Holes

[undergroundga]

Let me begin this discussion by saying that I am not a hitting coach nor did I stay at a Holiday Express last night. I do not pretend to be. Most of my players have hitting instructors so during batting practice I try to keep my instructions basic so as not to interfere with what their paid instructors are teaching them. My goal is just to give them an opportunity for quality reps.
That said, we began our indoor practices a couple weeks ago. To my chagrin a few of our players had pronounced holes in their swings. They began swinging down on the ball and finished with very pronounced upper cut swings. Swings looked like a v, and I mean a capital V not a lower case v. They had trouble hitting anything that wasn't low/outside.
I tried to attribute it to rust and give some basic instruction and move the ball around but there was little improvement.
I also spoke with the parents and explained to them what their daughter was doing. I also emailed them videos to help explain.
So my question is this, what can I do at practice to help these ladies? Please keep in mind that I am not a hitting guru.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Here is one well known assessment of the problem -

 

[JAD]

Let me begin this discussion by saying that I am not a hitting coach nor did I stay at a Holiday Express last night. I do not pretend to be. Most of my players have hitting instructors so during batting practice I try to keep my instructions basic so as not to interfere with what their paid instructors are teaching them. My goal is just to give them an opportunity for quality reps.
That said, we began our indoor practices a couple weeks ago. To my chagrin a few of our players had pronounced holes in their swings. They began swinging down on the ball and finished with very pronounced upper cut swings. Swings looked like a v, and I mean a capital V not a lower case v. They had trouble hitting anything that wasn't low/outside.
I tried to attribute it to rust and give some basic instruction and move the ball around but there was little improvement.
I also spoke with the parents and explained to them what their daughter was doing. I also emailed them videos to help explain.
So my question is this, what can I do at practice to help these ladies? Please keep in mind that I am not a hitting guru.

I would make sure the parents are passing the information on to their DD's hitting instructors so they will know what they need to work on during their lessons. As the HC you may also want to offer to speak directly with the hitting instructors to discuss what you are seeing in practice. Ask the hitting instructor for suggestions on how to fix the problem.

 

[undergroundga]

Here is one well known assessment of the problem -

That's one of the videos I used.
The parents I talked to said they would speak with their instructor and asked if we could do what we could at practice. Honestly, I really fear the biggest part of the problem is their instructors, but I feel bad pushing the place my dd attends.

 

[JAD]

That's one of the videos I used.
The parents I talked to said they would speak with their instructor and asked if we could do what we could at practice. Honestly, I really fear the biggest part of the problem is their instructors, but I feel bad pushing the place my dd attends.

Hitting instructors are not regulated, so anyone can call themselves a "hitting instructor"....if you feel that some of your players are getting bad instruction have the names and numbers of a couple qualified hitting instructors that you can provide to the parents as an alternative to what they are currently doing.

 

[JAD]

We do not mandate all of our players take hitting from a certain instructor, but it is nice to get everyone on the same page, so what you are doing at practice compliments what the instructors are teaching during their lessons. Most hitting instructors are more than happy to work with TB coaches to benefit the player!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Teach them how to make an infield throw, from 2nd base to first. Then, i have them field the ball and pull back and stop. (Staying low) I replace the ball with the bat. I want them in that position when batting. The girls seem to like it. I picked this up from Candrea and the Rightview Pro instructor.

High tee drills help, also.