Dropping hands

[efastball]

EDIT to add: To keep this in the context of the thread, I assume these would still be considered "push" swings by those who espouse such concepts.

Since you brought this up. Twice.

 

[jamesd1628]

View attachment 23400

Since you brought this up. Twice.

Indeed the point was to provide a concrete example, in a live swing, of what you consider to be a "push" swing. There were some in the thread asking for such an example from you. You're welcome.

 

[efastball]

The typical push swing that people here discuss is when the hands push forward (vs down) prematurely.

And I don't typically post a youth swing that wasn't already in the thread

 

[jamesd1628]

Hmm. I never labeled this as a 'push swing'. The typical push swing that people here discuss is when the hands push forward (vs down) prematurely

Well the direction of the push would depend on the location of the pitch. On a low and away pitch - like the pitch in the clip from which you pulled the still shot - the hands have to go down and forward. If the batter pushed the hands forward on a pitch like that it would make contact highly unlikely.

 

[efastball]

The direction of the pitch wouldn't move the hands very far from the armpit at hip slot

The hands should only push toward the ball after hip slot

 

[jamesd1628]

The direction of the pitch wouldn't move the hands very far from the armpit at hip slot

The hands should only push toward the ball after hip slot

Yeah I'm aware of you're position on the issue, which is why I posted the videos showing what you think is a push swing - i.e., hands being pushed away before hip slot. Here is the full hand path for the still shot you selected. You can clearly see him pushing his hands/knob toward the ball. Are you saying that's not a push swing?

 

[clarity]

Right, so she isn't getting into a good launch position in the game, her sequence changes and is rushed in the game as well.. right?

"Rushed" is not part of the equation

 

[clarity]

But is she doing that with live pitching in practice?

No, we can't get it to happen on the field

 

[Beeg]

I recommend getting something like the Zepp. DD was dropping her hands at the beginning of the season. We used the Zepp to track her swing angle. It showed that it was flat at almost 0-deg. I then asked her to exaggerate her load, like a smilie face moving up. I told her it'd feel awkward at first, but the goal was to keep her hands by her ear. Then go from there and directly to the ball. We also made sure she leave the hands there after the load as the body came around. The more "twist" you create with your body, the more power you get at the swing. It's like a rubber-band effect. We also taught her not to match the speed of the pitch and always smash it even if the pitch was slow. If you smash it, even a grounder has a chance to sneak by the infielders.

Before every practice and every at bat, we asked DD to recite 2 things in her head: Load and Smash, Load and Smash, Load and Smash.

A woman golf pro once told me that a female doesn't have a lot of upper body strength, so all the power comes from the lower body. So we also taught DD to generate her power with her legs, hips, then her upper body, and then bat to ball and no dropping hands.

It all paid off. At the end of the season, even though she's only 5'1", she had tons of doubles and triples and ended up with the highest batting and slugging average.

 

[Work=wins]

@jamesd1628

took a closer look into your most recent swings. it seems your son is moving from the middle much better.

but his hands drop. Maybe work on his hpp being a little more on top or higher. The Barry Bonds drill would help. As @efastball said his hands drop before his structure and plane are set above the ball causing some depth issues. maybe a later acceleration out front. He is moving from the middle better and rotating faster so it should be an easy fix. That’s what I would work on. He has improved quite a bit though. Keep working!