Dipping back knee

[stiksdad]

Knightsb: Here is a video of my DD starting with her feet close together to emphasize the sequence. I'm throwing windmill from behind a screen about 25' away. I always throw windmill when I pitch so that the kids can get comfortable with the timing of their sequence. I always try and utilize drills that can be adapted to live pitching in order to get the kids used to swinging at a pitched ball. My experience has been that tee swings and slow motion dry swings almost always break down against live game pitching.

Ignore my DD's back leg. Her rear knee is misaligned with her hip, giving the appearance that she is turning it in when she is really not. IOW, her rear knee is always turned in. When she bends at the knee, it turns in even more. It's the way she was born; nothing I can do about it.

As I've said before, I feel like my DD's hands lag behind a little bit too much. When I compare her swing to the pros, I see her hips finishing about a frame or so, prior to her hands getting the barrel to contact. She needs to do a better job of using her hands IMO. Also, now that she seems to be getting comfortable with the sequence, we will be working on quieting down her movements some.

I think she looks pretty good, I would do a thing or 2 different, but understanding your approach I see where you are headed. Thanks for posting some video of her work.

 

[softballphreak]

Knightsb: Here is a video of my DD starting with her feet close together to emphasize the sequence. I'm throwing windmill from behind a screen about 25' away. I always throw windmill when I pitch so that the kids can get comfortable with the timing of their sequence. I always try and utilize drills that can be adapted to live pitching in order to get the kids used to swinging at a pitched ball. My experience has been that tee swings and slow motion dry swings almost always break down against live game pitching.

Ignore my DD's back leg. Her rear knee is misaligned with her hip, giving the appearance that she is turning it in when she is really not. IOW, her rear knee is always turned in. When she bends at the knee, it turns in even more. It's the way she was born; nothing I can do about it.

As I've said before, I feel like my DD's hands lag behind a little bit too much. When I compare her swing to the pros, I see her hips finishing about a frame or so, prior to her hands getting the barrel to contact. She needs to do a better job of using her hands IMO. Also, now that she seems to be getting comfortable with the sequence, we will be working on quieting down her movements some.

Yep, everything until the swing should feel effortless, calm and slow. I also think she needs some backward movement away from the pitch. She's swinging from a dead stop. Feet are a little too close together.

She just needs to follow what you've been posting. It doesn't look like that in this swing.

 

[Wellphyt]

Yep, everything until the swing should feel effortless, calm and slow. I also think she needs some backward movement away from the pitch. She's swinging from a dead stop. Feet are a little too close together.

She just needs to follow what you've been posting. It doesn't look like that in this swing.

Could you please elaborate on what you mean by the part in bold?

 

[lhowser]

Wellphyt,

Thanks for posting that video. Good powerful shot off that front toss. I like it when contributors to the site post video of their dd or a player swing (with permission) they are training. Seeing another teenager with a good swing but a swing still in progress helps me quite a bit. There are things that a 20 year old college player can do that a 13 - 17 is still working on both in terms of strength and mechanics. Nice job.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Could you please elaborate on what you mean by the part in bold?

I believe what he is observing is that the rear leg usage is non-ideal.

While the gathering portion may seem correct, it is actually non-ideal also, due largely to the early excessive anterior tilt robbing her of a valuable dynamic load. Notice that her swing does not sit her.

I know you said to ignore the rear leg … but that is where I see a significant issue. She appears to be performing an Elvis like move. Don’t know if you recall a drill over at HI that basically had the rear foot remain on the ground (... a poster here recently sent me a similar drill being described by Sue Enquist). The same drill that can be used to assist in gaining the feel to correct a bug-squish, can also give the feel to stop short-circuiting rear leg usage. If you haven’t tried the drill, give it a whirl … as Jim would say, simply turn the magic spot … the upper rear leg … use the muscles in the upper rear leg, and don’t spring board off the rear foot.

 

[stiksdad]

I believe what he is observing is that the rear leg usage is non-ideal.

While the gathering portion may seem correct, it is actually non-ideal also, due largely to the early excessive anterior tilt robbing her of a valuable dynamic load. Notice that her swing does not sit her.

I know you said to ignore the rear leg … but that is where I see a significant issue. She appears to be performing an Elvis like move. Don’t know if you recall a drill over at HI that basically had the rear foot remain on the ground (... a poster here recently sent me a similar drill being described by Sue Enquist). The same drill that can be used to assist in gaining the feel to correct a bug-squish, can also give the feel to stop short-circuiting rear leg usage. If you haven’t tried the drill, give it a whirl … as Jim would say, simply turn the magic spot … the upper rear leg … use the muscles in the upper rear leg, and don’t spring board off the rear foot.

What do you mean by her swing does not sit her, I am not familiar with that term.

 

[Wellphyt]

I believe what he is observing is that the rear leg usage is non-ideal.

While the gathering portion may seem correct, it is actually non-ideal also, due largely to the early excessive anterior tilt robbing her of a valuable dynamic load. Notice that her swing does not sit her.

I know you said to ignore the rear leg … but that is where I see a significant issue. She appears to be performing an Elvis like move. Don’t know if you recall a drill over at HI that basically had the rear foot remain on the ground (... a poster here recently sent me a similar drill being described by Sue Enquist). The same drill that can be used to assist in gaining the feel to correct a bug-squish, can also give the feel to stop short-circuiting rear leg usage. If you haven’t tried the drill, give it a whirl … as Jim would say, simply turn the magic spot … the upper rear leg … use the muscles in the upper rear leg, and don’t spring board off the rear foot.

Totally agree that she has excessive anterior tilt in this swing. I pointed that out to her when we watched the video and she was very surprised to see herself doing that. She's already working on quieting that down, although I don't think it's that pronounced in her game swings. My experience is that kids tend to overdue things when doing drills (adults too)

I can't do anything about the rear leg. I know it looks like she is doing an "Elvis Move", but I don't believe she is based on the pressure direction of her back foot. All I can say is that she has demonstrated back to me the difference between doing the "Elvis" and keeping pressure at the back foot. Her back knee is perpetually turned in. When she strides it makes her knee look like it is turned in even more. If I get a chance I will video her back leg so you can get a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

 

[theaddition]

What do you mean by her swing does not sit her, I am not familiar with that term.

Juding by the pitch loacation, her swing should not sit her.
She strides with a load upper body (down hill/level shoulders) then adjusts to the higher pitch location.
IMO. Well's DD has a great swing and much can be learned from watching it.
My only comment would be to work on a better front side blocking. ( I am a Yeagerite and that's big in his world)
That's based on this ONE swing. It's a very good swing.

 

[softballphreak]

Originally Posted by softballphreak
Yep, everything until the swing should feel effortless, calm and slow. I also think she needs some backward movement away from the pitch. She's swinging from a dead stop. Feet are a little too close together.

She just needs to follow what you've been posting. It doesn't look like that in this swing.

Could you please elaborate on what you mean by the part in bold?

The pendulum motion. Forward by coiling. Separation. Instead of "sitting" and then forward. More of a kick stride look I think would describe it. Not a lean back move, more of a coiling move.

 

[cshilt]

The pendulum motion. Forward by coiling. Separation. Instead of "sitting" and then forward. More of a kick stride look I think would describe it. Not a lean back move, more of a coiling move.

Agree. With the legs so close together there is no load/coil. She is just sitting down and picking up her foot. If this is a drill to teach the sequence, in my opinion it is not doing a good job. Just my opinion.