Erin's hitting mechanics

[Chris O'Leary]

I ask what she has been taught about the grip and she demo the alighnment of door knocking knuckles.

Maybe she was taught it, but she's not doing it (which is good).

Her grip is a pretty typical axe grip. Maybe it's too palm-y, but IMO that's not her biggest problem.

Chris would like your openion on what you would focus on?

Was she taught to take her hands to the ball? If not, why does she hit it so far out front.

I also agree with your OP where you describe her as too top-down.

Her lower body isn't dead, but it's not right.

P.S. Was she taught to stand up straight and keep her shoulders level?

 

[FPMark]

Benyi's bat position is much different from the girl in the OP. In fact when she starts her tilt before the swing, the bat almost points to the catchers feet. The girl in the video does not tilt, so the only way she gets the barrel above her hands is by dropping them.

I don't think her straightening the front arm is a timing issue, it starts too early in the swing, but it does force her to pull the front shoulder out and hit the ball too far out front. Look at the rear forearm when the elbow slots, it's nearly horizonal. Doesn't that mean the hands are too far from the body, like her front arm is too straight, even if it's not barred? It's like her bat to front forearm alignment happens too late in her swing, so she compensates by swinging too early. If that makes any sense.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

The girl in the video does not tilt, so the only way she gets the barrel above her hands is by dropping them.

While I agree that the girl in question doesn't tilt (much), I'm not sure what you mean by the second part of your statement.

How important is it to get the barrel above the hands and why?

 

[SBFAMILY]

Grip and how the knuckles align is missing the point. Have her take a bat and grip it , then only keep her top hand on the bat, now have her throw it as far as she can. The grip will come together after she feels how much farther she can throw it with the bat in the fingers and not down between the thumb and first finger. This is what the device the Bat Jack that Jim posted is all about. If the grip is wrong, it normally leads to other issues at extension, , like rolling the wrists.

 

[softballphreak]

She is very close to barring the front arm. That, combined with hitting the ball too far out front, is causing a mostly-arms push swing. I don't think it's a timing issue, I think it's a bad choice of point of contact issue.

1. There is no load.
2. The separation is weak, so she never gets to a good launch foundation.
3. The hips don't lead sufficiently, creating a gate swing.
4. The hands should start in a position as if throwing.
5. She's not throwing the barrel, she ends up pushing instead of whipping.
6. Weight shift and balance and follow through are ok.

 

[softballphreak]

While I agree that the girl in question doesn't tilt (much), I'm not sure what you mean by the second part of your statement.

How important is it to get the barrel above the hands and why?

You don't "get" the barrel above the hands, you "start with" the barrel above the hands. That helps add speed and better whip to the swing. Gravity assist, as a thought. You can swing faster downward than you can level.

By flat, you're not talking about level to the ground, are you. The bat will usually be angled relative to the ground, except for a higher swing.

 

[FPMark]

Gravity. It's much more effective to work with it, than against it. You hit the ball with your hands above the barrel. To get the most momentum in your swing, you start with the hands below the barrel. I don't nessessarily mean how you stand before starting the swing, that's style, but to swing the bat into the plane of the ball, getting the barrel above the hands allows gravity to help get the bat into the hitting zone with the maximum amount of speed, force, and controll. Not to mention the effect of having the top and bottom hands in a less than ideal position to swing from. I've never seen a HLBB swing that didn't start with the barrel above the hands.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Gravity. It's much more effective to work with it, than against it. You hit the ball with your hands above the barrel. To get the most momentum in your swing, you start with the hands below the barrel. I don't nessessarily mean how you stand before starting the swing, that's style, but to swing the bat into the plane of the ball, getting the barrel above the hands allows gravity to help get the bat into the hitting zone with the maximum amount of speed, force, and controll. Not to mention the effect of having the top and bottom hands in a less than ideal position to swing from. I've never seen a HLBB swing that didn't start with the barrel above the hands.

I agree that drooping the barrel isn't good, but I've seen much worse and don't think that's this hitter's biggest issue.

She's not that far off from Benyi.

There's also the issue that, if you start with the barrel too far up out of plane, you can cause the barrel to dump (among other problems).

I was at the cages one day and was watching a girl in one of the baseball cages with her dad behind her. The more she struggled, the more her dad harped on getting the barrel up. It was his main cue, I assume because it was so prominent in the swings of Musial and Williams. However, he didn't understand what made their swings work and she ended up going 0 for 20 in that set and she hit maybe 3 balls in all of the cage sessions that I happened to watch.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

You don't "get" the barrel above the hands, you "start with" the barrel above the hands. That helps add speed and better whip to the swing. Gravity assist, as a thought. You can swing faster downward than you can level.

But if you start with the barrel too high, you can compromise your ability to cover the top of the strike zone and, in the case of FP, hurt your ability to hit the riseball.

One day in a baseball game a kid came up to bat and I noticed that he held his bat vertically and then swung from that position. As a test, I had my pitcher throw him 3 strikes at the letters. Every time, he dumped the barrel and swung under each ball. He struck out on 3 pitches.

 

[softballphreak]

But if you start with the barrel too high, you can compromise your ability to cover the top of the strike zone and, in the case of FP, hurt your ability to hit the riseball.

One day in a baseball game a kid came up to bat and I noticed that he held his bat vertically and then swung from that position. As a test, I had my pitcher throw him 3 strikes at the letters. Every time, he dumped the barrel and swung under each ball. He struck out on 3 pitches.

You hold it at about a 45 degree angle, not vertical. The barrel above the hands would actually help hit a rise ball.

Dumping the barrel, of course, is a flaw.

Kind of like riding a bike, if you don't follow the correct path you're gonna run off the side.