I continue to see the leveling issue we call DBSF all over the place. Both my girls do it, many teammates/opponents do it, many DFP DDs do it.
Some claim it is an easy thing to correct, but I still have not seen a player actually correct it in real life or on video on this site. It is really puzzling to me. I get really frustrated because it seems so easy to fix. I disagree with others about why it is important to fix. I think it needs to be fixed for better zone coverage (try to hit a low inside strike with this pattern and you are dead meat), many other say it needs to be fixed to be able to handle fast pitching while adjusting to offspeed. My real world experience tells me that girls with this pattern can hold their own with speed but are vulnerable to good placement. I know others are working through the same issue so I wanted to see if there are better results if we share specific info about what we have tried, maybe someone even has the magic fix and can post video showing that it is possible to fix (after two years I am beginning to have my doubts).
I called this an FFF thread and that means (fiveframefree), but more generally, I am hoping we can avoid the whole "post a clip of Miggy and say do this" part of most threads, I think people posting real world video clips of their students and/or DDs is so much more helpful. That is why it is in the practical forum.
Here is some background....DD in all stars n the summer of 2014
[video]https://youtu.be/JFLu3dAmc9w[/video]
Swing from a couple of weeks back
[video]https://youtu.be/Uj3XL3clZtc[/video]
Between these two points (that are basically identical) we have done at least 100 hours of hitting work with the majority of focus on trying to come up with the magic elixer to get to this in games.
We have gotten to the point where she can do front toss and get her swing to where we want it leveling wise
[video]https://youtu.be/53oIHAc3V9U[/video]
But it just does not show up in games.
This is not really aimed at trying to fix my kid specifically, it is aimed at creating a little space here where the folks who are working on this now can maybe share ideas with some help from folks who have fixed it before (if you exist )
I was even thinking of having a competition between our daughters so they had some extra motivation to fix it, I know that Stick/Eric/Me at least have kids that are the same age and are trying to fix it, maybe if all the dads who are currently working on this got together and ponied up 10 bucks each then the kitty would be big enough to motivate the rugrats to fix it. I'll try anything at this point as you will see below.
What we are working on today will be golf swings, I will have her hitting wiffle balls off the ground with a wedge. The idea here is that low/inside location cannot be gotten to with a drop and drag swing. One of the things we do often during front toss when she is dropping is I will throw low and inside over and over again until she can hit one hard up the middle. This tells me she has the feeling of turning the barrel more. When she is dropping and dragging she is not capable of hitting a low inside pitch in fair territory, the swing path created means that she will coming across her body and hitting the ball towards the third base dugout. More than any advice I have been given about this issue, that one thing, working low and in is the thing that seems to install the feeling for her to be able to take some front toss cuts without dropping (it quickly comes back though). It is too hot to work during the day so we will do it at dusk and I will post a clip.
Anyone else starting to get "creative" in an attempt to fix this?
I have some thoughts on this as DD2 and DD3 struggle with this. DD1 has no overlap in her swing but doesn't suffer from DBSF. A few of my players do this but none as bad as DD2.
Everything I have read on this talks about the barrel and the hands (both top and bottom). I hit almost everyday and have even tried to force myself to swing in a DBSF pattern so I can try and feel what my DD is feeling.
Your DD has a nice golf swing...I too have been down that road and that is a road I want to talk about.
Before kids, I gave golf lessons. I was a 2 to 3 handicap golfer for a long time. I took up golf after a college baseball injury rendered my throwing arm useless. I use comparisons between golf and hitting all the time because of their relevance.
Ask yourself a question...why does your DD not DBSF with the golf club?
The obvious answer is that the ball is on the ground. The not so obvious answer is that she naturally allows her spine to tilt to the ball. This forward spine angle forms a "T" with her her spine and shoulders that naturally allows her rear shoulder to work under while still maintaining a "non-flattened" angle with the club shaft. Conversely, if you look her spine angle in her softball swings that angle is not prevalent (you can also see it in Perfect Circle's DD's swing except she has a good angle until she is loading the barrel into impact and she "snaps" her body upright flattening the barrel).
This is very crude but this is what I mean:
I think these do a good job of explaining this as well even though they are golf related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=283S9HgCZmw
So what's my point? It's very difficult to NOT swing level if you keep your shoulders level. If your posture is too upright, it is damn near impossible to swing the bat on an angled path. It's NOT where the barrel starts...look where Hugo starts her bat and look how her spine angle increases:
Tomorrow night at the cages, rather than throwing the bat like a helicopter propeller, I'm going to have her try to throw the bat at an angle similar to what Hugo has in the clip. I have seen a different the last 2 nights by having her start the bat on her shoulder as well.
Creative enough for you? Thoughts?
CP