Looking for some pointers on my DD's swing

[Snapperny]

Hi everyone,
I have learned so much from lurking on this forum. There are so many knowledgeable people on here. I was hoping some of you could look at my 7 yr. old daughter's swing & let me know what you think we should be working on. Part of me doesn't want to get too technical since she's so young & she really enjoys playing & I don't want to screw that up!! But I don't want to reinforce bad habits that will be tougher to break the longer she does it (I've learned this the hard way from playing golf). She will begin an 8U machine pitch league (and hopefully travel) in the spring. So what say you...anything specific you would say to work on, or leave well enough alone at this age? The first video is her hitting a batting practice pitch...the 2nd video is her hitting juggs lite flight balls off a tee. I also have them in slo-mo & could post them if you think that would be more helpful. Thanks in advance for any help!!

VID00266 002 - YouTube

VID00268 - YouTube

 

[SoftSocDad]

let me know what you think we should be working on.

She should be working on having fun. She's adorable.

Kind word of unsolicited advice: just say NO to travel ball. Let her be 7. Your life, your choices, but enjoyment of the game is far more important than strict player development at her age.

 

[crystlemc]

She is tooooo cute! I know that isn't much help, but I don't much about hitting. I do know about cute, though...lol.

 

[undergroundga]

She should be working on having fun. She's adorable.

Kind word of unsolicited advice: just say NO to travel ball. Let her be 7. Your life, your choices, but enjoyment of the game is far more important than strict player development at her age.

Yes, definately work on having fun. That said don't let people discourage you from playing travel ball. My dd started rec ball at 5, and was not very good. She started travel ball when she was 7. One of my wife's friend's dd joined a team and she talked the wifey into going along. We didn't even know what travel ball was up until that point. My dd had a blast. Her team only won 2 games but it didn't dampen her spirits one bit. You would not believe how much my dd improved in her first year. It turned into a big time and effort committment from all of us, but none of us would trade it for anything. If you, your wife , and family take the right attitude it can be a very positive experience.
I'm sure you will get some great advice. Have fun with it and be prepared for frustrating moments. Softball makes for one heck of an addiction.

 

[softballphreak]

Looks good! Keep doing what you are doing! Keep posting video ever so often. Most important thing for the next few years is make sure she keeps the desire. If that starts to fade, do something else for a while; the interest will return if it's been fun and rewarding.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Can you find a kid pitch league? She looks great and I bet the other parents are going to complain that she is too good. Around here, Little League is kid pitch at 8. (Or put her in baseball.)

 

[PEPPERS]

Baseball is something you may want to consider, it seems the kids I see in our area, that came up playing baseball, their skills and mechanics are a little ahead of the other kids.

Having fun is #1, keep it simple at this age. Load stride and fire, the tee can be your best friend. Please be careful about having the ball bounce back and hit her, even the light-flight balls can damage an eye.

Work on proper throwing mechanics, make sure she is in proper position for receiving a throw, glove position for receiving the throw (12-3-6-9 o’clock). Ground balls make sure glove foot out front , glove on the ground.

My daughter just turned 17 and I find myself missing those yearly years, those farther daughter afternoons practicing are priceless.

 

[tom.guerry]

The best way to prepare is to improve your own understanding by doing and understanding what you are doing and how it can be taught/learned/improved.

Can you throw ? How do you throw ? How did you learn to throw ? How can you teach throwing ?

Best help with this is overall pitching central info from Ron Wolforth. Best brief info is Hodge, no longer available except for files that FFS and aimhigh have they may share.

Best way to learn swing is to understand "if you can throw, you can swing" as described, for example, by Candrea among others with info embedded in "rightview" (Don Slaught) videoanalysis software, and also available info at sportskool:

Sportskool

If you are familiar with golf, the best way I have seen of breaking down the swing in a way that informs learning the baseball swing is the Jim Hardy "plane truth" approach which describes a choice of swing patterns that consist of a number of components a number of which are mutually incompatible (3 categories/sorting of all golf info - things that belong in 1 plane swing, things that belong in 2 plane swings, things that belong in no golf swings). A total swing pattern is more easily taught/learned/understood in Hardy's approach as two engines (body and arm) and how they fit.

So if you are a golfer, read or view Hardy's stuff and learn to swing in both 1 and 2 plane patterns. This will better prepare you to understand how you swing in BB/FP and then what is similar between overhand throw/swing.

Plane Truth Golf

The best basic swing approach with the goal of a "high level baseball swing pattern" (HLBB - as it is politically correct to describe it here) I have seen that is widely available is the Epstein approach using William's SCIENCE OF HITTING for context and complementary info. Epstein has lots of good mental approach info too in addition to a mechanics teaching method.

mikeepsteinhitting.com.

get a good pitch to hit/start on time - WMS/EPS

cock hips -WMS

cock hands- WMS

wind rubber band as you stride to balance at toe touch with front foot open/"hips lead hands" -EPS

drop and tilt/weathervane/"match swing to pitch" -EPS

swing/"keep hands in"/hit with top hand wrist unbroken/hips at 85%/hands (NOT ARMS in case of HLBB swing) at 100% - EPS and WMS

That should keep you busy for a few seasons at least. Time well spent. Put the pressure on YOU.

 

[nanotech14]

How big is her bat? If I was you ,I would invest in a net,hitting off the tee agianst that fence,looks like sometime she might have one come back and hit her.

 

[razmataz]

Does she still play now?

Yes, definately work on having fun. That said don't let people discourage you from playing travel ball. My dd started rec ball at 5, and was not very good. She started travel ball when she was 7. One of my wife's friend's dd joined a team and she talked the wifey into going along. We didn't even know what travel ball was up until that point. My dd had a blast. Her team only won 2 games but it didn't dampen her spirits one bit. You would not believe how much my dd improved in her first year. It turned into a big time and effort committment from all of us, but none of us would trade it for anything. If you, your wife , and family take the right attitude it can be a very positive experience.
I'm sure you will get some great advice. Have fun with it and be prepared for frustrating moments. Softball makes for one heck of an addiction.