Chris
When working with females we see most hit their back or shoulder because they never get to extension. You will see the wrist roll at or during contact and they give up when they feel resistance. Some of it is also in the grip as the bat is held too far back in the palm of top the hand.We take it one hand at a time and we focus on the bottom with this one.
Try it yourself by either swinging the bat or using a student who may be hitting their back or finishing very low over the shoulder. We do this at clinics with the entire group swinging in lines and pick out the back slappers and those hitting the shoulder. We want them to focus on the lead elbow actually leading and staying flexed until we decide to allow the wrist to release the barrel to the ball depending on the pitch (tee position) and we start up the middle first and outside next. The top hand is a guide only helping or assisting to get the bat to contact. Then we pull the bat out of the top hand (release it) and the bat will get to extension and then we roll out and finish. This is an isolation drill only for the lead arm and nothing more should be expected from it. Once they actually feel what they have been missing in their swing it becomes very clear how both hands can be an added benefit.
I have revised how we teach by demonstrating leverage using a 2 x 4 while they stand on it and I use one hand to lift them up. Then we show them how we would like to grip their lever which is their bat so we can apply more leverage to the ball with the bat. Next we show them how to use a hammer and what it feels like to use their wrist properly and individually with a car shock mounted into a pipe that horizontally fits into a 4 x4 secured to a wall. The grip to nail the ball is different in the top hand verses the bottom hand. If you have ever seen the RVP where Don demonstrates using a small mallet it is one just like it as I made it for Don several years ago. Then I made a bigger one he used when he was with the Tigers that they actually hit home runs with. The mallet position is 29, 28, 27 and represents the sweet part of the bat. Once our kids know how to use the small ball peen hammer we progress to the next size and and if the student is big enough to the big ones so they can actually feel and see the relevance of the hammer striking the ball. The handle on the bats have memory stick in the bottom hand only so we can like up the mallet face to the ball and I have different weights that can be attached to the knob.
The hand over drill is again just getting the kids to get to extension faster in our opinion and in progression to the grip used in the top hand next. We hear the bat hitting harder when we use just the top hand verses two hands especially with the shoulder and back slappers and then when we work both hands they get that smile and you have the light bulb moment!
Most girls have never chopped a tree down before and extension alludes them and what it feels like. watch how when they hit a ball their lead elbow drops and serves as a pivot point and then the hand comes up with the bat and they finish sharply over the shoulder or at their neck. That will never happen again once they understand how it feels. I have done this drill with college teams and I would say the average gain is 20 feet of flight on the ball.
Thanks Howard
