Is it just me?

[Coach Stan]

I should have been a lot more specific. You may be able to buy a 2 tee in one from a baseball/softball equipment magazine. But in case you can not get one you set the two tees one in front of the other. The first tee that is closes to the batter should be a ball lower than the tee farthest from batter. Put the ball on the tee that is set up normal size. The goal is to swing the bat and go over the first tee hit and hit the ball on the 2nd. If you hit the first tee that means your are either dipping your back should or you are dopping the bat head. Once the you are hitting the ball and not hitting the back tee you have level or even swing.

There is also an little more advanced way of using the 2 tee system. Put both tees at the same height and put a ball on both. If you swing is even the first ball will hit the 2nd and the both will go straight. If there is a drop of the bat head or dip of the shoulder you may not hit the first ball or you may hit it but not second one.

I would use the tee, then do some front toss and I would use the same size ball she is playing with now with both. At her age it is very important to keep it simple and do not mix in to much detail. You know what you want her to do but talk to her in simple terms. Another way to keep her attention is come up with games that have goals and challenge her. Good luck

 

[Mark H]

I started teaching my DD at 9 years old also. She is now 12 and is average size.

One thing to keep in mind is that coaches, parents and instructors can not speed up mother nature. Your DD is only capable of learning what mother nature will allow her to learn. We adults sometimes have a tendency to get frustrated with younger kids if they can't perform a drill or movement correctly. I can't tell you how many times I've told my DD over the past 3 years "don't worry, you'll get that next year".

One challenge you are going to have is trying to figure out which rotational method to teach. Yes, you heard that right. Apparently there are now different versions of rotational hitting.

My advice when selecting material is to use good old fashion common sense. Keep it simple and don't get caught up in all the details about what bone or muscle is turning or pinching when or where.

Also it is very important to remember that much of hitting involves involuntary (instinctive) movements. Not everything you see ML hitters doing in video clips are learned movements. A big part of hitting involves instinctive on-the-fly adjustments.

Good post. As to your last paragraph, yeah, I agree. I have kids ask me how to hit the curve on the outside black at the knees or some such. My answer is, show me you can put a four to five frame swing on your middle middle pitch consistently and then we'll talk about other challenges. As you say, much of that becomes either instinctive or MUCH easier, even possible, to teach once they have a quick, repeatable, consistent swing on the middle middle pitch.

 

[Ken Krause]

You are right

or does most of the conversation about hitting turn into a debate over who teaches it best. I am not a doctor or trainer, and I have no idea about kineseolgy (sp?). What I want to be able to do is build a sound swing for my 9 yo DD, so at least she can hit the ball out of the infield. I admire the passion of the people on this board, I just wish some of you could talk down to a "newsoftballdad".

As you study this stuff you tend to accumulate a body of knowledge and a set of beliefs. After a while, it's hard not to want to share all of it with everyone, even if that's not what's called for by the question. The belief systems tend to be like religions, and they are defended like religions. They're also as difficult to prove who's right as religions.

For teaching your 9 year old daughter, keep it simple. There are some things that are simply more important than others. You don't need to know all the kiniseology behind everything; it does help to understand some of it, though, when you're trying to decide between conflicting information. It's nothing you'd tell your daughter, but it can help you decide what to tell you daughter.

Keep in mind no one here or anywhere else has it exactly right. If they did, everyone else would do it that way. There is only what we see, what we think we see, and what makes sense. And, of course, what produces results.

In my opinion, your best bet is to read and watch all you can. Look at the reasoning behind various statements. And again, determine what makes sense. Watching the best in the world is a good thing to do, but keep in mind your results may vary. There's a reason they're playing MLB and we're sitting around arguing about hitting on discussion boards.

 

[JC heir]

I dont even know half of the experts everyone on here argues about incessantly, nor do I really care to , but I can give you some advise on teaching a young girl hitting.

Go to google & type in "mike candrea hitting" & you can kick up a free 16 minute instructional video that covers the swing from start to finish. Its simple, & if its good enough for the USA womens olympic team , it should be good enough to get your girl started.

 

[Ken Krause]

One other point that I meant to make earlier. It's important enough that I decided to do a second post instead of just editing the first.

After you've read all the stuff and watched all the videos, get out and try it yourself. See what works and what doesn't, what makes sense and what sounds good in theory but is difficult if not impossible to execute in the real world. You'll be amazed at what you can learn by doing.

 

[newsoftballdad]

Thanks again all!

Believe me, it can all be overwhelming, so I appreciate the advice.

 

[alabama_lowlife]

here's a video i bought. it's cheap and i'm happy with the method it teaches. it's pretty simple IMO. i won't attempt to discuss any in-depth batting stuff because i'm no expert....that's why i bought a video i think the bah-boom thing he does in the video is excellent for giving them a sense of timing. the bat across the hips drill really makes them see how far they need to rotate those hips.
Sports Technique - Baseball Training Videos to improve your Techniques with the power rotational swing and hitting!

 

[Ken Krause]

here's a video i bought. it's cheap and i'm happy with the method it teaches. it's pretty simple IMO. i won't attempt to discuss any in-depth batting stuff because i'm no expert....that's why i bought a video i think the bah-boom thing he does in the video is excellent for giving them a sense of timing. the bat across the hips drill really makes them see how far they need to rotate those hips.
Sports Technique - Baseball Training Videos to improve your Techniques with the power rotational swing and hitting!

Nice post -- and best name on this board so far!

 

[obbay]

FWIW- I agree with everything KK said.
I have 2 DDs- 14 and 9. I learned a lot about teaching girls to play softball from trying to teach her (14 yo). At the end of the day, she was coachable and decided she wanted to learn. She was not athletically gifted but has become a good ballplayer because of her willingness to learn. So now I think I have it all figured out and along comes my 9 yo who is athletically gifted, loves to play sports, but doesn't want to listen to anything I have to say.

At 9 she knows it all.

I have found I need to learn a whole different approach to kid #2.

You need to experiment and find out what works/generates the best results with your kid. Sometimes you'll make mistakes, but don't sweat it, just keep it fun.

I took kid #2 to batting cages a week or so ago and swore I'd never do it again. After I calmed down I realixzed I went there with a pre-determined agenda and didn't listen to her. When I thought about what she wanted to accomplish/try I realized that would've been a good practice. I brought her back again yesterday and we did great. I let her choose what we did and she got to work on the same things I would've stressed only in a different order. We both had a good time and she's looking forward to going again.

 

[sluggers]

Obbay--FYI, if DD#2 is gifted in a variety of sports, she may choose softball as "the one" she wants to do.

For my DD#2, she would work on softball for as long as I was out there with her. When it came to basketball, she would be out there shooting hoops with me or without me.