Daughter taught 2 different swings..which one is better?

[thefinest]

Hi all,

I am a longtime lurker but new poster. These boards are awesome!

I am getting so confused with the "swing". My 9yr daughter went to a clinic this summer where they taught her a very simple and effective swing. They called it Trigger, step, hips, contact, extension, follow thru. Basically the hands stayed still at the shoulder and rotated in with the shoulder before they actually began to move towards the ball.

My daughter is now on a travel team and they have changed everyone's swing to a new one. This one is proven very effective..I've seen the guy's daughter who uses this swing just kill the ball everytime. However, it is a much more difficult thing to master.

Basically for this swing they are making the girls' first move (after the step) be to keep the hands "stacked" (one on top of the other) and move the hands independently of the shoulders to bring the knob of the bat past the ball...ie..pulling inside the ball and then they hit and follow through. The back foot rotates as the hands move inside the ball and then the rest of the body rotates naturally.

The girls have been working on this new swing for months now and still not too many of them are able to do it consistently.

I am just hoping for some advice on which swing she should be using now that the season is approaching.

Thanks!

 

[JC heir]

I agree that this forum is a great learning tool. The biggest problem is trying to make someone else understand from a typed message what you are seeing.there is a wealth of misunderstanding here from different terminology alone. The easy solution to your question is to look at video of elite hitters- both softball & baseball & see which swing your 2 teachers most closely follow. All great hitters dont swing exactly the same, but most are very similar. the easy problem that all of us parents face is identifying our DD's faults (easily done with video). The hard part is tearing apart years of bad habit & replacing it with correct technique. The best part of this forum is the great minds on here who are willing to share knowledge & help fix those bad habits once you have identified them. The good news is you are starting early.

 

[lhowser]

Basically for this swing they are making the girls' first move (after the step) be to keep the hands "stacked" (one on top of the other) and move the hands independently of the shoulders to bring the knob of the bat past the ball...ie..pulling inside the ball and then they hit and follow through. The back foot rotates as the hands move inside the ball and then the rest of the body rotates naturally.

It is just to difficult to picture from this description what is going on with this swing. Are you sening any signs of improvement in terms of power and consistent contact? It seems like some of the girls should be getting it. Does the travel coach talk a lot about bat lag? What are the positive characteristics he ascribes to the swing. Need you to spell it out with more details.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

My 9yr daughter went to a clinic this summer where they taught her a very simple and effective swing. They called it Trigger, step, hips, contact, extension, follow thru. Basically the hands stayed still at the shoulder and rotated in with the shoulder before they actually began to move towards the ball.

This sounds pretty good, plus it works.

My daughter is now on a travel team and they have changed everyone's swing to a new one. This one is proven very effective..I've seen the guy's daughter who uses this swing just kill the ball everytime. However, it is a much more difficult thing to master.

It's proven effective with one player, not every player.

I'd suspect it may be needlessly complex.

Basically for this swing they are making the girls' first move (after the step) be to keep the hands "stacked" (one on top of the other) and move the hands independently of the shoulders to bring the knob of the bat past the ball

Do you see stacked hands in this (home run) swing?

Some people teach stacked hands and other handsy stuff but...

1. I'm not convinced it's necessary to hitting well.
2. It may needlessly complicate things.

Does the coach use the words torque? What word does he use?

I am just hoping for some advice on which swing she should be using now that the season is approaching.

I would go back to the first swing.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

My daughter is now on a travel team and they have changed everyone's swing to a new one. This one is proven very effective..I've seen the guy's daughter who uses this swing just kill the ball everytime. However, it is a much more difficult thing to master.

This is usually mistake 101 in coaching. I agree with JC, you can't expect to teach your whole team or group to hit the same way. This is another reason I don't believe in large clinics teaching 100 kids to pitch or hit. Clinics should be a way to inform the coach how to address or fix indiviual problems, and not universalize the whole team. That will never work.

The girls have been working on this new swing for months now and still not too many of them are able to do it consistently.

I am just hoping for some advice on which swing she should be using now that the season is approaching.

If they are 'not getting' it in a few months, either the coach is not properly teaching....... or the mechanics for his style of hitting goes against their natural makeup. If some are getting it, that's great. The ones that are not might consider tweaking their old style ( if it was working and correct ). Or seek a good instructor for a 'personal evaluation'.

The wrong person changing anything your DD does can do considerable harm. Just be cautious.

Good luck.

 

[Mark H]

Use this as a horse puckey detector for anything anyone wants to teach your daughter about hitting. Siggy's Hitting Clips - ImageEvent Compare anything anyone tells you about hitting to these clips. If it doesn't match up, watch out.

 

[CoachKevin]

A well known 35+ year Coach and a 30+ year batting instructor in our area teaches the standard knob of the bat and hands to the ball, squish the bug, keep the weight back, arms extended at contact technique (not saying this is wrong... but) I was really getting tired to watching our girls consistently hit weak ground balls. Starting last October, I used Chris O'Learys web site to show the girls and the parents the difference between the swings. Most of the parents came to me and wanted to learn more, a couple stayed with the batting instructor (who by the charges, which is OK if you want to pay for it).

Since starting this I have seen an increase in power in almost all the girls I am working with. Of course we are in the cages, I hope it continues when we can use live pitching for batting practice. The funny thing is, the girls still going to the batting instructor... can still only hit weak ground balls...

 

[thefinest]

thanks everyone for their replies! I wish I had a video to show you what I mean. Our girls just had their first scrimmage recently and in 3 innings there was only one hit and one bunt...

They have never faced live pitching and I think that was part of the problem. It's a lot different when someone is actually pitching to you than just hitting off the tee and/or soft tossing it to you. It looks like our team has a long ways to go!

After really studying siggy's clips, I'm thinking that the way my daughter was taught the first time(triggger step swing) looks more like what is pictured in the clips. I don't see anyone's hands keeping stacked.

Thanks again for all the help!! One more question, my daughter has her first tournament this weekend and after watching the scrimmage I'm concerned that she won't be able to hit off live pitching. Should I take her to the cages and let her hit off pitching machines? Would that help get her used to fast pitching? She's done tons and tons of tee work and front soft toss. I'd take her outside and try to pitch to her (which would be quite funny! ) but there's 2 feet of snow on the ground here!

Thanks!

 

[Chris O'Leary]

They have never faced live pitching and I think that was part of the problem.

This can create timing problems and being early or late, which leads to ugly results.

I would pitch to her, so she can work on her timing.