Feedback - 1st year 12U

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
14350
Here she is at toe touch.
1) Hips are open, front knee has opened/turned
2) rear forearm is vertical
3) shoulders are upside down

Basically she is swinging in mid-air on one leg. She begins her swing way before her front foot lands.

Isolate the stride with no tee or ball:
Get in front of a mirror and take your stride, and hold a 45 degree inward coil (hip and shoulder) until landing. Do this for a few days until you get the hang of it.

You don't need to try to 'sit' or 'set' or 'crimp' your hip, or pick your front hip up in the air, or have a certain leg kick, just rotate your torso - it's simple.

Tip: Keep the back heel on the ground as you stride using the back leg. Try not to turn your front knee over until toe touch.

Then add pulling the back elbow back like a 'bow'. Make sure the rear forearm is flat/horizontal at toe touch.

This only takes a few days to learn. (I had one kid pick it up in 15 minutes)
 
Apr 28, 2019
1,423
83
Gal's been working hard the past year on her swing (tons of tee and cage time). Had a hard time getting her bat around, still struggles some with sweeping as I call it (or locking early). Coaches have been a big help the past few months. I think this is her best one I have captured. She's starting to get more consistent, but wouldn't mind some experienced trained eyes to look and provide feedback.


Is your daughter a slapper?
Gal's been working hard the past year on her swing (tons of tee and cage time). Had a hard time getting her bat around, still struggles some with sweeping as I call it (or locking early). Coaches have been a big help the past few months. I think this is her best one I have captured. She's starting to get more consistent, but wouldn't mind some experienced trained eyes to look and provide feedback.


She looks Athletic is she a slapper? I’m guessing she is more of a contact hitter vs power hitter? I would like to see more of a load and she seems to be finishing low on her follow through.
I like how she is relaxed at the start of her at bat with the bat resting on her shoulder. Just quiet her hands a little and more direct path to the ball. She has the right tool for the job with the CFZen drop 11.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Mechanics aside, she needs to start her negative move earlier in the pitcher's sequence. She looks very rushed in that swing.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,577
113
Chehalis, Wa
tumblr_prmc8m2MAl1usf292o1_250.gif

Sorry to say...DD isn't 'almost there'. There's a lot of work ahead of her.

The lead arm/elbow collaspe down and into the body. The same thing is happening in the new swing posted.

It appears that the upperbody has changed in the swing, hands went from starting back and now the hands are getting ahead of the lower body/hips.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
She does seem much more aggressive against live pitching which is great some girl become more afraid.

While the pitch isn't as low it does appear she keeps her hands above the ball and is not swings completely flat.

Biggest thing is to make sure she gets her timing down so she is in the right position at toe touch/heel plant. She starts her forward component of the swing (back half and hands beginning forward) waaay too soon. At toe touch she should be coiled with hips and back with hands this should when she is most stretched her front is forward but her back half is still back. I grabbed a couple lefties this time, even though in terms of style these swings are really different look at how similar they are at this position...it is simply one of the MUST things in the swing however you get here to this position you have to be here at this moment in the swing or you can't get right after this.
 

Attachments

  • bonds heel plant.JPG
    bonds heel plant.JPG
    13.3 KB · Views: 3
  • griffey2.PNG
    griffey2.PNG
    94.2 KB · Views: 3
Jan 6, 2009
6,577
113
Chehalis, Wa
She does seem much more aggressive against live pitching which is great some girl become more afraid.

While the pitch isn't as low it does appear she keeps her hands above the ball and is not swings completely flat.

Biggest thing is to make sure she gets her timing down so she is in the right position at toe touch/heel plant. She starts her forward component of the swing (back half and hands beginning forward) waaay too soon. At toe touch she should be coiled with hips and back with hands this should when she is most stretched her front is forward but her back half is still back. I grabbed a couple lefties this time, even though in terms of style these swings are really different look at how similar they are at this position...it is simply one of the MUST things in the swing however you get here to this position you have to be here at this moment in the swing or you can't get right after this.

Her old position, first swing in this thread, is closer to Griffey's position. Her new swing is the hands getting ahead of the body.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Her old position, first swing in this thread, is closer to Griffey's position. Her new swing is the hands getting ahead of the body.
But not at toe touch/heel plant and that is the issue. If you have heard "stay back" this is what people mean as her front foot comes forward her hips which don't currently coil well if at all and hands should NOT be going forward yet they need to wait.
 
Oct 18, 2018
22
3
efastball, shawn, pattar, djcarter, madbandit - thanks for the feedback and further tips. Been a fun month working with her using the videos (Justin Stone, HiPro, and swing gifs). I think I'm starting to get a better eye for the mechanics too. Lot's of video sessions with her. This past weekend I kept harping on her to load sooner and she knows too, but heat of the moment I think she slips to her old habits on some pitches. Going to put more focus on that load and improving the timing of her sequence (sure there's more!). Hopefully my next vid of her will be better than this last one and build further. I like efastball's mirror idea.

I would like to add that this weekend is the most power I've seen in her hits. She had a nice line drive roll to the fence (right/center gap), which she's never done and another line shot to outfield as well. Some of her infield hits were a lot harder than in the past. So that was exciting to see and she was getting excited too. Her coaches have been a big help, but I also attribute her recent success to the candid feedback here. Good stuff!

bass - thx for the gif

madbandit - haven't tried slap in a game yet. She screws around with it in the cages, but I'd like her to get normal hitting mechanics down first. Definitely a contact hitter, but after this weekend she starting to get some power moving. I expect more improvement over the coming weeks.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
42,808
Messages
678,962
Members
21,423
Latest member
Wes_K
Top