Hitters hammer drill

[durwood]

there is so much information here, i have done nothing but read and read. i have several questions but i was wondering if there is
a video or pictures of girls using the hammer. i have girls that grasp it better when they see other girls doing it, instead of "coach" showing us what to do.
does Hitter closely follow other instructors ex. Mike Epstein or thru years of coaching and trial and error. i see a lot of the same
advice given by different people but using different terms. i have learned a lot

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Is this it? Softball Excellence

 

[straightleg]

The hammer drill you can work on different things. It also can help different parts of the swing.

I believe Howard is in Pittsburg this weekend with Crystal. He will probably fill in the blanks when he gets back.

I am a union carpenter, so will explain part of it.

Try swinging a hammer with you arm and hit a block of wood - use no wrist. Hit it 4 or 5 times. Bend at the elbow raise it a foot or so and hit the wood. You really wont feel the weight of the hammer head.

Now set the hammer head on the wood and use your wrist only, pick it up 8 - 10 inches and hit the wood. You will feel the weight of the hammer head, and your wrist will cock. Feel the cock of the wrist.

Take the hammer out of your hand, and replace it with a bat. Cock your wrist and release the bat like you just did the hammer.
That is the wrist cock. Feel the bat end..


Now hit a ball off the tee. Cock your wrists a bit take a normal swing off the tee and release your wrists and bat head to the ball. That is part of the feeling a hammer gives you.


There are other reasons for the hammer drill and will let Howard explain them.



Straightleg

 

[PEPPERS]

Straightleg do you use top hand bottom had or both one at a time?

 

[durwood]

i was wondering the same one or two hands, and if they did it standing like they were batting like the pic. amy had. thanks for the feedback.

 

[straightleg]

I start standing vertical and put the hammer in the top hand of a right handed batter. I use a 4x4 clamped to my work bench. It is 36 - 40 inches off the ground.
I want them to feel the weight of the hammer head just by using there wrist.
Since I mainly work with girls i use a 12 oz or 16 oz hammer ball peen - no claws. ( I used a claw one time and my daughters pony tail got caught)

They also feel the wrist cock. The are using the hammer vertical hitting down on the 4x4.
I though about having them drive in a 12 or 16 penny nail, but if they missed it ,might dislodge and come back in there face.

So I have them just hit the wood 4x4 that is clamped on each end. Around a 2ft piece


Next i go to the tee. Have them hold the hammer in either the bottom hand or top hand and do one arm drills. Set up just like you are holding a bat.
The set up is just like the photo Amy posted



I mounted a machine softball to a 1 inch dowel rod that is 30 inches long. I put bat tape and a rubber knob on the end. It looks just like a bat except has a machine softball on the end. I also put a big fender washer on the end so when they hit it with the hammer it makes a clicking noise.




You can do the drill with either arm.


When doing this drill you should think about your set up and tee placement. You dont want to practice a disconnect of arms from the body. Howard might not do this at clinics because he is working with new students.
This is a more advanced statement for repeat students.



Candera has a clip on RVP using the hammer. You might find it on sports school videos.




Straightleg

 

[PEPPERS]

I googled the hammer drill but was unable to find a link, it was discussed on a few forms could not find a video on Candera. Thanks for the info straigleg.

 

[go4fpsb]

i was wondering the same one or two hands, and if they did it standing like they were batting like the pic. amy had. thanks for the feedback.

Durwood, When Hitter gets back to respond he can clarify this as it is drill but in the mean time I'll throw this out as I have been to several of Hitter's clinics. A little knowledge is dangerous. Although the hammer drill can be used as a one hand drill for either hand I use it as more of a bottom hand drill that teaches the proper hand path and sequence. The set up is as the batter would be in their normal at bat. I set up as a coach holding a bat, knob pointing toward the catcher, belt high on the inside third of home plate, even with the batter's front foot. The batter is holding the hammer as they would their bat at their normal setup position. They then make a good first more by letting their front elbow move forward and up, the butt of the hammer, which represents the knob of the bat moves inside the path of the pitch, between the feet and the knob of the bat that I am holding, then the batter releases the head of the hammer which should hit the knob of the bat I am holding squarely. Many things are taught in this drill, the proper sequence of elbow, knob and release of barrel to the ball. Also the proper position of shoulder above the elbow, elbow above the hands, hands above the barrel. If the batter casts the hands out they will not be able to hit squarely the knob of the bat I am holding. Hope this makes sense, if not perhaps Hitter will clean up my mess. ;-)

 

[Hitter]

Durwood, When Hitter gets back to respond he can clarify this as it is drill but in the mean time I'll throw this out as I have been to several of Hitter's clinics. A little knowledge is dangerous. Although the hammer drill can be used as a one hand drill for either hand I use it as more of a bottom hand drill that teaches the proper hand path and sequence. The set up is as the batter would be in their normal at bat. I set up as a coach holding a bat, knob pointing toward the catcher, belt high on the inside third of home plate, even with the batter's front foot. The batter is holding the hammer as they would their bat at their normal setup position. They then make a good first more by letting their front elbow move forward and up, the butt of the hammer, which represents the knob of the bat moves inside the path of the pitch, between the feet and the knob of the bat that I am holding, then the batter releases the head of the hammer which should hit the knob of the bat I am holding squarely. Many things are taught in this drill, the proper sequence of elbow, knob and release of barrel to the ball. Also the proper position of shoulder above the elbow, elbow above the hands, hands above the barrel. If the batter casts the hands out they will not be able to hit squarely the knob of the bat I am holding. Hope this makes sense, if not perhaps Hitter will clean up my mess. ;-)

Hello and we are back safely and got to meet several people from this board.

We were able to have dinner with JCHEIR and his family and friends and on a sad note about half way home he was called and told fire had destroyed his home!

When you think you have it rough put him in your thoughts and prayers as starting over is not easy!


The hammer drill history....In my opinion many of our girls are lacking fundamental neuro muscular skills, like throwing a ball, jumping and landing properly and how to use their body properly.

I can hear some of you groaning already as here he goes again.

We did a coaches clinic Friday night and had 40 coaches of varying degrees including male and female coaches, high school , travel ball and rec coaches and not one could offer a way to get a kid balanced or why they are stronger with their head down verses up or how to use a hammer! I used male and females as examples and they were stunned by what they did not understand and how it effects the hitter and how it effects the fielding also! I saw a demonstration on the other site and they and myself laughed at how he over dramatized the action of how to get balanced and we all got a laugh from it.

I demonstrated using a female and male coach. First the male coach and showed how he did not have to be and folded over at the waist and could maintain balance as I pushed on his chest and back alternately. Then the female and she after bending at the waist, sat down too far with her legs and canceled out the core muscles. So I put a bat just under her butt cheeks and she could feel it. Then I ask her to think her knees were going more towards her toes and she did not sit on the bat! We all agreed that the degree to discredit someone who is is supposed to be helping the kids, parents and coaches to learn goes to various levels and why would people do that just to try and make a point?

To take it one step further I placed a piece under her heel and ask her to bend at the waist and soften the knees and was able to pull the piece of paper out from under her heel. We explained we want the hitters shoes on the ground however they should feel the heel of the foot is off the SHOE!

At home I use a 2 x 4 and a small block of wood to show the kids what leverage is and how it works however I will not go into that now.

I point out the bat is a lever and how you grip it will make it more effective or less effective and we demonstrated that and the coaches were taken back by how simple it was and they could feel the difference instantly. It is funny when a 130 pound woman can push a bat rearward on a 250 pound man and see the expression on their face when they do it!

We explain the area between the elbow and wrist is a lever and the elbow and wrist are basically a hinge and that they are not using the wrist well enough. I took a simple ball peen hammer and had them hit the end of a bat and attempt to strike it as if it were a nail while Crystl was holding the bat and they could not move it from a blow/ strike of the hammer while she was holding it. The I held their wrist and showed them how to grip the hammer and let the weight of the hammer head work for them and they got it! They had used their wrist for the first time and when we said now swing a bat they felt it right away!

We were quick to point out the grip of the top hand is different than the bottom hand and there is a thread that covers grip differences so find it if it interests you to learn.

The door knocking knuckles are off set as to a right handed hitter and the top hand is offset towards the wedding ring of my bottom hand.

We showed them how we grip the bat in the bottom verses the top and why we feel it gets the bat flat into the zone faster and you can feel the difference and have bat control by doing it this way verses lining up the finger knuckles.

Then we used the bat as a nail to show how the grip was different in the bottom hand verses the top so they could feel it.

The next big surprise for all of them came when we ask them to try it and they missed the knob of the bat completely as in their mind the path of the hammer was rotational as they were attempting to drive the nail/ knob of the bat! They could not feel or see how the wrist was working to release the barrel to the ball or the hammer to the knob of the bat! Funny how something as simple as a $7 dollar hammer can make you see what you can not do with a $300 dollar bat as to hand path.

Once they got use to driving the nail/ knob of bat by releasing the hammer head they stayed on the nail through and did not glance off the knob of the bat and made solid contact.

Then I brought out a full sized hammer! I had made Don Slaught some of these when he was coaching at Detroit to use and they have a rubber mallet located on a aluminum shaft with a knob and bat grip with different weights you can screw in and it has what I term a memory stick under the lead hand grip so it lines up the face of the rubber mallet to the ball. They are made at 27, 28 and 29 inches and represents the sweet spot on a bat at 32, 33 and 34 inches in bat length. The actually hit home runs with these during batting practice and used them off the tee as you had to hit exactly using the mallet which is only 2 inches in diameter to hit the ball squarely. Th extra 4 to 6 inches is missing on the hammer bat.

Then we had the coaches try it and most could not direct the hammer head to the bat and for various reasons like, front side opening, not getting the bat into the zone quickly enough, bat not flat in the zone, casting out or all the above.

We then showed them what we call a simple way to do it, bend at the waist and soften the knees, separate to toe touch, elbows knob, parallel to contact and release the barrel to the ball and presto the mallet was on the knob of the bat!

At the clinic and my house I have made a nail simulator that is mounted vertical first and then another that mounts on to a wall that has a car shock mounted into it that provides resistance and is about a half inch diameter as to the area we hit it with a hammer. During the clinic we demonstrate how it is used and the kids who are having difficulty are shown how it works.

We also have mounted balls to wooden dowel rods and have a bolt and washer securing the ball to the dowel rod and strike it with a hammer and the hammer head clicks when struck squarely with the hammer.

Again please pray for JCheir and his family as I am sure softball is the last thing on his mind today!

Thanks Howard

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Hitter, Thanks for the info. Do you have your clinic on DVD? I would gladly pay you for it. Amy