Critique of my 7yo DDs swing

[Il softball fan]

softball hitting technical.....God, I should know better than to post in here, but here goes anyway.

First, for 7 years old I really really like the aggressive swing. She is trying to hit the ball hard. Its a good start. I am no hitting expert, but to start with:

Less of a step with the front foot. Does not need to be brought up off of the ground that much.

Shorten the back swing/ wrap around the head at the beginning of the swing. Especially on the dark swing you posted, the bat comes way back behind her head.

She is dropping her hands and swinging level to the ground. Learn the correct swing path yourself and demonstrate/teach her to keep from dropping the hands way down like that.

I actually like the action of her rear leg. Again you can tell she is trying to hit hard. Good quality for someone so young. Shorten the swing up, and get the hands to not drop would be a good start for her. Someone with much more technical knowledge will come along now and tell you about coiling, and stretching, and high level this and that Much above my pay grade. Good luck with your DD.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Jbruner- You already know this, I hope, but in case you do not, your DD is a masher. I have no doubt she is tearing up the TBall (I will revisit this in a second) coach pitch and 8u scene down on the bayou. She has a great swing for a girl her age. BY that I mean she swings hard and wants to crush, that is a great mindset to start work from DO NOT EVER LET THIS CHANGE....ALWAYS ENCOURAGE HER TO CHANNEL THAT DESIRE TO HIT HARD.


[off topic TBAL semi rant- The more I watch EVERY young hitter do the drop and drag that your DD does at these young ages, the more I think TBALL is the culprit. At the young ages we set a ball on a flat tee and tell them to hit it without hitting the T. I think this encourages a flat swing to a young hitter. When my girls go off to college and I take another young team I will train them with an angled T from day 1 to try and encourage some better bat paths from day 1.... end rant]

Back to your kid. FFS is correct with the exception of the fact that she is 7 so compared to her age group she is doing a lot more OPTIMALLY than most. By that I mean she swings hard and can square it up.

I do not agree that she needs a rebuild...mostly because at 7 nothing is "built" yet. I would just focus on getting her hand and bat path cleaner and more direct to the ball. I like the technique of using front toss and throwing the ball low and inside or using a golf club to hit wiffle balls. You want to encourage her to tilt her body a little and swing with a plane that is adjustable throughout the zone.

I LOVE her momentum move and how she keeps her weight back. You can really see her power in the clip...don't lose that.

 

[Eric F]

Sequence - The order of operations. Related to the swing, it would be the timing and direction of movements.

Notice the timing of the stride and how it relates to the movement of the hands - stride goes forward AT THE SAME TIME as the hands are loading up and back. That stretch/separation is important, and is not reflected in your DD's current swing pattern. The size of the movements isn't important, but the sequence in which they happen is.

As FFS mentioned before, get the basic sequence in place first.

 

[MacLobo]

I'll agree with JJ for most part on this one.

I'm coaching a bunch of 7 year-olds right now. If I could get 4-5 to swing like your daughter is right now, I'd be a happy camper!
Her starting point is great. I would pick just 1 thing to concentrate on right now. Probably the hands. Once she's not dropping as much, move on to something else. She's looking good! She's 7! Don't overwhelm her with changes.

 

[Eric F]

Keep in mind that the goal is not to build a swing that is good at 8U, but a swing that will continue to produce good results as she progresses through the game and faces more and more challenging pitching. Now is the time to build a good foundation that will not have to be torn down later.

 

[Jbruner51]

Keep in mind that the goal is not to build a swing that is good at 8U, but a swing that will continue to produce good results as she progresses through the game and faces more and more challenging pitching. Now is the time to build a good foundation that will not have to be torn down later.

Yes sir. That's why I'm asking now so I can get her good habits instead of bad ones that we'd have to break when she bumps up to 10U Girl Pitch. I appreciate all the advice from all you. Thanks.


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[Il softball fan]

Agree with JJ completely. Don't break the spirit and power she is swinging with right now. A better hand path/shorter path to the ball and get her to stop dropping hr hands, and she will be on her way. Good luck.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Keep in mind that the goal is not to build a hitter that is good at 8U, but a hitter that will continue to produce good results as she progresses through the game and faces more and more challenging pitching. Now is the time to build a good foundation that will not have to be torn down later.

I agree with Eric with my bold corrections...but my take on things is different from most others on this board. I think the mindset or the hitter, understanding of how to approach an at bat, knowing your own strengths and weaknesses...basically the mental side...is as important, if not more, than the mechanics of the swing. Once a swing is devoid of some major flaws that either inhibit the ability to adjust to different speeds, and they have a swing that can square up a ball in multiple locations in the zone and they have good power, then the mental side is far more important.

The bogeyman of this "great pitching" is a little overblown. I see one once in a while, but they are not nearly as dominant as you would think against girls with swings as I describe above, the truth is that the pitching distance of 43 feet and the hot bats gives the hitters a huge advantage as they get older.

That is not to say you should not strive to give a hitter the best training you can, you should, it is just a reminder to balance out mechanics with approach and understanding how to hit, work a count etc. and a reminder that even if you do not fix all the flaws you see, a hitter can still do very well at all levels except possibly top level D1.

Maybe I will eat my words at 16u or 18u or college...but having seen some of the girls getting major D1 attention in my area at 14s and 12s I just have to say that they are not nearly as scary as I thought they would be when I hadn't seen them actually pitch in games.

 

[mogsoftball]

Start with the load (the negative movement back).

Notice how she straights her back leg so that the knee locks while bending backwards tilting her front shoulder way up. Sh euses this motion to get her front foot off the ground.

When she loads you dont want her bending back or her front shoulder to raise up becuase of bending.

See the gif of Posey posted by Eric F, his front shoulder is down, his back knee is still slightly bent and his back knee stays inside not shifting backwards past the outside of the foot.

same thing here https://www.facebook.com/LineDriveNation/videos/910569622383734/

back knee in, shoulder down, drive forward with the stride while hands seperate from the body

 

[Seattlecoach]

When my girls go off to college and I take another young team I will train them with an angled T from day 1 to try and encourage some better bat paths from day 1...

JJ - what type of tee do you recommend?