DD's swing from the left

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Mar 25, 2011
304
16
It might be nothing, as I'm far from a hitting coach... her front foot, in all her videos, she keeps her heel off the ground. Should that heel be coming down all the way to pull that weight off the toe and trigger the hips? It seems she starts her hips prior. I honestly don't know, just something that caught my eye.
 
May 13, 2008
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Doesn't look too bad for a converted swinger. Tee placement is too far in front; it should be about even with the instep of the stride foot after toe touch (for a down the middle pitch). She should strive to keep her lead elbow a little higher through contact. The wrists shouldn't roll until full extention and the bat should finish a little higher (above the shoulders).
 
Oct 25, 2009
3,335
48
I agree with cshilt on the tee placement being too far out front and where he said it should be—just inside the front foot. Very important.

Look at some of the video under the recent thread, HOW do you Teach TILT! on here. Notice how every one of those batters' front knee ends up inside the front foot, not over it. Makes them appear to be leaning back. That's the way it should be. They are shifting their weight against the front leg, not over top of their front foot.

She seems to stride long enough but the weight gets over top of the foot. Also, she needs to toe touch the front foot, heel up, then heel plant as she starts her hip, and don't let the front foot open so straight; try to get closer to a 45º front foot angle.

Whatever she does make sure she does it on front toss also. TCB balls would be handy here; especially learning to hit opposite side.
 
Jan 13, 2010
139
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Thanks for the input. I will get her to work on her front foot and lead elbow.

I'll try to get some video in the next week or so.
 
R

RayR

Guest
Greg, she looks very good for a convert....don't isolate body positions.

Work on fluidity. Throw bats as in the helicopter drill....work on throwing the bat with the legs and hands....the positions (front foot, lead elbow) will work themselves out....this action will help her brain understand that she needs to use her hands earlier to get the bat head turning so the bat can be thrown....the front leg will brace itself against the ground for the release...

There is no perfect swing....work on hitting by throwing the bat head through the ball....bat speed comes from getting the bat head going immediately....isolating positions diminishes bat speed.....

And go easy on the tee work....she needs to hit moving balls whether it is from soft toss or front toss....

Most tee work is unproductive, busy work....see kids hit off tees relentlessly....does nothing to help them hit live....

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PLHG3JnmkEc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Oct 25, 2009
3,335
48
Disagree with going easy on tee work. Long tee is one of the most productive ways to hitting harder. And if you can't hit it right sitting still you're going to fare worse when it's moving.

Hitting off of a tee into a net is what I would call busy work. That's best used with soft toss for warmups.

Live pitches and front toss are the most productive. Side toss for warmup maybe. Live pitches don't come from the side.

Again, look at the Yeager videos. See the hip action, the rear foot just before contact. The angle of the front foot just before contact. When you can see these in your swing you're doing something right.

It's true there is no one perfect swing, but it's also true that there are fundamentals that will help the swing. She's done well but she didn't do it by chance; she's worked on some of those fundamentals. Don't quit now.
 
Jul 21, 2008
414
0
Greg, she looks very good for a convert....don't isolate body positions.

Work on fluidity. Throw bats as in the helicopter drill....work on throwing the bat with the legs and hands....the positions (front foot, lead elbow) will work themselves out....this action will help her brain understand that she needs to use her hands earlier to get the bat head turning so the bat can be thrown....the front leg will brace itself against the ground for the release...

There is no perfect swing....work on hitting by throwing the bat head through the ball....bat speed comes from getting the bat head going immediately....isolating positions diminishes bat speed.....

And go easy on the tee work....she needs to hit moving balls whether it is from soft toss or front toss....

Most tee work is unproductive, busy work....see kids hit off tees relentlessly....does nothing to help them hit live....

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PLHG3JnmkEc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

MTS.....I use this helicopter drill but my students say that the knob hurts there hands when throwing the bat.....ANY SUGGESTIONS?
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,019
0
Portland, OR
Coachdan ... one quick suggestion is to have the knob of the barrel buried in the bottom-hand ... another is to saw off the knob, smooth out any resulting rough surfaces, and tape them up ... another is to use a bat without such a knob, Nemo bats come to mind.

There are some good aspects to be extracted from throwing barrels.
 
Jan 13, 2010
139
16
I took her to a clinic this past weekend. They must have spent 2 hrs on hitting. She swings good off a tee. When she was at the pitching matchine station i noticed she didn't rotate at all or very little. I think when she gets to a machine she starts thinking ONLY about hitting the ball and forgets everything else. I'm hoping just more time doing front toss will help this.

Is this normal? having a pretty good swing with tee work and then a not so good swing with live pitching. I do front toss with her with TCB balls and normal balls as well.

If i can get my DW to operate the camera i'll see if i can get some front toss swings.
 
Oct 25, 2009
3,335
48
I took her to a clinic this past weekend. They must have spent 2 hrs on hitting. She swings good off a tee. When she was at the pitching matchine station i noticed she didn't rotate at all or very little. I think when she gets to a machine she starts thinking ONLY about hitting the ball and forgets everything else. I'm hoping just more time doing front toss will help this.

Is this normal? having a pretty good swing with tee work and then a not so good swing with live pitching. I do front toss with her with TCB balls and normal balls as well.

If i can get my DW to operate the camera i'll see if i can get some front toss swings.

Yes, that's normal. Make sure she is doing everything at the tee that she is going to do during front toss and live pitching. IOW, while at the tee, visualize the pitch, load, stride/separate, swing, exactly as she will during front toss. In particular, make sure she understands that she only swings when she is at stride/separate; at the tee or live.

Make sure that those segments don't become choppy/robotic. The swing should be fluid.

Also, rotation may be barely noticeable. Too much rotation may very well be spin instead. Not good. If the rear foot rotates, she is probably spinning.
 
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