Help with DD swing.....

[Muss24]

I am in need of help. My DD has a great swing but is not hitting the ball. At the begin of summer she was crushing the ball. Then we went into this slump and can not get out of it. This is a 3 month slump. Last night at BP it seemed like she was not picking up the ball. I practiced all summer with her on live pitching. Can anyone give me some pointers? What could be wrong? It also seems she was swing under the ball. Does anyone have any drils I can work on. Thanks for all the help.

David

 

[softballphreak]

Putting some video on here would be more helpful.

I'm also assuming that you have had her eyes examined.

I'm working with a kid that didn't seem to be able to see the ball. After all sorts of tricks I finally held a TCB ball in front of her and told her that I only wanted her to see the small red dot on the ball. That did the trick. Sometimes kids' heads are so full of other thoughts that they just don't focus on the ball. Seeing the ball is not enough, you have to see it. Doesn't make sense but after you think about it, it might. Try golf-sized whiffle balls. If they can hit those ok there's a pretty good chance they are seeing too much of the softball instead of the small core of the softball.

Another thing to try is have them purposely miss it by swinging under it; then by swinging over it.

Have them hit with slower swings, gradually increasing the speed of the swing. Sometimes too much muscle effort will cause them to miss; they have to stay loose.

 

[Muss24]

softballphreak,
Thanks for the help. I used the small golf wiffle balls and she hits them great and even with the lighting stick. Should I put a dot on a ball and make her focus on that? Thanks for all the help.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Putting some video on here would be more helpful.

I'm also assuming that you have had her eyes examined.

I'm working with a kid that didn't seem to be able to see the ball. After all sorts of tricks I finally held a TCB ball in front of her and told her that I only wanted her to see the small red dot on the ball. That did the trick. Sometimes kids' heads are so full of other thoughts that they just don't focus on the ball. Seeing the ball is not enough, you have to see it. Doesn't make sense but after you think about it, it might. Try golf-sized whiffle balls. If they can hit those ok there's a pretty good chance they are seeing too much of the softball instead of the small core of the softball.

Another thing to try is have them purposely miss it by swinging under it; then by swinging over it.

Have them hit with slower swings, gradually increasing the speed of the swing. Sometimes too much muscle effort will cause them to miss; they have to stay loose.

Very nice softballphreak.

You wrote ... "Seeing the ball is not enough, you have to see it. Doesn't make sense but after you think about it, it might".

Makes perfect sense to me ... and it's a key part of effective hitting. Someone that is passively "listening" doesn't necessarily "hear" all of the content. Same for "seeing" ... you can "see" something in a passive manner and not really see it as clearly as you are capable of. You'll often hear people say not to 'think' in the batter's box ... and that IMO is wrong. You can use your brain to enhance your vision. By thinking "ball ... ball ... ball ... ball", you will see the "ball" more clearly, crisper and quicker. What you "think" of, you "see" better. By actively thinking "ball ... ball ... ball ... ball" you will be more actively engaged in "seeing the ball". This is part of vision training exercises ... active use of the brain to enhance your vision.

If you want to see the ball better ... then "think ball".

As for starting with slow swings and speeding up ... assuming your 'speed up' is with the hips & core, and not the arms, ... there is big value in that. Over swinging with the upper body is a big issue for some people and learning to allow the upper torso to be effectively whipped through needs to be trained.

 

[softballphreak]

Very nice softballphreak.

You wrote ... "Seeing the ball is not enough, you have to see it. Doesn't make sense but after you think about it, it might".

Makes perfect sense to me ... and it's a key part of effective hitting. Someone that is passively "listening" doesn't necessarily "hear" all of the content. Same for "seeing" ... you can "see" something in a passive manner and not really see it as clearly as you are capable of. You'll often hear people say not to 'think' in the batter's box ... and that IMO is wrong. You can use your brain to enhance your vision. By thinking "ball ... ball ... ball ... ball", you will see the "ball" more clearly, crisper and quicker. What you "think" of, you "see" better. By actively thinking "ball ... ball ... ball ... ball" you will be more actively engaged in "seeing the ball". This is part of vision training exercises ... active use of the brain to enhance your vision.

If you want to see the ball better ... then "think ball".

As for starting with slow swings and speeding up ... assuming your 'speed up' is with the hips & core, and not the arms, ... there is big value in that. Over swinging with the upper body is a big issue for some people and learning to allow the upper torso to be effectively whipped through needs to be trained.

Excellent point, and very timely, that's a point of focus tonight with a lesson. I worked with her the other night on an easy, loose swing. Tonight I'll be sure to focus on the hips and core. Otherwise I'm sure it would be arms, in her mind.

Thanks.

 

[SBdad]

Make sure her head is staying still, and tell her to watch the ball come off the bat when she swings. She won't really be able to see the ball come off the bat, but it will help make her focus better on seeing the ball all the way in.

I try to use the cue myself when I golf, (watch the ball come off the club head) and it has made a difference in my ball striking.

 

[fourts]

I believe you need to work on the mental part of hitting as much if not more than the physical part! Tiger Woods is a good example of the mental part of the game. This guy has lost his mental part not his physical side of the game of golf, to go from winning everything to barely making the cut to play in a tournament. Same thing happens to our DD when they loose confidence in themselves as a hitter, start slow and help build her confidence up to a point she can hit again.

 

[rdbass]

We had indoor BP Sat.and as I sat there watching the girls the one thing that stood out to me was that most/all girls when they missed were swinging under the ball.It seemed to me they had no problem with the lower balls or the balls about waist high.On the high balls above the waist or the balls that seemed to start low but start to rise up.Most were swinging under.I believe this is caused by dropping their hands.My DD was also guilty of this.I kept telling her to stop dropping her hands which I know is no help and makes it worst.This may also be the problem with your DD? How to fix and get them to keep their hands up?Should your hands on most swings always be in the same place as you rotate around? I believe they should and my front arm forearm is what determines the tilt (along with body) of the bat. Am I on the right track? If so how do I get the girls to do this in their swings?

 

[Axe]

Muss24, I know a fraction about hitting that many of the posters who have already answered do. However, my 8YO DD can fall into slumps where she's missing low or just catching the bottom of the ball for foul balls. So my answer is somewhat less scientific. I usually find that telling her to cut down her stride a little helps alot. For whatever reason she sometimes gets a little long with it which seems to make it more difficult for her brain to calculate the trajectory of the ball and bring the bat to hit it square. I guess because it changes the levels that her brain is "expecting" the bat to be at.

Of course my DD also wore a purple tutu and pearls for hitting practice last night so what works for her might not work for everyone!

 

[Wellphyt]

The girls drop their hands in order to slot their back elbow. IMO the slotting of the back elbow is an ingrained pattern that we are born with. When the girls drop their hands to slot, the hands get away from the back shoulder area. When the hands get away from the shoulder area the girls are almost totally reliant on their arms to support the bat and power the swing. When girls swing with just their arms the barrel has a tendency to drop out of plane or droop, resulting in them swinging under the ball.

If the girls develop a sequence and learn the proper way to slot the back elbow, they will have a much better chance of squaring up the ball in all areas of the strike zone.

See the Slaught video for the sequence. Become aware of how your arm works when throwing overhand or sidearm; and teach that basic action to slot the back elbow when hitting. If the correct slotting action is used, the front forearm should respond automatically and get into the correct position.