Front arm locked at contract ...

[CoogansBluff]

Front arm locked at contact ...

I'm an assistant coach on a new team this season after four as a head coach. Love the team and the players.

So we're hitting off a tee today. I've got three girls going at a time, as we're rotating. I ask them to show me what their arms should look like on contact. They hold the bat up against the ball on the tee to demonstrate their ''at contact'' pose. One of the best hitters has her front arm straight. Other arm is power L. I say 'that looks pretty good, but the front arm should be a little bent.' I show her a photo of Derek Jeter with the 'correct' hitters box. She says her hitting instructor wants it locked.

At this point, I'm just an assistant coach, and I think she needs to hit the way her hitting instructor tells her, even if I think he's wrong.

Part of my question is how you might handle such a situation. Would you point it out to the head coach, the parent just as food for thought?

Another part is, 'Am I right here?" Do any good hitters lock out their front arm on contact. She also wraps her bat behind her back on the load in a way such that her bat is lined up with the name on the back of her jersey. It causes a very level shoulder-to-shoulder swing, which is OK, I guess, but at the expense of locking the front arm too soon.

 

[humpty]

My DD has a locked front arm at contact. I'm no expert but when I watch miguel cabrera and Valerie arioto frame by frame they have bent elbows at contact and hit the ball rather well. I've read people refer to the bent elbows as maintaining the box. How do I teach this? Any specific drills?

 

[Bouldersdad]

Front arm locked to me means shoulder pulled out at contact. I look for the diamond, neck to wrist and elbow to elbow at contact. if you have an arm bar or straight arm work on keeping the front shoulder in longer at contact. Arm bar bleeds off power from the core.

Tim

 

[CoogansBluff]

Front arm locked to me means shoulder pulled out at contact. I look for the diamond, neck to wrist and elbow to elbow at contact. if you have an arm bar or straight arm work on keeping the front shoulder in longer at contact. Arm bar bleeds off power from the core.

Tim

Thing is, this girl is naturally very powerful, so she and parent probably aren't going to hear that she's not getting maximum power, but I agree w/ you. And forgot about the part about the shoulder pulling out. ...

 

[CoogansBluff]

My DD has a locked front arm at contact. I'm no expert but when I watch miguel cabrera and Valerie arioto frame by frame they have bent elbows at contact and hit the ball rather well. I've read people refer to the bent elbows as maintaining the box. How do I teach this? Any specific drills?

I'm no expert either, humpty, but what I've done is have players use a small bat and have them hit off a tee one-handed - left hand/arm, then right hand/arm, demonstrating what each arm should look like on contact. If it's the front arm, then work on the left arm primarily (if she's a righty hitter).

Another drill is to have the player maintain the hitters box after contact and hold it. Don't extend, just follow through as much as possible w/ the bent elbows. Sparky Parker does this drill. Can't immediately find it.

 

[southwestsoftball]

How to handle it?
Good question. I think I would go this route: try and talk with her instructor to see if this is what they actually want. The player may be misunderstanding her HC. If she is correct, ask the HC to explain it to you, so that you can work together to re-inforce the same good habits and be on the same page.

OR

You can say( to her and parents), I understand you have a HC and respect that. Im not trying to change this because I know you are spending good money to work on something and I dont want to take that away. However, I would like to share with you that........ generally speaking having a locked out arm means you are losing some power and releasing a tad to early. More often than not it is commonly beleived that being slightly bent and then extending after contact( through contact) is what most experts beleive gives the most power and best results.

IMO

Chuck it drill. Works wonders for this and really exposes when you release too early or when you pull that shoulder. Pay 10-15 buck for a bag of 20 tennis balls and spend 14 for a chuck it toy...............then just sit back and watch your dd or players develop a more compact and powerful swing. All while not using much energy to do it, which means she can take plenty of actual cuts with a bat afterward.

Really cant say enough how great this drill is for immediate feedback and feedback that is easy to read for almost any age group. Not to mention fun for any age group. The chuck it drill and Matrix drill are defnitely two drills that have helped every single girl I have coached recently and both directly help the issue you are speaking of.

JMO as always

 

[jbooth]

I'm an assistant coach on a new team this season after four as a head coach. Love the team and the players.

So we're hitting off a tee today. I've got three girls going at a time, as we're rotating. I ask them to show me what their arms should look like on contact. They hold the bat up against the ball on the tee to demonstrate their ''at contact'' pose. One of the best hitters has her front arm straight. Other arm is power L. I say 'that looks pretty good, but the front arm should be a little bent.' I show her a photo of Derek Jeter with the 'correct' hitters box. She says her hitting instructor wants it locked.

At this point, I'm just an assistant coach, and I think she needs to hit the way her hitting instructor tells her, even if I think he's wrong.

Part of my question is how you might handle such a situation. Would you point it out to the head coach, the parent just as food for thought?

Another part is, 'Am I right here?" Do any good hitters lock out their front arm on contact. She also wraps her bat behind her back on the load in a way such that her bat is lined up with the name on the back of her jersey. It causes a very level shoulder-to-shoulder swing, which is OK, I guess, but at the expense of locking the front arm too soon.

I just show them pictures or video and ask them to decide who to believe. DO you see any straight arms in these 9 MLB hitters?

 

[CoogansBluff]

Excellent, thanks!

Who are these guys, btw?

A-Rod - Bonds - ??
? - Griffey - ?
Teixeira? - Cano - Helton

You know somebody is going to say, "Yeah, but that's baseball.''

 

[jbooth]

Excellent, thanks!

Who are these guys, btw?

A-Rod - Bonds - ??
? - Griffey - ?
Teixeira? - Cano - Helton

You know somebody is going to say, "Yeah, but that's baseball.''

It's A-Rod, Bonds, Jeff Conine, Carlos DelGado, Griffey, Manny Ramirez, Jeter, Alfonso Soriano, and Todd Helton.

Yeah, there are still a few who think the softball swing is different. Just tell them that Olympic coach Candrea, UCLA coach, and many other NCAA D1 coachess now believe that it isn't.

 

[RichK]

Excellent, thanks!

Who are these guys, btw?

A-Rod - Bonds - ??
? - Griffey - ?
Teixeira? - Cano - Helton

You know somebody is going to say, "Yeah, but that's baseball.''

Well there's your opening to turn it around...ask them: why/how is the softball swing different?

Make them justify their (poor) mechanics.

That should be fun for a bit. Then go to the model swing thread and pull a dozen girls with similarly bent arms at contact...

Case closed.