bottom. In Lauren's swing it's not a bar in the sense of the earlier part of her swing it is an extension of the arm late in the swing to reach a low pitch.

But I do always think there is room for us all to learn sooooo maybe I'm just not used to seeing such a crisp clear photo of the exact point in the swing. Lets see other chime in on what they think but maybe she is just fine in this spot, I'm a big believer in doing what the best hitter do and emulating them so Let's see if these swings spots look similar I think they are pretty close. Again though while stills a VERY helpful full video would be best. LAways open to listening and being wrong on occasion.

armbar flat bat.JPGarmbarflatbat2.JPGarmbarflatbat3.JPG
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
Is there a good arm bar and a bad arm bar?

Arm bar is not a problem (not with the front arm anyway). Yes, I said that.

The only problem you will see is the hands behind the back elbow. That usually leads to bat drag. Even if they are able to overcome it during the swing, it is not optimal.

'hands behind the back elbow' can appear as arm bar sometimes, and sometimes not.

(the pics in post #77 are at some weird angles. Pujols does not have his hands behind the elbow in his swing)

As in most things in baseball hitting, arm bar 'fixes' are backwards. Everyone sees the front arm 'barring' and tries to fix the front arm. The front arm is not the problem. The problem is the rear elbow.
 
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Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
thanks @efastball the positioning of the hands relative to the back elbow is the obvious answer not sure why I didn't see it originally.

Like I mentioned first time after seeing that top still picture it just doesn't look right and now you have made it clear why.
 
May 7, 2015
844
93
SoCal
ezgif-com-optimize-2-gif.14309

The above is where this journey started for me on this forum asking for help. She's 9yo in this simple gif and posted in APR 2016.

DD has a VERY stubborn style in her swing, I've often tried changing it (especially in the beginning) but there's features that just refuse to go away. About 1.5 or 2yrs ago, I've agreed to focus on her approach to the at bat and let the mechanics be what they need to be to ensure balance and smooth movements.

The following two clips are DD breaking in a new 2005 (!) DeMarini Phenix 33 -8 during tee work. First video is Mid-High Inside and second one is Mid-High Outside (her favorite pitch location).

I'm really digging seeing the progression (or in some ways lack of) of a young player growing into a 14yo, still trying her best to smash the ball.



 

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