Erin's hitting mechanics

[Chris O'Leary]

You hold it at about a 45 degree angle, not vertical.

But if 45 degrees is so important, then why can Benyi and others get away with a nearly flat bat?

The barrel above the hands would actually help hit a rise ball.

Perhaps in small doses -- but that's debatable -- but certainly not in the extremes that some people take it to.

 

[Ken Krause]

Hard to tell for sure, but is that bat too heavy for her? Something in the first part of her swing looks a little awkward to me.

 

[Ken Krause]

I see a big difference between the "flatness" of Benyi's bat and what Erin is doing in the video. Benyi doesn't have a lot of angle at launch, but there is some and she maintains it. There's very little angle to start with Erin, and then before she launches she flattens it out even more.

 

[softballphreak]

But if 45 degrees is so important, then why can Benyi and others get away with a nearly flat bat?




Perhaps in small doses -- but that's debatable -- but certainly not in the extremes that some people take it to.

I guess if you can hit, you can hit any way you want to. Jeff Bagwell, among many others, is a good example of what most coaches would "correct."

I teach 45º angle, but it's not an absolute.

 

[softballphreak]

I see a big difference between the "flatness" of Benyi's bat and what Erin is doing in the video. Benyi doesn't have a lot of angle at launch, but there is some and she maintains it. There's very little angle to start with Erin, and then before she launches she flattens it out even more.

And she starts pushing her hands down toward the ball with no load or stretch at all. That's probably what looks awkward. She looks like a strong kid but not loading and not separating will keep her from being as good a hitter as she could be.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Hard to tell for sure, but is that bat too heavy for her? Something in the first part of her swing looks a little awkward to me.

I think it's because she's pulling the knob to the ball instead of tilting to get the barrel to the ball.

 

[Jim]

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

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

The "door knocking knuckles" do no need to be lined up. Doing so does not guarantee a grip that helps the swing. The angle that the handle is laid in the hand and the engagement of certain fingers in the grip is more important that lining up knuckles.

 

[FPMark]

Hard to tell for sure, but is that bat too heavy for her? Something in the first part of her swing looks a little awkward to me.

I don't know if it's the same thing I see, but she does have her rear elbow lower than the front, from the start. Kind of looks awkward when she slots her elbow.

Chris,... My view on fixing the OP's swing is to correct the hand path with a proper load of the bat, (barrel above hands with the bat pointed towards catcher's feet), maintaining the front forearm to upper arm angle at close to 90* so that the hands can stay closer to the body, and then work on the coil, stretch, fire sequence. It just looks like correcting the bat position at launch and the straightened front arm may fix some of the other problems.

I'm curious to know what you think. What would you do to fix it? Or do you think it needs to be fixed?

 

[Jim]

she does have her rear elbow lower than the front, from the start. Kind of looks awkward when she slots her elbow.

I totally agree.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

I don't know if it's the same thing I see, but she does have her rear elbow lower than the front, from the start. Kind of looks awkward when she slots her elbow.

Chris,... My view on fixing the OP's swing is to correct the hand path with a proper load of the bat, (barrel above hands with the bat pointed towards catcher's feet), maintaining the front forearm to upper arm angle at close to 90* so that the hands can stay closer to the body, and then work on the coil, stretch, fire sequence. It just looks like correcting the bat position at launch and the straightened front arm may fix some of the other problems.

I'm curious to know what you think. What would you do to fix it? Or do you think it needs to be fixed?

Your stuff is on my list, but farther down.

I'd first want to know why she isn't tilting and why she seems to be taking her hands to the ball.

P.S. She does look quite gifted, and one thing I look for when scouting is good athletes with bad (but not too bad) swings. If she was a baseball player, I'd put her on my list of people to talk to and follow.