Hitting Trouble

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Feb 4, 2010
35
8
My dd played for me in a rec league and hit all year. She then made a travel team after our season was over. She had five different coaches teaching five different ways to hit. Now that fall ball is here she can't touch the ball. I have tried everything but can't figure it out. What can I do to get her back on track. I set the lite-flite machine up in the basement but she can't hit anything
 
Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
How old is she mountyfan?

The light flight machine can actually be very hard to hit because of unpredictable movement, the rapid deceleration of the ball and little ability to time an arm circle. If she is whiffing everything get her on the tee and work with the te first. Some basics I would look for.

1. Good athletic set up

2. Separation (when she is at toe touch her hands are back)

a)At this position make sure she is not sitting on her back leg but has committed weight to the inside front toe...you can start here if you like).

3. When she initiates the swing by dropping the front heel make sure she does not lunge towards the ball but rotates into the ball with no further forward movement once the heel drops. To avoid an arm swing work to keep hands connected to rotation of back hip as he turns the corner (going from being parllel to the pitcher to facing the pitcher and driving into the ball.)

4. As she swings keep hands about letter height and adjust to lower balls with bat tild and body angle. (Many kids lower their hands and try to make them parrellel to the ball. This first movement makes them super late and disconnected)

5.Extend through the ball with the barrel and then finish around.

Compare the above basics to the swings on the Model Swings link. Try it yourself in slo-mo and regular speed so you can feel it. Video her and look at together.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
At her age, her eye sight can change quickly. Has she had it checked?

I suggest getting her to a hitting coach and kindly ask everyone else to leave her alone. :)
 
Jul 28, 2008
1,088
0
I would be having serious thoughts about the travel team if the coaches aren't all on the same track and teaching the same method. Have your daughter talk with the manager of the team or do as Amy says.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
My dd played for me in a rec league and hit all year. She then made a travel team after our season was over. She had five different coaches teaching five different ways to hit. Now that fall ball is here she can't touch the ball. I have tried everything but can't figure it out. What can I do to get her back on track. I set the lite-flite machine up in the basement but she can't hit anything

I don't know about your lite-flite machine, but one of the first things I did with the HS I worked with was junk it. The machine was throwing pitches that didn't remotely resemble anything real. The balls would get a lot of lift, and while someone with little knowledge may believe they resembled a riseball, it wasn't anything remotely close to a 'real' riseball. The kids struggled to hit with it .... and for a good reason. From my perspective they were polluting their database with that machine.
 
Jun 3, 2010
171
0
1.50 -100 correct swings a day on a T
2.Then move to softtoss or front toss.
3. Live pitching at a slower speed to build confidence.
 
Feb 8, 2009
272
18
Balls out of lite flight machines tend to stay high, unlike most pitches kids see from a pitcher. But a hitter still has to track the ball. You might try a variety of tracking drills. It seems training the hitter's eyes is still the most neglected part of hitting practices.
 

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