Do you teach your hitters to finish with hands above their lead shoulder, or to finish flat; generally with hands lower than shoulder high?
I've always been told (and have therefore told my kids) that the ideal swing matches the plane that the ball is traveling. In baseball, with a pitch coming off the mound and from an overhand throw, the plane of the ball is downwards and therefore the plane of the swing should be upwards and therefore the swing finishes with hands above the shoulder. But in softball, since the pitch is coming underhand and the plane of the ball is likely to be flat (at least once they start throwing with a little speed), then the plane of the swing should be flat as well, and thus the finish is usually below the shoulder.
We arranged to have the local University Club Softball team run a clinic this weekend and the college girls had free reign to run the clinic as they saw fit with no interruption from the coaches (in fact, coaches were encouraged to observe the college girls so they might correct some of their misconceptions). Did I just come across one of my own misconceptions? Should the swing in softball finish high like in baseball?
I've always been told (and have therefore told my kids) that the ideal swing matches the plane that the ball is traveling. In baseball, with a pitch coming off the mound and from an overhand throw, the plane of the ball is downwards and therefore the plane of the swing should be upwards and therefore the swing finishes with hands above the shoulder. But in softball, since the pitch is coming underhand and the plane of the ball is likely to be flat (at least once they start throwing with a little speed), then the plane of the swing should be flat as well, and thus the finish is usually below the shoulder.
We arranged to have the local University Club Softball team run a clinic this weekend and the college girls had free reign to run the clinic as they saw fit with no interruption from the coaches (in fact, coaches were encouraged to observe the college girls so they might correct some of their misconceptions). Did I just come across one of my own misconceptions? Should the swing in softball finish high like in baseball?