Drills for Collapsing Front Leg

[personacom]

Hello All!

12U travel team. I was wondering if you could recommend some drills to correct a collapsing front leg? We have a young lady on our team who has a great eye for pitches at the plate and almost always puts the bat on the ball if the pitcher is throwing strikes. However, she is about the slowest runner I have ever seen (short, squat, small legs) and she really needs to poke it through the infield in order to have any shot of getting on base.

Often her hits are "just off" and come right back to the pitcher or are relatively easy rollers to the shortstop eaten up by the dirt. Her batting stance is good, hip action is nice and she is loading fine and isn't stepping out. However, her front leg often collapses or bends. When she keeps a nice straight front leg, her hits are much more powerful and are often solid line drives to the left-side of the diamond. When her leg collapses, the ball is often driven in the dirt and she is an easy putout.

We have shown her videos and she is much more aware of this tendency, but we would like to reinforce it with some drills. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Ray

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

More often than not, when I come across this issue I also observe that the hitter has poor use of their hands. What I find is that once hand usage is taught that the front leg conforms and begins to be used correctly .... without any mention of the front leg.

In the example below you see the common 'bat drag' issue on the left. Also note the front leg .... bent, not offering resistance .... mainly because the goal being given for usage of the hands doesn't need resistance. On the right is the same girl after being asked to simply turn the barrel to contact ... notice that the functionality of the front leg changed considerably, without any focus placed on the front leg.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Take a normal batting position then hit while kneeling on the back knee w/ front leg out straight toward pitcher. This should create roughly the same feel that she will want to duplicate when hitting regularly. When done correctly, the head will remain stationary after the front heel lands and the swing is started. No one will dispute that it is much easier to consistently achieve solid contact when the head isn't moving forward!

 

[Josh Greer]

Not sure how you guys feel about baseball translations, but this is a drill that all of my kids to (baseball and softball). I don't know the back story of why it is called the "Albert Pujols Drill". I'm assuming somebody claimed AP did this drill at one time. Bryce Harper has also been known to use it. It should really be called the front foot drill....but I digress:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwkOxmPtLq8

 

[softballphreak]

One thing that I have found to be very effective for this (and a couple other things) is for the batter to freeze at the end of her swing for about 2 to 3 seconds. We call this "hold your pose."

They will still have the flaw but while trying to get a perfect pose they will automagically start to self-correct. We also tell them once they can achieve a consistently perfect pose they can self-coach themselves in the cages. If they don't come to a good pose they need to ask themselves what flaw prevented the good pose.

 

[Buttermaker]

More often than not, when I come across this issue I also observe that the hitter has poor use of their hands. What I find is that once hand usage is taught that the front leg conforms and begins to be used correctly .... without any mention of the front leg.

In the example below you see the common 'bat drag' issue on the left. Also note the front leg .... bent, not offering resistance .... mainly because the goal being given for usage of the hands doesn't need resistance. On the right is the same girl after being asked to simply turn the barrel to contact ... notice that the functionality of the front leg changed considerably, without any focus placed on the front leg.

Do you consider the front leg on right an improvement?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Not sure what the confusion is.

The point is that someone just learning to make use of their hands ends up recruiting front-side resistance.

Compare the front leg from the two swings above at the RVP Connection Point Position, to that of Cabrera's front leg at the RVP Connection Point Position.

 

[rdbass]

 

[Buttermaker]

I am not confused if you were referring to me - I just asked a question.

Posting a clip of Cabrera making an adjustment swing does not answer anything. The girl on the right is out of sequence - swinging over the top - not from the middle. She was better off with the swing on the left and learning how to use her hips and core correctly. Her front leg may be providing resistance but only because she locked out her leg upon foot strike.

Her front leg is bouncing off the floor on the right because her swing is top/chest driven. Cabrera's doesn't. He lands and adjusts very quickly.

Not sure what the confusion is.

The point is that someone just learning to make use of their hands ends up recruiting front-side resistance.

Compare the front leg from the two swings above at the RVP Connection Point Position, to that of Cabrera's front leg at the RVP Connection Point Position.

 

[rdbass]

Do you consider the front leg on right an improvement?

Do you?

She was better off with the swing on the left and learning how to use her hips and core correctly.

Oh, my bad you don't.

She was better off with the swing on the left and learning how to use her hips and core correctly

This DD was instructed too just 'turn the barrel to the ball'. Before we knew any 'better'.
You believe instructing this hitter to use her core would have helped her?
Pretty sure this hitter is using her core.