hitting question

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Apr 27, 2009
11
0
I heard and read plenty about hitting techniques and different practice routines to develop batting ability. My question is "what percentage of the art of hitting is natural, god given ability"? Of course you can make anyone improve with practice, but it seems to me that some girls seem to have the ability to hit while others struggle no matter how hard they work. Is hitting an aquired skill or are you born with it?
 

obbay

Banned
Aug 21, 2008
2,199
0
Boston, MA
I don't know 'bout percentages, but hitting can be learned. That said, I don't know that you can turn every kid into a power hitter, but you can make every kid hit to the fullest of their potential if they want to.

I have seen natural athletes who were always good but never practiced. I have seen kids with little to no athletic talent who liked to play and would practice. The kids who practice become good. The ones who don't but just coast on their gifts eventually may run out of "gift" and be passed by those who worked at it.
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
Actually, I am watching a situation in our local area at the high school level right now. Kid that used to play in our program (although not for me) has one of the ugliest, most brutal swings ever. She doesn't turn on the ball at all. When she swings at a low pitch she bends forward (toward the plate). Doesn't tilt -- bends at the waist. She tends to pull the bat through the zone level to the ground, regardless of pitch height. She's a big kid who just yanks the bat wildly through the zone. She also has a habit of letting go of the bat with her top hand about halfway through the swing, finishing with only her bottom hand on the bat. It appears she releases before contact.

She is starting on varsity as a freshman. I know she has one home run already, maybe more. I saw the other day she had a double and a triple against one of the better teams in the area. I keep thinking once she sees better pitching those poor mechanics will catch up with her. So far, it hasn't.

It's the kind of thing that really makes you wonder if you've been wasting your life trying to learn and teach good swing mechanics.
 
Oct 14, 2008
667
16
Mass plus speed equals force, stregnth and proper mechanics to create the speed necessary to move the mass thru the zone at and thru contact, Not the perfect description im sure, but it does equal power and force

Tim
 
Aug 4, 2008
2,364
0
Lexington,Ohio
So my 107 lb 14 year old shouldn't be able to hit the ball to the fence! Sorry but she does and Tim will tell you , at 5' 4" she is not big..,but she swings a 23 oz bat with some good speed. She was not born with this talent, it took hard work and she has only been a lefty for two years. Plus one of the best hitting instructors I have learned a ton from..
 
May 7, 2008
235
0
I keep thinking once she sees better pitching those poor mechanics will catch up with her. So far, it hasn't. It's the kind of thing that really makes you wonder if you've been wasting your life trying to learn and teach good swing mechanics.

Ken! Believe it isn't so...lol. I have observed, with this minute part of the population, their mechanics are poor but consistent. You'll remember me the next time she's at bat, and you begin humming "Super Freak" in your head.
 

obbay

Banned
Aug 21, 2008
2,199
0
Boston, MA
In last years little league all-star tournament (local), one of those natural athlete-with no-form kids was getting frustrated that players she didn't deem worthy to play at her level were hitting better than her. One of her best hits was a long ball fly out. The coaches giggled at the fact that she swung at a bad pitch and "tomahawked" it almost out of the park. Some of them saw it as an example of how she can hit a bomb off even a bad pitch. I saw the same girl I saw when she was 7 and had no self discipline then either. When they're 7 it's excusable. When they're 13 it's attitude.

This particular girl frustrates me because she believes she is God's gift to any team lucky enough to get her (and some coaches agree). As she gets older, she is having more difficulty forcing things to happen with her bad mechanics (both throwing and hitting) and blaming her teammates more. She was very sportsmanlike player when younger but somewhere along the line she became enamored with herself.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,478
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top