First year 14u Tee Swings

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May 7, 2015
842
93
SoCal
The weekly work associated with DD's and FP softball is a weird connundrum. I'm always amazed at how weekly batting progress seems to be chasing the problem around and around. Little back story, DD is 13 playing on a solid first year 14u team. She's a catcher/OF but on a team like hers, players that crush get to play.

Weekly additional batting involves me pitching front toss (30mph from 25ft or so) and putting the plate 200' from the fence. This works out to be right around the 2B-3B base line on our adult league field. The game is we're done after she hits out 5 in one bucket.

Anyway, when she really goes for it power wise, the swing gets a little sloppier, little bit of bat drag and mishits of the handle during games. So this week we worked on inside tee work and afterwards inside / outside on front toss. Attached is a video of medium high inside tee work which right now is her weak spot. The amazing part is just a little focus on a problem gets her to think about it. Didn't take much time to get back to where she has been.

My diagnosis, still some things to work on, but I've found out that if I try to make her swing technically perfect, she gets bogged down and goes backwards. I'd like her to have a little more launch angle and I'd like her to get some more coil at the beginning. I really like getting to the point where I'm 90 percent happy and focus on the last 10 percent over the year(s).

 
May 9, 2019
294
43
Also I am not sure on the bat drag but there is an absence of bat lag from what i could see. Maybe have her relax more especially the bat grip.

Btw what camera are u using? I need something that can take smooth slow mo like that for my dd :)
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
First thoughts...Coil is minimal - almost non-existent - and there's no stretch/separation. It's just a turn forward to the ball. It's a push. We want to see the hands getting pulled back by retraction of the scap during the forward move (look up "forward by coil").

Here's Maddie from this weekend. Look at what's happening with her hands as she rides her coil during the forward move...
 
May 7, 2015
842
93
SoCal
Swing looks very rotational. Try having her use more hips to go forward than spin.

interesting, I admit I was probably the source of trying to rotate more to clear the inside and get the best part of the barrel on the ball. The center of the ball is directly above the black on the inside of the plate.

And for whatever reason, she's always been a no step (SMALL step) swing kid. Don't know if its the average speed that she's facing (faced) being high, but it is what it is.

It seems like I need to revisit the no stride thread from a while ago..
 
May 7, 2015
842
93
SoCal
Also I am not sure on the bat drag but there is an absence of bat lag from what i could see. Maybe have her relax more especially the bat grip.

Btw what camera are u using? I need something that can take smooth slow mo like that for my dd :)

Using a google pixel 3a filming in slo motion mode. Really like it
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Gonna second the very rotational aspect of her swing, very bug squishy staying waaaaay back. We want girls to stay back but at the point of impact we don't want the back leg bearing any weight, if it is that is lost potential energy that could have been transferred but is not. You can see Maddie on the very tip of her toe and obvious not weight bearing as it moves back to catch her weight after contact.

As Eric stated she can work on a better coil, also (and swing path is not my strong point) but in general I shouldn't see much of the knob of the bat if at all and here I see it almost the whole swing. Separation could be slightly more but I'm not as huge as I used to be after seeing lots of effect compact swings.

p.s. to your stride versus no stride comment it doesn't have that big an impact either way if mechanics (coiling) are solid, ends up being more of a timing preference
 
May 9, 2019
294
43
interesting, I admit I was probably the source of trying to rotate more to clear the inside and get the best part of the barrel on the ball. The center of the ball is directly above the black on the inside of the plate.

And for whatever reason, she's always been a no step (SMALL step) swing kid. Don't know if its the average speed that she's facing (faced) being high, but it is what it is.

It seems like I need to revisit the no stride thread from a while ago..

I think it's just the lack of coil as Eric F mentioned. He is right on that.
my DD also has a no stride swing, so coil is very important. I always stress that to her.
 
May 9, 2019
294
43
Some work like this might help her get the feeling of creating stretch/separation...


This guy absolutely nailed it at 3:19. The hips are turning, but that turning is not the source of power, it is the result of power. This video is pure gold. Thank you.

One thing I try to do to my DD to get her to get weight off that back foot on the swing, is to have her do some over exaggeration by actually driving her back knee forward, like she's trying to knee someone in front of her on the swing. It looks funny but it's really helped her.
 

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