having difficulty making solid contact

[MandM]

I only have video of my daughter off the tee but thought this video would be a start- I will try to get her hitting off a toss as well = thanks for any comments or advice. Problem may be she is rolling her hands. (BTW she is in 8th grade- 14u)

EEC.MOV - YouTube

 

[RookKev]

The more experience video guys will give you lots I'm sure. The one thign that caught my attention is that extra little dip she settles into right before she swings. She kind of crouches over the ball... I sure think that has to play a part in her swing and keeping a level head to have a good line-of-sight on the ball as it's moving towards her. It would be intersting to see her against a live pitch to see her vertical head movement.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Has she had her eyes checked recently? I usually find a girl per year that needs an eye exam.

 

[Steve Huff]

The more experience video guys will give you lots I'm sure. The one thign that caught my attention is that extra little dip she settles into right before she swings. She kind of crouches over the ball... I sure think that has to play a part in her swing and keeping a level head to have a good line-of-sight on the ball as it's moving towards her. It would be intersting to see her against a live pitch to see her vertical head movement.

1) You are right Rookkev, and that crouch is caused by her head tilt. Her head should not be tilted toward her back shoulder to start her swing. It will end up that way at contact because her shoulders will tilt to the ball, but if she straightens her head and focuses, she might get out of it!

2) That bottom hand wrist is over-rotated. She has less flexibility in her wrists, and produces a shorter swing with that wrist straight with her forearm. That wrist should be bent at an angle to the front forearm. Have her put the bat on her shoulder. Raise her index fingers straight out. They should be almost parallel. If not, which they won't be, twist the bottom hand until they are.

My guess is she is hitting a lot of pop-ups on the right side (not left) or behind the plate, and weak ground balls to the left side (SS and 3B). She looks like she will be a very good hitter ... soon!

 

[PEPPERS]

One thing I like to see is a player tracking the ball on the tee, have the player pick a spot on the wall or the net and visualize a pitcher releasing a pitch and track the ball to the tee. I will get behind the net and go through a pitching motion and even release a ball into the net and have the hitter track the ball from my hand to the position on the tee. This gives them an example of how to do it correctly so they can do it when I am not around and they practice on their own.

Howard/hitter showed us how to do this in his post I tried this and I believe it helps, the more like a game swing you can duplicate in practice the better it will help in your game swing.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

The more experience video guys will give you lots I'm sure. The one thign that caught my attention is that extra little dip she settles into right before she swings. She kind of crouches over the ball... I sure think that has to play a part in her swing and keeping a level head to have a good line-of-sight on the ball as it's moving towards her. It would be intersting to see her against a live pitch to see her vertical head movement.

I don't know about a 'vertical head', but I certainly question the 'horizontal head' orientation we see in this swing ....

Rotating the head like we see above, during the active swing, is a bad idea.

This is a bit more typical of what you'll see with advanced hitters .... eyes level during the initial reading of the pitch, yet the head tilts during the active swing .....

Consider trying the following drill ... viewing the result of your swing with "tilted eyes". While it is described from a golfing perspective, I think you'll get the idea.

 

[RookKev]

I just meant when the live pitch is coming, to see how much her head moves up and down... but man, that tilt as you show it, pretty extreme.

 

[WinThemAll]

I agree that the head tilt is extreme, but I am wondering about a few things:

Is that bat to short, and the tee a little back and too far away? (should she be a little closer or is she working on an outside pitch?)
Also, with the clip that FFS posted do you notice that the tee is being hit also, is she hitting the bottom of the ball instead of the middle? (maybe also do to the head tilt)

 

[MandM]

Thanks for the feedback! She is using a 33"/23oz bat (a Baden). She is 5'7"- about 150lbs. She has not been progressing as some of her teammates have- and I am trying to understand what to look for so I can help her as she is practicing on her own. In fairness to her- though I think when I clipped the video I caught the first three or four swings she took. I will try to get some better video this week

 

[Steve Huff]

Thanks for the feedback! She is using a 33"/23oz bat (a Baden). She is 5'7"- about 150lbs. She has not been progressing as some of her teammates have- and I am trying to understand what to look for so I can help her as she is practicing on her own. In fairness to her- though I think when I clipped the video I caught the first three or four swings she took. I will try to get some better video this week

If you work on the simplest fix, which is her bottom hand orientation and wrist as I posted earlier, that is a motionless fix. It doesn't require repetition. Just check it every swing until it becomes natural. Hold the bat in the fingers, not the palms!!!!!

Second, fix the head tilt. The head should be straight on the neck until just before contact, actually at "connection" (the back elbow reaches the pant seam). Then it is tilted at the same angle as the shoulders, not more! Right now the head is almost at a 90 degree angle because it starts out tilted over the ball.

Do those two things and she will catch up! You CAN see it in her. It is there!