Hitting the riseball thread is closed

[Mark H]

Ken, it's not that I am reluctant to post so much as it is I am still trying to learn all I can and separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

A good place to be. Here's a resource to compare what you hear against. Siggy's Hitting Clips - ImageEvent

 

[TNSoftballDad]

MarkH, been there so many times I can about tell you which FP hitters have clips up there off the top of my head. Love that site and wish he had even more softball clips.

 

[Ken Krause]

As a friend of mine once said, "It's a shame money has to stand in the way of a man's pleasure."

You betcha.

 

[Ken Krause]

Ken, it's not that I am reluctant to post so much as it is I am still trying to learn all I can and separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. I'm nowhere near being able to do that so I don't have much of use to contribute to any hitting conversation

If you've ever worked with a player and seen her hitting get better than it was, you have something to contribute. We all started the same way, and as I said originally no one has gotten it right yet, no matter what they claim. We're all doing the best we can with what we know and what has worked for us.

Avoid the big technical discussions perhaps. But if you have a tip on how to keep a hitter from dropping her hands, or take the bat to the ball better, please share. Even if it only worked once. The more I coach and teach, the more ways I find I need to say the same basic things.

 

[TNSoftballDad]

Thanks Ken, I will keep that in mind, especially since we are in the process of trying (that being the key word) to help my DD take her swing to the next level.

 

[TNSoftballDad]

We all started the same way, and as I said originally no one has gotten it right yet, no matter what they claim. We're all doing the best we can with what we know and what has worked for us.

Oh yeah, and I think this statement is dead-on.

I know I have learned things from people on both sides of the debate. I also have limited experience working with kids, but common sense tells me that you can't force them into a one-size-fits-all swing because there are such varying degrees of athleticism, size, strength, etc.

 

[Ken Krause]

Very true. There are some core parameters you can apply to all, but the outcome will vary depending on a lot of factors.

 

[TNSoftballDad]

Tom,

I understand what you're saying. At the same time, though, why can't people respectfully disagree?

I think that hitting threads that turn into anatomy-measuring sessions also limit the usefulness of any site.

I still read, try to learn, etc., in any good hitting thread. But the hatred I read definitely takes away from the discussion's progression.

 

[Hillhouse]

If you've ever worked with a player and seen her hitting get better than it was, you have something to contribute. We all started the same way, and as I said originally no one has gotten it right yet, no matter what they claim. We're all doing the best we can with what we know and what has worked for us.

Avoid the big technical discussions perhaps. But if you have a tip on how to keep a hitter from dropping her hands, or take the bat to the ball better, please share. Even if it only worked once. The more I coach and teach, the more ways I find I need to say the same basic things.

Ken:

How to stop a hitter from dropping hands and taking them straight to ball can be fixed in a NY minute: first, make sure it's not her back knee bending, which leans the whole body back, then put a football in her armpit as she's in her batting stance, this will keep the elbow up and she won't be able to collapse it. Man oh man, do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?????? ha ha ha

BTW, if I get a vote, I say drop this thread all together. Teaching people how to hit a riseball will put me out of business.

In all seriousness, the constant reminder and verbiage is needed to KEEP THE HANDS ABOVE THE BALL. That's the real secret. Sadly, there's no way to "teach" that without constantly seeing riseballs in batting practice. My lesson days are filled with 1/2 pitching lessons and 1/2 throwing live BP. The team I work with the most and throw to every hitter weekly in Ohio just won the 14U ASA Hall of Fame tournament in OKC. Impressive for an Ohio team. I throw a constant barrage of riseballs to them which they've learned to adapt to. The other key ingredient is to learn how to read the pitcher to know when it's coming. When you know what pitch is coming, that's over 50% of the battle won right there. Imagine how much easier a riseball would be to hit and how easy to keep the hands above the ball if you KNOW it's coming.

It would be nice if it truly mattered who had the prettiest swing and who's swing mechanics are "correct". But, in my mind, there's a huge difference between learning to swing and learning how to hit the moving pitch. You can't do that from a book, a website, a video, etc. And as someone else pointed out on the old thread, most hitting gurus have not seen a riseball themselves, live from a batters box. Not saying that is the most important factor but, it certainly helps.

Bill

 

[Mark H]

Ken:

How to stop a hitter from dropping hands and taking them straight to ball can be fixed in a NY minute: first, make sure it's not her back knee bending, which leans the whole body back, then put a football in her armpit as she's in her batting stance, this will keep the elbow up and she won't be able to collapse it. Bill

Using constraints to force movement is a big deal and under utilized.