Looking for hitting guidance

[gordongekko]

You can take my advise or not. What your DD has been taught is a 'band aide' to make her a contact hitter with no power. Dropping the front foot heel is not timing that's going to work going forward. Been there done that with my DD.
I see 'bat drag',spinner, an all arm swinger, and 'hands along for the ride swinger'and one piece swing. Sorry, you get the ideal.
I would like someone( SL) suggested teach her to stride,FBC ,the proper sequence now.

Thanks for the input, I'm asking for a reason. I've been thinking about teaching stride is why I asked. Also she has a lot of power right now, just thinking if she could get a little more the "warning track power" would become real power. Now to figure out how to teach it to her myself. There is not exactly a surplus of good hitting instruction where I am.

Question, by "spinner" I assume you are referring to her rotation rather than lateral shift? Right?


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[straightleg]

You can take my advise or not. What your DD has been taught is a 'band aide' to make her a contact hitter with no power. Dropping the front foot heel is not timing that's going to work going forward. Been there done that with my DD.
I see 'bat drag',spinner, an all arm swinger, and 'hands along for the ride swinger'and one piece swing. Sorry, you get the ideal.
I would like someone( SL) suggested teach her to stride,FBC ,the proper sequence now.

I agree 100% with RD on this one


SL

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Thanks for the input, I'm asking for a reason. I've been thinking about teaching stride is why I asked. Also she has a lot of power right now, just thinking if she could get a little more the "warning track power" would become real power. Now to figure out how to teach it to her myself. There is not exactly a surplus of good hitting instruction where I am.

Question, by "spinner" I assume you are referring to her rotation rather than lateral shift? Right?


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SL stated that he sees a 'no-stride' approach as having a little less power while improving timing.

RD stated that your daughter's swing is band-aide-ish, weak ... a punch-and-judy type swing that won't take her far in this game.

They are both correct.

I suggest that your judgement of your daughter having "a lot of power right now" is 'relative' and possibly tainted.

What SL didn't explain to you is that learning a 'stride' can make it easier for a hitter to learn the basic sequence ... and that right there is the crux of your daughter's swing issues as the moment.

Some hitters, myself included, will switch back-and-forth between a 'no-stride' and 'stride' approach. They are the same basic swing. When do I switch back to a 'no-stride' approach? Answer ... when I feel I need to time things better.

Even Miggy switches back-and-forth between a 'stride' and 'no-stride' approach.

Miggy 'striding' ....

Miggy 'not striding' ....

In any event, your daughter is out of sequence ... and correcting that is generally easiest when a stride is introduced ... even if it is introduced purely in a drill format. Here Stone discusses the "Feet Together Step and Hit Drill" .... just one drill that helps a player that is focusing on learning the basic sequence.

 

[gordongekko]

FFS, thanks, I like that drill. I think I've seen you post it before and we will work on that this afternoon. I agree my statement about her power is relative, like I said she hits a lot of deep balls compared to team mates on her travel team and others her age, but I also know she isn't maximizing her power potential even if she hits it well. My concern, as has been expressed already here, is that she needs to make changes to get to the next level.


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[rdbass]

Thanks for the input, I'm asking for a reason. I've been thinking about teaching stride is why I asked. Also she has a lot of power right now, just thinking if she could get a little more the "warning track power" would become real power.

I agree my statement about her power is relative, like I said she hits a lot of deep balls compared to team mates on her travel team and others her age

Those 'warning track power' and 'deep balls' are just fly balls outs against good teams and older teams. With your DD's current swing those hits will be far and few as the pitching gets better. You don't want to put a ceiling on your DD's swing. So, I would get busy on making changes right now. I know this isn't something you want to hear and I heard them about my DD's swing. If you want your DD to progress she will need to changes. Again JMHO.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

FFS, thanks, I like that drill. I think I've seen you post it before and we will work on that this afternoon. I agree my statement about her power is relative, like I said she hits a lot of deep balls compared to team mates on her travel team and others her age, but I also know she isn't maximizing her power potential even if she hits it well. My concern, as has been expressed already here, is that she needs to make changes to get to the next level.


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Your daughter can begin mastering the basic sequence through dry swings. She can do this in the family room while watching TV ... find a space big enough to perform a dry swing and then work on the early sequence portion of the basic swing.

Below are some video segments of the sequence to be mastered.

Some terms you will hear used ... "walk away from the hands", "forward and prepare-to-throw", "separation", etc.

A fundamental of getting in sequence is that the rear hip gains ground as the top hand prepares to throw. If this proves difficult then break it down to an over-hand throw of a ball ... and then to a side-arm throw of a ball ... and then to the swing(/throw) of a bat.

Example ... red lines show forward movement of the rear hip, green lines show top hand movement:

You want to master this portion of the swing sequence. When this portion of the swing is mastered then you begin to feel that your daughter is basically "in sequence".


Another example (... this one without a stride):

Cabrera as an example:

Barry Bonds as an example:

Get busy ... master the basic sequence. Don't make excuses ... if you can find a space that you can perform a dry swing, then you can work on the basic sequence. Once that's down ... then throw soft-toss and work on having the same basic starting sequence. Don't be surprised if you have to fight the battle all over again when you introduce soft-toss ..... while this is a fairly basic and normal throwing-type movement pattern, it isn't normal for many young hitters ... they see a ball coming at them, and the last thing they think is correct is to let their hands 'remain', or basically 'go away' from where their body is going ... but that's what is needed if you wish to effectively have what is often termed as 'fast hands'.

Once this is mastered other aspects of the swing can be advanced at a quicker rate.

 

[gordongekko]

Those 'warning track power' and 'deep balls' are just fly balls outs against good teams and older teams. With your DD's current swing those hits will be far and few as the pitching gets better. You don't want to put a ceiling on your DD's swing. So, I would get busy on making changes right now. I know this isn't something you want to hear and I heard them about my DD's swing. If you want your DD to progress she will need to changes. Again JMHO.

I have to agree with you, just wasn't exactly sure where to start. It is actually something I knew. Unfortunately I have been so focused on pitching that I know I let her hitting slide. Y'all are all confirming my suspicion.

As a side note, I haven't been a student of the hitting side very long from being able to teach it, but I have been around high level fastpitch for the last 18 years (my wife was a D1 pitcher when we met and coached at different levels there for a while). Unfortunately, she learned to hit years ago. Fortunately, I knew something was up and came here to find out!

FFS your drill will be implemented this afternoon, I may just implement the step as a drill until she feels comfortable with it (she also has a twin sister who could benefit from the same drill).


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[rdbass]

I tried to PM you but, said inbox full....

 

[FP26]

Just for the sake of conversation , they look all back all forward. With no stretch.(a little)

mann - here you go. Like I said, it may be subtle. But IMO, he is getting stretch here. Does it look the same as Bonds or others with larger movements? No. But I still think it's there...

In regards to the rest of the conversation. I do believe it is easier to teach the sequence by using a stride. At least most of the students I work with. And the drill FFS posted from Justin Stone has been very helpful to them. But I do not think the stride is a swing absolute. It is possible to have a productive swing without a stride. Again, JMO.

 

[gordongekko]

First, I want to say thank you for all the input. I am really at a point of educating myself. I have always known what a power swing looked like, but I bought into the old school thoughts and keys when my girls were learning. Hope I'm not too far down the road with the wrong swing. That being said we worked on the stride drill and they both loved it, said they feel like they hit the ball harder (ummm, yeah!!!) with the stride. Now after only two days I am seeing a little lateral move in their swings. I'll work for a week or so then see where we are. I do notice that things like turning their back pocket to the pitcher just sort of happens naturally when they stride and their hands push away from their body. Still trying to emphasize the turning their belly button to the pitcher rotation after the lateral move. Is that on the right track?



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