Cues and suggestions for your daughter
NWITom, that's a pretty good swing for a nine-year-old! If I was going to add my two cents without a lot of the biomechanical breakdown you see on here sometimes, here's what I would offer a nine-year-old:
1. Her back foot could pivot a bit more (not squishing a bug, but heel comes off the ground while pivoting on the ball/toe of the back foot). We tell young hitters to point the back knee to the pitcher. This rotates the hips a bit more and gives the hitter more power and takes advantage of the lower body muscles.
2. Her hips should not only rotate, but they should also move forward through the swing. Looking at the video, the belly button moves backward at load (which is good!), but it never really passes its starting point as she's swinging the bat. The "Happy Gilmore" drill (walkthrough drill/step behind drill) works to teach that weight transfer.
3. It looks like she hits behind the ball rather than inside the ball. A cue we use with our high school hitters is hitting the inside seam. Place a seamed ball on the tee where the back of the ball has its seams running like train tracks top to bottom (ll). The hitter should try to hit that inside seam no matter where the tee is placed (inside, down the middle, outside). It teaches the hitter to be "short to the ball" and stay "inside the ball."
4. Also, have her finish higher with her bat. It seems to finish pretty flat, and we like to have our hitters hit through the ball and finish with the bat high.
I wouldn't throw all of these things at your daughter all at once. Personally, I would work in the order listed above, and not move from one correction area to the next before she's mastered each one. It's a lot of information for a kid to handle all at once.
I hope this helps, and best of luck with all of your daughters!
NWITom, that's a pretty good swing for a nine-year-old! If I was going to add my two cents without a lot of the biomechanical breakdown you see on here sometimes, here's what I would offer a nine-year-old:
1. Her back foot could pivot a bit more (not squishing a bug, but heel comes off the ground while pivoting on the ball/toe of the back foot). We tell young hitters to point the back knee to the pitcher. This rotates the hips a bit more and gives the hitter more power and takes advantage of the lower body muscles.
2. Her hips should not only rotate, but they should also move forward through the swing. Looking at the video, the belly button moves backward at load (which is good!), but it never really passes its starting point as she's swinging the bat. The "Happy Gilmore" drill (walkthrough drill/step behind drill) works to teach that weight transfer.
3. It looks like she hits behind the ball rather than inside the ball. A cue we use with our high school hitters is hitting the inside seam. Place a seamed ball on the tee where the back of the ball has its seams running like train tracks top to bottom (ll). The hitter should try to hit that inside seam no matter where the tee is placed (inside, down the middle, outside). It teaches the hitter to be "short to the ball" and stay "inside the ball."
4. Also, have her finish higher with her bat. It seems to finish pretty flat, and we like to have our hitters hit through the ball and finish with the bat high.
I wouldn't throw all of these things at your daughter all at once. Personally, I would work in the order listed above, and not move from one correction area to the next before she's mastered each one. It's a lot of information for a kid to handle all at once.
I hope this helps, and best of luck with all of your daughters!