Front arm locked at contract ...

[southwestsoftball]

Your assuming people will follow logic. Not likely in general

 

[bullethead]

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.

You could show her Derek Jeter and her hitting coach could show you Will Clark - just sayin. Doesnt matter imho as long as the relationship is consistent. Look at Clark - from the time he sets his wrist cock - his arm is barred from that point forward - so he isnt leaking power. On the other hand, if you start off with the lead arm bent then straighten it - i think you leak power

 

[CoogansBluff]

You could show her Derek Jeter and her hitting coach could show you Will Clark - just sayin. Doesnt matter imho as long as the relationship is consistent. Look at Clark - from the time he sets his wrist cock - his arm is barred from that point forward - so he isnt leaking power. On the other hand, if you start off with the lead arm bent then straighten it - i think you leak power

Do you have a photo of Clark at contact?

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

How to handle it?

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

When doing the Chuck It Drill , do they hold it with both hands , or is this a one arm drill?

 

[rdbass]

I believe it is with one hand. I also believe Bouldersdad posted his DD doing this drill. I will try and find for you.

 

[rdbass]

The Chuck-It hitting drill : Here is one drill that was posted.

 

[Bouldersdad]

To work front shoulder closed at contact use front arm. Use front elbow and rear hip to get to contact vs rotating the front shoulder to contact

 

[CoogansBluff]

re: Will Clark

I did find this 12-second clip. I stopped it at 0:05. Appears to have front arm slightly bent to me.

Will Clark multi vids - Copy.wmv - YouTube

Edited to say Will Clark, not Jack Clark.

 

[jbooth]

re: Will Clark

I did find this 12-second clip. I stopped it at 0:05. Appears to have front arm slightly bent to me.

Will Clark multi vids - Copy.wmv - YouTube

Edited to say Will Clark, not Jack Clark.

There's a difference between having the arm extended early and keeping it that way (as Clark does) and extending it into contact, in a pushing motion, which is what many youth coaches teach.

 

[CoogansBluff]

There's a difference between having the arm extended early and keeping it that way (as Clark does) and extending it into contact, in a pushing motion, which is what many youth coaches teach.

Thanks, again. ...

But it appears to me in the Clark video that he is not locked/straight at contact. The familiar 'hitters box' is in tact. He does straighten the front arm (or nearly straighten it) during the load, and it does not extend or change much from there, but it still looks to me like contact is similar for Will Clark and most other elite hitters that I see.

Would you agree?