My daughter has recently fell into a slup where she swings under the ball each time. Just fractions of an inch. During batting practice she either fouls the ball straight back, up or mises the pitch completely under the ball. Her timing seems fine and she is becoming more and more frustrated. I have tried several drills, analyzied video, etc. with no luck. Any suggestions. She uses roatational hitting technique.
Looking for some hitting help.
- Thread starter Dkdaddy33
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
- Sep 29, 2010
- 165
- 0
Can you post a video? It would help to see a complete at bat where she is swing under the ball.
- Oct 25, 2009
- 3,335
- 48
Without seeing her swing it is just wild guessing but on the chance that she is uppercutting somewhat I would have her work on the high tee drill.
Set the tee so the ball is at the very top of the strike zone and have her hit until she can consistently hit lines drives. Then have her hit regular pitches from the plate. Keep alternating from front toss to tee until she is hitting far fewer pop ups or not fouling them back.
Another thing I try. from front toss, is have them intentionally hit a few ground balls, then a few sac flies, then line drives. Keep rotating that way until you get what you're after. They don't usually like to hit ground balls so every time they miss a line drive have them hit 5 grounders, for example. Things like that make them focus a little better.
Set the tee so the ball is at the very top of the strike zone and have her hit until she can consistently hit lines drives. Then have her hit regular pitches from the plate. Keep alternating from front toss to tee until she is hitting far fewer pop ups or not fouling them back.
Another thing I try. from front toss, is have them intentionally hit a few ground balls, then a few sac flies, then line drives. Keep rotating that way until you get what you're after. They don't usually like to hit ground balls so every time they miss a line drive have them hit 5 grounders, for example. Things like that make them focus a little better.
Last edited:
How old is your daughter? If she between 11-15, how long has it been since she's had her eyes checked? Specifically, the muscle movement. At that age, everything changes in a hurry. My DD eye doctor said that swinging under or over a ball consistently may be a sign of a convergence problem. It may not be your DD issue, but every kid should have a comprehensive eye exam to rule out issues. Sports is sometimes the only area kids with slight eye muscle imbalances have a problem.
I dont think an uppercut is a bad thing, I like the high tee idea, just make sure when doing it the rear shoulder lowers into rotation and at contact her hands are above the barrel, this will help her get into one as well as increase her odds of making contact (line drive) on a ball thats changing planes.
- Oct 19, 2009
- 1,822
- 0
Just a few suggestions:
Check her vision make sure she does not need glasses, or have a vision problem.
Make sure she is having a good 2 eyed look at the ball, if she has a closed stance may want to try a more open stance, has head down at contact. Young kids have a tendency to look where the balls going instead of head down at contact. Make sure the helmet is not interfering with her vision and is tight fitting and not too loose.
Look to make sure she is getting on plain of the pitch early and staying on plain of the pitch and has good extension after contact hits through 3 balls and give the ball direction. She may have a loop in her swing look for that.
Barrel awareness if she is hitting the ball on the handle, make sure she is getting her hands inside the ball and hitting on the sweet part of the bat. If she is crowding the plate and hitting on the handle she may need to experiment on moving off the plate some. My daughter is a pitcher and she and I notice so many kids stand too close to the plate when batting, good for pitchers, not so god for hitters.
Make sure she is not trying to do too much with a pitch; example not trying to pull an in outside pitch instead of going with the pitch to the opposite field.
Check her vision make sure she does not need glasses, or have a vision problem.
Make sure she is having a good 2 eyed look at the ball, if she has a closed stance may want to try a more open stance, has head down at contact. Young kids have a tendency to look where the balls going instead of head down at contact. Make sure the helmet is not interfering with her vision and is tight fitting and not too loose.
Look to make sure she is getting on plain of the pitch early and staying on plain of the pitch and has good extension after contact hits through 3 balls and give the ball direction. She may have a loop in her swing look for that.
Barrel awareness if she is hitting the ball on the handle, make sure she is getting her hands inside the ball and hitting on the sweet part of the bat. If she is crowding the plate and hitting on the handle she may need to experiment on moving off the plate some. My daughter is a pitcher and she and I notice so many kids stand too close to the plate when batting, good for pitchers, not so god for hitters.
Make sure she is not trying to do too much with a pitch; example not trying to pull an in outside pitch instead of going with the pitch to the opposite field.
If she was hitting fine before, and she is just fractions of an inch off now, then she isn't following the ball all the way in at contact. All she needs is a lot of batting practice and concentrate on keeping her head still. Funny how one blink or a slight glance up to the fence right before the ball gets there, can make us be off a fraction of an inch. She'll be just fine with just a little extra batting practice and focusing on watching the ball better.
Very well said.
It's funny how the mechanics are the first to be attacked when struggling a bit. Seeing the target (ball) is the most important fundamental in hitting.
Similar threads
