Front Shoulder Flying Open
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Saint
Is she swimming the glove hand out during her motion?
Dana
Is she swimming the glove hand out during her motion?
Dana
Mark
HAHAHAHA.
I am now trying to figure out how the .... that happend.
I am so CONFUSED.
Dana
HAHAHAHA.
I am now trying to figure out how the .... that happend. I am so CONFUSED.
Dana
Good drill.
I call this the Tee Pee drill but call it what you want. It was created by Mike Candrea to help the olympic team keep their shoulders in.
Place a ball on the tee and have the batter set up to hit. I use thick PVC pipe for this drill and try to cut it to match as closely as possible the size of the batters bat. I also a tennis grip on the end of it so it feels like a bat.
Once the batter is in place I stand directly across from them and raise my hand out and above them. I then tell them to take the bottom hand off the bat (PVC) and place their hand flat on mine. This forms a Tee Pee if you look at it from behind. Hince the name of the drill.
The idea is to have the batter swing under both our arms and hit the ball without their hand coming off of mine. It needs to stay in complete contact during the whole swing.
If done correctly this will stop the shoulder from flying out and will give the hitter a feeling of what its like to keep the shoulder in during the swing.
Give it a try. About 25 swings into it they will have a good feel for keeping the shoulder in during the swing. I do not recommend you do this with a full sized bat. If the batter slips or hits you by accident your going to be hurting. Plus most kids are not strong enough to be stable and swing a full sized bat with one hand.
Dana.
I call this the Tee Pee drill but call it what you want. It was created by Mike Candrea to help the olympic team keep their shoulders in.
Place a ball on the tee and have the batter set up to hit. I use thick PVC pipe for this drill and try to cut it to match as closely as possible the size of the batters bat. I also a tennis grip on the end of it so it feels like a bat.
Once the batter is in place I stand directly across from them and raise my hand out and above them. I then tell them to take the bottom hand off the bat (PVC) and place their hand flat on mine. This forms a Tee Pee if you look at it from behind. Hince the name of the drill.
The idea is to have the batter swing under both our arms and hit the ball without their hand coming off of mine. It needs to stay in complete contact during the whole swing.
If done correctly this will stop the shoulder from flying out and will give the hitter a feeling of what its like to keep the shoulder in during the swing.
Give it a try. About 25 swings into it they will have a good feel for keeping the shoulder in during the swing. I do not recommend you do this with a full sized bat. If the batter slips or hits you by accident your going to be hurting. Plus most kids are not strong enough to be stable and swing a full sized bat with one hand.
Dana.
Dana,
I do this against a wall without a bat when teaching remedial rotation. Used it many times at college camps. You can get a bunch of kids up against the outfield wall working at the same time that way. Can be very useful if the coach knows what he's looking for. Having said that, most of the time I hear people talking about the shoulder flying open/opening early/rotating the trunk away from the plate, it's something else. If they are rotating away from the plate they may be initiating the swing from the shoulders or arms rather than the hips. In any case, to address the "shoulders flying open" is to address the symptom rather than the cause ime. And we are still diagnosing and prescribing for the problem using the WAG method, or perhaps the SWAG method at best, without video of the swing in question.
I do this against a wall without a bat when teaching remedial rotation. Used it many times at college camps. You can get a bunch of kids up against the outfield wall working at the same time that way. Can be very useful if the coach knows what he's looking for. Having said that, most of the time I hear people talking about the shoulder flying open/opening early/rotating the trunk away from the plate, it's something else. If they are rotating away from the plate they may be initiating the swing from the shoulders or arms rather than the hips. In any case, to address the "shoulders flying open" is to address the symptom rather than the cause ime. And we are still diagnosing and prescribing for the problem using the WAG method, or perhaps the SWAG method at best, without video of the swing in question.
one mechanical change is the Hip Slide.... we just talked quickly about this the other night..... intent is to keep everything moving back up the middle and this will slow the batter's front hip or shoulders from flying open as quickly as they have been.
All your batter is doing is from heel plant, she starts her front hip to the pitcher, BEFORE she begins to rotate, this slight forward movement helps her is enough to keep her from flying open too early.
** One of the better coaches in the mid-atlantic teaches this in her clinics and in private lessons. Her clinics are composed of 5 DIV I players she played with or befriended during her playing days.
Cindy Bristow has a drill she calls the "Pizza Toss" drill. You can catch a video about it on her website. Basically it involves frisbee-like disks (that she sells), and the girls hold them between their hands at their back shoulder as thought they are at bat. They then swing them through the zone, flattening their hands out and releasing them. The goal is to have them sail flat like a frisbee in the direction of pitcher/2B. Teaches the girls to extend the hands through the zone. It is impossible to do it if she is pulling the front shoulder out. Tried it at our last practice, and it was kinda funny to watch...most of them struggled with it at first. Much to early to say if it works, but theoretically it reinforces some good mechanics.
