Hitting Drill Feedback

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Jul 21, 2008
415
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I have seen a drill that I would like some feedback on. I have tried it with my daughter and seems to work well. It improves swing plane and promotes connection.

Here is the drill......I call it Thumb to Thumb. Your bottom hand grips the bat normally but the top hand is reversed (thumb to thumb) while gripping the bat. Both thumbs will be facing the catcher during stance.This is very ackward at first but they seem to get the hang of it after a couple of rounds. I tell my daughter to keep both hands on the bat until contact and then release top hand on finish. We do one 3 rounds rotating between Thumb to Thumb and normal grip.

thoughts?
 
Jun 4, 2008
81
0
Anaheim Ca.
It's a great drill. Don Mattingly is the one who started that when he started pulling off the ball. It gets the lead arm on plane and forces it to stay through the ball.
 
Aug 6, 2008
43
0
OK - I'm trying to picture this drill. I can't figure how to cock and load the wrists in this position. Could you maybe post a pic to clarify? I'm not questioning whether this works or not - just trying to "get a grip" :)D) on how the hands are on the bat. It's interesting... :)
 
Jul 29, 2008
49
0
Put both fists in front of you, palms down. Now grab a bat and put it in position. It's almost like doing the one-handed, lead arm drill. My only suggestion would be to be careful that your batter is not pushing too hard with her top hand.

DD accidently discovered this grip. She took a foul tip off of her thumb (catcher) and bruised it pretty bad, but had to finish the game.

She hit better in that game than she had in the previous 2 tournaments. Go figure...
 
Jul 29, 2008
49
0
I just said don't push "too hard" with the top hand. IMO, there's a delicate balance between the pulling motion of the lead arm and the pushing of the right. This may only apply to my silly kid, but she picks up bad habits really fast.

DD is a dominant right-handed person and I just don't want the lead arm to get lazy, it has lots of work to do!
 

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