How to teach power

[Eric F]

IMO, an important part of the fling is keeping the hands close to the rear shoulder. If you allow arm extension, then fling, this promotes an out-front whip, not the immediate/explosive launch we're looking for.

 

[rdbass]

IMO, an important part of the fling is keeping the hands close to the rear shoulder. If you allow arm extension, then fling, this promotes an out-front whip, not the immediate/explosive launch we're looking for.

 

[dbronstein]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Eric F]

Thanks for all the replies.

It's what we do.

Looking at bigger-picture, she needs to get her body turning to drive/power the bat. Right now, it's a poke at the ball with her arms. Get that body working! The Happy Gilmore drill might be very effective for developing more body dynamics and athleticism into her swing.

 

[softballphreak]

Last year during private lessons I had 3 girls throwing the bat at the same time. They would throw, go to where the farthest bat landed, re-align and repeat the throws all the way around the fence.

 

[dbronstein]

It's what we do.

Looking at bigger-picture, she needs to get her body turning to drive/power the bat. Right now, it's a poke at the ball with her arms. Get that body working! The Happy Gilmore drill might be very effective for developing more body dynamics and athleticism into her swing.

That's the problem - we can't get her to use her body more. We tried helicoptering and SnF today. She said her wrist hurt with the helicoptering, so I'm thinking she was using her arms too much. She did pretty well with SnF and said that felt good. So we’ll try that some more.

 

[chrispots]

If her wrist hurt she was dropping her lead elbow.

BM does a better job than I ever could of explaining...look at about the 1:10 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiot08tJpDI&list=UUPprKV50U1EfmOdFKxGD4Sw

Now you can buy a t-ball bat for $9 at wally world and chop the knob off of it to make it not hurt. Also, show her some of the video and video so she can see what she is NOT doing. One of my DD's is a very visual learner and this has helped immensely.

And lastly...have fun with this...CP

 

[Eric F]

That's the problem - we can't get her to use her body more. We tried helicoptering and SnF today. She said her wrist hurt with the helicoptering, so I'm thinking she was using her arms too much. She did pretty well with SnF and said that felt good. So we’ll try that some more.

Making dramatic changes to a swing pattern doesn't happen overnight. Keep working at it, and give her time to figure it out inside her own head. She has spent a long time with her current mental process and muscle memory pattern. It takes time to revise the pattern and teach the muscles a different way to move. Some things are going to feel weird to her. Keep educating yourself, but be careful about throwing every new thing you learn at her.

With my 9yo DD, there are some issues we've been working on for a year and still haven't fixed.

EDIT: The wrist discomfort may be from using muscles and tendons in ways that she isn't used to. Choking up on the bat (or using a smaller, lighter bat) may be effective for this drill at the beginning.

 

[sbcowboy]

Hey Eric.

Is there a contradiction what Boardmember said in his Terminal Velocity video and the video of the guy throwing his bat into the net from the side by his shoulders?

 

[Eric F]

Hey Eric.

Is there a contradiction what Boardmember said in his Terminal Velocity video and the video of the guy throwing his bat into the net from the side by his shoulders?

I don't see a conflict between the two. Personally, I think the front elbow jut is a little exaggerated in Boardmember's demonstration, but what he's talking about meshes with what Swingbuilder demonstrates in the clip posted on the first page of this thread. The "whip" drill is focused on the action in the hands at "GO".