Letting go of top hand ?

[Immortal1]

You can get more extension through the zone if you let the top hand slide off when the top arm can go no farther without folding.

I don't necessarily teach releasing the top hand but I don't try to change it, either, if they are releasing. The critical part is that they do not release until after contact.

When performing the Lau one-hand drill (the one that recent posters are calling the reverse hand drill) it is pretty obvious that the ball can be hit harder when the bat is unrestricted by the top hand. It is more than just style. Doing it correctly while batting can definitely be an advantage.

But since no two coaches seem to agree or understand it it is probably best left alone. It can be a great advantage, though, for those willing to learn it.

Most of the coaching I have done has involved 2 hands on bat at all times. Recently, my DD has been moving more towards letting go with the top hand a couple frames after contact. What I have been noticing in the videos is she seems to have more bat speed at contact (based on bat blur), and more importantly, IMO she has a better hand path thru contact. She finishes higher instead of having a flat swing. She used to roll her wrists right after contact which seemed to reduce her bat speed at contact.

Again, not trying to dictate 1 style or the other but letting go seemed to help DD get past one of her problems.

 

[tom.guerry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVws0CQqTDc

prevent lead wrist from "flipping" or breaking horizontally or dorsiflexing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm8nXn34yUU

you need a flat or arched, not bent or cupped lead wrist that can roll on line at after contact

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4-KX6deK-Q

uncock and roll, no steering



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVx6DPCIhd8

are you prepared to uncock and roll on line ?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlR13r9-EXc

do not destroy rhythm.

=======


in the HLBB swing, the top hand/back arm should not cut off the swing and force a breakdown of the lead wrist/flip/loss of rhythm.

the HLBB swing needs to be shorter/quicker/adjustable on the fly via "early batspeed".

Williams: you need to hit with the top hand wrist (not lead wrist) still unbroken or at least not rolling.

Palm up (top hand wrist) extension with a "flat" (uncocked,rolling OK) bottom hand/lead wrist.

another problem with the baseball top hand release drill is that it can promote a much longer swing than necessary to go along with rolling on line,even when the release is not too early, promoting an off the plate rather than bellied up position that makes strike zone coverage difficult as well as reducing read time.

 

[softballphreak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVws0CQqTDc

prevent lead wrist from "flipping" or breaking horizontally or dorsiflexing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm8nXn34yUU

you need a flat or arched, not bent or cupped lead wrist that can roll on line at after contact

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4-KX6deK-Q

uncock and roll, no steering



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVx6DPCIhd8

are you prepared to uncock and roll on line ?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlR13r9-EXc

do not destroy rhythm.

=======


in the HLBB swing, the top hand/back arm should not cut off the swing and force a breakdown of the lead wrist/flip/loss of rhythm.

the HLBB swing needs to be shorter/quicker/adjustable on the fly via "early batspeed".

Williams: you need to hit with the top hand wrist (not lead wrist) still unbroken or at least not rolling.

Palm up (top hand wrist) extension with a "flat" (uncocked,rolling OK) bottom hand/lead wrist.

another problem with the baseball top hand release drill is that it can promote a much longer swing than necessary to go along with rolling on line,even when the release is not too early, promoting an off the plate rather than bellied up position that makes strike zone coverage difficult as well as reducing read time.

Again, the top hand release is well after contact, after the top hand has served its purpose. At that point there is nothing left for the top hand to do.

The Lau drill is one of the most productive drills you can do in baseball or softball. It is much better than choking up on the bat to do a one-hand drill. ANY isolation drill is wrong if done to excess.

The closest I come to using golf as a teaching tool is wiffle balls.

The only reason I don't promote top-hand release is because many coaches don't understand it and therefore it creates problems for players trying to learn it. Then again, many coaches still pressure kids to squish the bug.

 

[batspeed]

hitter

I know that many times as coaches we lay out in our heads what a swing should look like, and there are a few steps that cannot be agrued, the basic steps to the swing, but there are a few things that are agrued to no end that really in my opinion do not matter and one of them is to end the swing with two hands on the bat or not. I think do not think one can agrue that having one hand on the bat through the hitting zone is more powerful than having two. If that is the case lets arm wrestle and I will use two you can use one. To me this an agruement without hitting the core of the issue. If you are asking your hitter to let go of the bat so she can stay on plane of the ball longer then there are most likely other issues that need to be addressed. It is similar to the quesiton stride or no stride, well that one is more about weight transfer not stride. Just my two cents.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Batspeed ….. I like the name you’ve chosen … ‘batspeed’.

Question for you … if the barrel makes the same square contact with the ball, at the same bat speed, will the difference the ball travels be different if ‘2’, ‘1’ or ‘0’ hands are on the barrel at the point of contact?

 

[batspeed]

I will answer that in two ways for one if I were to run I would be much faster on two legs than one. Having two hands on the bat through zone is fast using one. Now I know that can be agrued, but when doing so remember I am saying that through contact or hitting zone not after. I work with my girls a lot on one handed drills but the point of them is to get them to work together. Now the other way make my point with one hand or two is even if you could create the batspeed with one hand but when ball hits bat it is a violent action on the bat, and with only one hand the bat can become overwhelmed. The example is a Semi go 90 mph is much more damaging than a VW Bug going 90 mph.
Having the top hand on bat at contact gives the bat and body connection with back hip.

 

[softballphreak]

I will answer that in two ways for one if I were to run I would be much faster on two legs than one. Having two hands on the bat through zone is fast using one. Now I know that can be agrued, but when doing so remember I am saying that through contact or hitting zone not after. I work with my girls a lot on one handed drills but the point of them is to get them to work together. Now the other way make my point with one hand or two is even if you could create the batspeed with one hand but when ball hits bat it is a violent action on the bat, and with only one hand the bat can become overwhelmed. The example is a Semi go 90 mph is much more damaging than a VW Bug going 90 mph.
Having the top hand on bat at contact gives the bat and body connection with back hip.

Most certainly both hands should be on the bat through contact. After that is when the top hand can slide off the bat for fuller extension.

Many higher level batters release after contact. Too much muscle in a swing is not necessarily good.

 

[batspeed]

I agree that many hitters do release after contact and it is ok. The only problem I have with teaching one hand finish is the fact with younger hitters they sometimes do not do it correctly. I believe some coaches teach the one handed finish to try and fix problems that are happening much earlier in the swing. It is like trying to put a band aid on a heart attack at first you might say good idea quick fix but in the long run does nothing. I say get to the basic points of the swing. So many times coaches look at that end result and try to find the problem instead of looking at the whole swing and finding the root of the trouble. I think the swing has some simple steps that I think are true.
Steps to the Swing

These are terms that many of you may not have heard but they are all movements that you have done. We all need to be on the same page with the terminology so we can relate information to each other quicker and easier. As hitters it is important that all of you understand your swing and what you want to get out of it. The more that you hear about and talk about hitting, the better hitter you will become. Also, many of you have eliminated these steps for one reason or another. Many times they were eliminated to quick fix something else in our swing, but you should not put band aides on your swing. Rather we will find the root of the problem and adjust as we need to from there. The bottom line is that all of the following steps need to be in place to have an effective swing. Every good hitter, whether it is softball or baseball has these elements in their swing, from Babe Ruth to Barry Bonds to Lisa Fernandez.


Stance: Cosmetic only. Good starting point would be to have feet at shoulder width apart and the hands off the back shoulder. Both arms should have a bend in them and should not be straight. You also want to have our weight evenly distributed among the front and back feet. There are many different variations to the stance such as open, closed or neutral. All of them are okay, as long as you get into a good hitting position before positive movement. If you could start standing on your head and get to a good hitting position that would even be fine. You just need to find a place that is comfortable for you. Remember though that the more movement you have in your swing, the harder you are making hitting for yourself.


Negative Movement: This stage has been called trigger and load in the past, but now we will refer to it as negative movement. It is the process of moving weight to the back side. The weight is shifted to the backside and you should feel the weight on the inside of the back foot. If the weight gets to the backside of the back foot you have shifted your weight too far. This is the first stage of the swing. In every other sport such as golf, tennis, volleyball, shuffleboard, or even throwing a ball you have a negative movement before you the strike the ball. If in all of these sports you need negative movement to get the best results, why not in softball?

Positive Movement: After negative movement you need to take the weight forward. There is no pause from negative movement to when you have positive movement. This is a continuous motion. If you pause your swing will start to break down. This is when the stride happens, if you have a stride in your swing, the stride is optiontional. This is when you go to toe touch. Toe touch is when you stride and the weight is coming forward. Even if you do not stride you will still be on the toe of the front foot. The weight should be on the inside of the front foot. If you get on the outside of the front foot this means that you transferred too much weight forward. Do not get this confused with the notion of front end loading because your weight is being transferred in a controlled motion. We are trying to hit the ball forward, so therefore you do not want any weight going away from where you are trying to hit it. Rotation is not ready to begin at this point; rotation does not start until heel lock.

Heel Lock: After the positive movement and toe touch the heel lands, and at this point positive movement is done. Minimal weight at this point should be transferred forward. At this point the rotation may begin. The heel lock gives your swing leverage and allows you to drive through the ball, instead of around it. If the heel does not get down and only the toe is on the ground the hitter is unable to drive through the ball, and they spin off the ball. Many of the problems in your swing is that our heel never gets down and you become spinners. Our goal is simply to stay on the ball as long as you can, and the heel lock allows you to do this.


Rotation: Once the heel strikes rotation can begin, however if you read a changeup, rotation can be delayed. This is why you use a controlled weight transfer. Rotation begins with the lead elbow and the beginning of the hip rotation. The lead elbow remains bent and not straight. You want the elbow to be above the hands and hands in front of the barrel of the bat. The hips are not rotated around the ball, the back hip drives forward. Rotation is not a spinning motion it is a motion that is forward.

Connection: This is where the hands and the hips are lined up with the line of the pants. The arms are not extended and there is a bow in the front elbow. A major mistake hitters make at this point is have the front elbow barred out. If you bar the front arm we end up sweeping the bat across the zone. At this point the bat faces straight back towards the catcher. The top hand is ready to be thrown, (released) at this point.


Contact: The bat is making contact with the ball. The top hand is being released. The hands are in front of the barrel of the bat. The top hand will be below the bottom hand. Even at this point our lead arm should not be totally straight. Contact should be made in front of the belly button, keeping in mind that contact may depend on pitch location. You would also rather be late on a pitch than early. Remember you are taking a ball moving 60 MPH and bringing it to a dead stop and sending it in the opposite direction. To do this effectively you want the ball to stick on the bat and bounce off. If you do not stay on plane the ball will just make contact, and then will bounce off the bat, which takes away the amount of power that we can generate.


Follow Through: One of the biggest mistakes young hitters make is to start their follow through too early. This makes them roll their wrists over at contact which leads to weak ground balls to the pull side. Also, young hitters want to follow through using their shoulders instead of finishing the swing with their hands. It is very similar to throwing because you bring your weight to where you are throwing to, just like when you hit you throw the weight to where you are hitting it. The weight should still be on the inside of the front foot. You do not want the weight to be on the backside, you want to be on the back foot. You should be on the toe of the back foot to stop reverse pivot.



Looking Inside Adjusting Outside: If you lead with the front elbow it is very easy to adjust out from in, which is illustrated best in the hammer drill. It is very difficult to throw the elbow and adjust in and not drive through it. When you look out and adjust in and they throw in you end up wrapping around the ball, which only leaves us with half of the plate to be able to drive the ball, when you want to be able drive the ball if it is thrown inside or outside. It is more natural for you to adjust out more than it is to adjust in.


Squash the Bug (out): Squashing the bug is out. You all have heard the concept of squashing the bug to remind us about hip rotation. The back foot does not rotate your hips; the hips make the back foot rotate. If we use the foot to rotate the hips it makes your hips just spin. Spinning the hips does not give the power that you want. The hips are a driving force and a spinning force. They drive forward through the ball, not spin around the ball. To stay on the plane of the ball the hips need to drive through, not spin around. If done the right way you will end up on the back toe, on a perfect swing your back foot may even come off the ground.


Lead with Elbow: In the past we have talked about leading with hands, which if done properly, the elbow will actually be in front. We have changed the emphasis on the leading with the elbow. For one, this will put you on the plane of the ball sooner and allow us to stay on plane longer. This does not make our swing long because you never bar out the front arm. The front elbow will be above the hands, while the swing is an upwards motion. The old theory of chopping wood should only be used with very young hitters that you are trying to get from shortening their swing. At the upper levels of softball the swing is not a down motion.


Top Hand: The top hand is thrown just like you were skipping a rock on a lake. The top hand is not the dominant hand and the bottom hand is the work horse in our swing. When the top hand becomes the dominant hand we roll over the ball. You cannot stay on plane of the ball with the top hand when it is dominant. The top hand is thrown when you get to connection. The top hand can be released from the bat after contact. For some hitters it is actually easier to stay on plane of the ball longer by releasing the top hand. The reason why some do not like the top hand released is because some hitters release too early. When this happens you are actually just hitting with one hand.


Reverse Pivot: This is when at you end up with too much weight on the backside at the end of the swing. When you are done swinging and we collapse on the backside and your head is even or close to even with the back foot, reverse pivot has occurred. .

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

rotation does not start until heel lock.

 

[softballphreak]

Top Hand: The top hand is thrown just like you were skipping a rock on a lake. The top hand is not the dominant hand and the bottom hand is the work horse in our swing. When the top hand becomes the dominant hand we roll over the ball. You cannot stay on plane of the ball with the top hand when it is dominant. The top hand is thrown when you get to connection. The top hand can be released from the bat after contact. For some hitters it is actually easier to stay on plane of the ball longer by releasing the top hand. The reason why some do not like the top hand released is because some hitters release too early. When this happens you are actually just hitting with one hand.

Yep.

Top hand release also helps keep the shoulder from flying open.