Live Swings...Vote for your favorite!

[lhowser]

I agree....as many reps as possible learning to get to foot strike in a strong position to hit....I do side toss where they start from the footstrike position as shown below...walk off the back heel and swing...I call this the 20/20....hips are open about 20 degrees / shoulders closes about 20 degrees....you don't have to be precise - in fact I have backed off the hips being open 20 degrees....

I like that

 

[RichK]

Lhowser, I say this respectfully (and I think you'll agree): this game, and working with youngsters, can be humbling sometimes, huh?

The one bit of feedback I'd give, and take it for what it's worth, is the girls don't seem to be working against any sort of resistance. They are arm swinging and kind of freewheeling. They need to start earlier, find some resistance to work "against" and launch from there. I think it comes from a more mature understanding of their bodies and their swings (swing image). I know that's a little on the vague side as far as feedback but its the feeling these swings give me.

One caveat: The extremely slow-mo nature of the filming, I think, isn't always best to assess a live swing (though it does make obvious problems more obvious it can mask any athleticism that may be there in the swing that you can work from).

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

I can’t help note that there are some commonalities amongst many of these hitters.

For example … hitters #1, #2, #4, #5, #6, #8, #9, #10 all start from a static position with their front heel off the ground. Sort of suggests that this is something being taught. Is it being taught? Why?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

This is a key I am quickly recognizing. Right now splitting into 2 groups 5 and 6. That is way to many. I need at the most 2 at a time and probably 30 to 40 minutes with each group of 2.

These girls need basic instruction ... and for basic instruction I limit the size of the group to '4' for one hour. I find that more than '4' hitters/hour turns into more of a 'practice' than 'instruction'.

 

[nanotech14]

#3 looks the best to me.

 

[shockcoach]

I liked #3 the best, then #8.

I can't tell for sure, but from the camera angle it looks like every hitter is stepping out and opening up on their stride. Also, as has been brought up, why is everyone starting with their front heel up? I also see a lot of hands dropping and casting.

 

[crankermo]

LHowser,

If I were you I would show this site to everyone of your kids parents and have them dive into learning the mechanics of a swing or send them them to individual instructors. You won't have enough time to do it yourself, these swings need to fixed from the groung up. IMO parents need to put some time and effort into their kids progress also. Good luck to you.

I also like #3 the best, everyone else is casting, dropping and using nothing but the arms.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

There is a massive leap between tee work and game swings at this age level.

This is very true.

Personally I feel it helps to have more personalized sessions with hitters that fail to take concepts into the batter’s box with them.

I had girl that fits this description this past week.

My typical approach is to perform a warm-up sequence, using a particular drill sequence, and during that time introduce 1-2 points-of-emphasis. This generally takes about 20-min. After that, swings are performed either in stations, long-tee, head-on soft-toss and/or machine pitch … and the intent is to focus on that day’s points-of-emphasis for the remainder of the hitting session.

For this young girl, that approach wasn’t working. As soon as she would see a ball approaching her in-flight, she would blank out, toss away that day’s points-of-emphasis, and resort to a terrible hack.

I had 3 one-on-one sessions with the girl this week.

In the first session she confirmed that wasn’t capable of bringing the points-of-emphasis into the batter’s box. Not even remotely capable. Much more concerned with “hitting” than with “swinging”. Frustrating … in that after an hour, little was actually accomplished other than her being able to repeat a description of what I wanted her to do.

In the second session I used a progression approach … with penalties and rewards … and this had her successfully bringing points-of-emphasis into the batter’s box.

I selected a point-of-emphasis that she needed, but continued to fail with.

First step was having her perform 12 correct swings into a punching bag. Failure in any one swing meant that she had to repeat another attempt to perform 12 correct swings. The goal here is to force the hitter to remain mentally active in requiring the point-of-emphasis be included in the swing. A common issue is that a hitter will relax after a few successes, and then resort to prior mechanics. Requiring 12 correct swings is an approach I use to demand focus … and my only involvement is to enforce the penalty of starting over. For this young girl … remaining mentality active for 12 swings was a new experience … and so she made a slew of attempts to get 12 in a row correct. The reward was moving forward … and she wanted to move forward … and now she needed to remain mentally active enough to make that happen.

Next step was hitting long tee. Here the hitter was required to repeat the point-of-emphasis while performing long-tee swings … with a goal of 12 correct swings in a row. Failure on one swing meant that the count was reset to zero. Three failures in a row meant they had to return to the punching bag and repeat the above.

Next step is off of a pitching machine. The goal is to again perform 12 swings inclusive of the point-of-emphasis. Failure on one swing resets the count. Failure on 3 swings in a row means they have to return back to the punching bag for 12 correct swings … succeed with that, and then pass the long-tee requirement.

This girl failed three times in a row against the pitching machine … and was promptly sent back to the punching bag. She learned the hard way what I meant when I told her to focus more on “swinging” than on “hitting”.

After working her way back to the pitching machine, she struggled at first … but she remained more mentally active than any other time … and while the count was reset to zero several times, she never had 3 failures in a row again. She engaged … and she worked hard not to be sent back to the punching bag.

After doing this, and capturing one point-of-emphasis, I repeated the process with a second point of emphasis. This time, the sequence of “hips coiling forward, as the hands loaded rearward”. And …… the kid got it …. She was able to face a pitching machine at high speeds and perform the desired sequence. This from a kid that has failed in group sessions to capture points-of-emphasis and bring them into the batter’s box.

I mentioned that I had three sessions this week with this girl. During the third session the girl demonstrated that she had retained the sequence.

So it can be done, with some of the more difficult hitters that resist bringing the sequence into the batter’s box … but it takes time and some one-on-one personal ‘attention’.

In a group session, this girl hadn’t advanced much over the past few months … but with some individual time, and using a progressive type approach, along with penalties and rewards, the same girl learned to bring a decent hitting sequence into the batter’s box against fast pitching.

 

[lhowser]

For example … hitters #1, #2, #4, #5, #6, #8, #9, #10 all start from a static position with their front heel off the ground. Sort of suggests that this is something being taught. Is it being taught? Why?

Interesting as I look at these clips because it is not being taught. Some of the general concepts of swing these young ladies are being taught would be -
1) Set up balanced/not leaning back
2) Show pitcher your lead hip pocket as you stride.
3) As you stride hands go back about armpit height and are hidden from pitcher. Front elbow lower than rear.
4)Swing begins with hip turning and driving hip towards ball. Should not squish bug.
5)Don't reach for ball. Allow rotation to turn barrel to ball. Hands do not go to ball. You should turn barrel to ball getting bat on plane as soon as possible.
6)finish through pitch.

If I were you I would show this site to everyone of your kids parents and have them dive into learning the mechanics of a swing or send them them to individual instructors. You won't have enough time to do it yourself, these swings need to fixed from the groung up. IMO parents need to put some time and effort into their kids progress also. Good luck to you.

I hear that. parents get a lot of emails and video. Parents are into it but not hardcore into it (like some of the crazy parents on this board ) Can't see many getting additional outside instruction and to be honest for every 1 good private instructor in pitching and hitting there are 5 bad ones that set kids back. I doubt that I will approach it from the ground up (as all of them aren't ready to go on that ride) but i will start with smaller groups. FFS example explains well about how hard it is to get someone to learn even one new concept to replace an existing one.

 

[V Mot 4]

Maybe #3, at best...