Looking for some help, are we headed in the right direction?

[pantherdad]

http://youtu.be/3nTKE_H1PRU

10 yr DD

We have been working on this swing all winter. We finally put it all together to full speed (off a tee). I am concerned about the distance the rear foot travels, but i am anxsious to see how far it travels when she faces live pitching. I think she also needs to finish better. She likes to pull up short and I would like to be able to read the name on the back of her jersey when she finishes. Looking for a critique.

 

[petricca413]

Pantherdad---the back foot coming off the ground is not a bad thing. It is actually a very good thing. However, only IF it is the result of the powerful rotation of the lower body, followed by the equally powerful rotation of the upper body. If you look at the swings of the best hitters in baseball and softball, their back foot will "pop" off the ground and some even travel forward a little.
Your daughter looks like she is "trying" to lift and move her foot forward. It doesn't appear to be the result of powerful rotational mechanics.

My suggestion would be to find a hitting instuctor who can teach her sound rotational mechanics. She appears to be fairly athletic and aggressive for her age. She just needs someone to teach her the proper way to load, rotate, extend, and finish.

Good luck!

 

[Sweet Lou]

There are some good things with that swing but there are also things to work on.

First it looks like the bat is too horizontal when she loads. Not quite bat wrap around her head but try to get her more in a 45 degree angle pointed at the catcher.

Second she has some balance issue I think caused by her stride foot lading in a fully open position toward the pitcher. Try to get that foot to land more point towards the 2nd baseman.

Third it looks like her hand are coming forward a bit sooner than they should. The lower back and shoulder should resist the hip turn for as long as possible before exploding into the swing.

Just my $0.02 but overall she looks headed the right way. Just needs some detail work.

 

[Eric F]

Last year, I posted my young DD's swing on this site for the first time, and I was given some very cryptic (to me, at the time) advice. Learning what the term meant, and starting the process of educating myself on what happens in a good swing, changed things dramatically for me. Are you ready? Here we go...

Turn the barrel.

There have been LOTS of threads about this phrase. Search. Read. Learn. Understand.

In other news...Welcome to DFP!

 

[iMlearning]

Last year, I posted my young DD's swing on this site for the first time, and I was given some very cryptic (to me, at the time) advice. Learning what the term meant, and starting the process of educating myself on what happens in a good swing, changed things dramatically for me. Are you ready? Here we go...

Turn the barrel.

There have been LOTS of threads about this phrase. Search. Read. Learn. Understand.

In other news...Welcome to DFP!

Eric, you always make it so complicated LOL!

 

[Eric F]

Eric, you always make it so complicated LOL!

I'm not smart enough to make it complicated.

 

[nanotech14]

For one, the tee is way to far forward. I mean way to far forward. Set up closer to her front hip.

 

[FP26]

There are some good things with that swing but there are also things to work on.

First it looks like the bat is too horizontal when she loads. Not quite bat wrap around her head but try to get her more in a 45 degree angle pointed at the catcher.

Second she has some balance issue I think caused by her stride foot lading in a fully open position toward the pitcher. Try to get that foot to land more point towards the 2nd baseman.

Third it looks like her hand are coming forward a bit sooner than they should. The lower back and shoulder should resist the hip turn for as long as possible before exploding into the swing.

Just my $0.02 but overall she looks headed the right way. Just needs some detail work.

IMO this is very good advice. As well as Eric's "turn the barrel" suggestion and Nano's suggestion on moving the tee. My advice would be to take it one step at a time. Changing too much at once can get confusing. I would suggest starting by moving the tee and getting the 45 degree angle with the bat. Then build from there with turning the barrel as the ultimate goal.

 

[pantherdad]

Thanks Lou,

All great points to work on. The positive feedback is appreciated. I posted the video hoping to reinforce the direction we are headed. I was getting a lot of negative feedback from some local coaches/dads telling me that she shouldn't be striding, the back foot should never come of the ground, keep the weight on the back foot, she should be swinging down at the ball, knob to the ball, etc... I know enough to filter most of these cues and discard them. Looking for some outside advice so i decided to post here. Greatly appreciated!

 

[pantherdad]

Thanks petriccia,

We know the back foot coming up is a good thing, but you are exactly right when you say she is picking it up and moving it herself. We have talked about the actual momentum of the hips should be the reason the foot is pulled off the ground, it just hasn't set in yet. We have a coach we use and he is working on getting her to start the hips before the hands. Hopefully when she learns to create that torque the rear foot movement will come along with it. We scrapped her old swing about 3 months ago and started with this one. We are pretty happy with the progression knowing we still have a ways to go.