Lower Body (no stride)

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Oct 13, 2014
5,471
113
South Cali
Not wanting to pick at old scabs, but I disagree...the "young lady is never balanced" by what you view as balanced, in that you like more of a vertically balanced look, and that's fine...to each his own.

I'm a little more open with what I see as "balanced", in that I look at the entire distribution of weight at any particular part of the swing, and if the "front half" looks to be balancing the "back half" (or vice versa), I'm ok with it, and similar to what I see in Edmonds here....
kccpKsO.png

...I see in the young lady here, and throughout her swing process for the most part....
5au0zTo.png


I guess all I'm saying, is that I've seen much worse examples of a young hitter to pattern oneself off of if one so chooses for whatever reason(s) than the one presented in this thread.

Sure, using a HOF or MLB hitter as a swing model is preferred, but I can tell you that I've also had success with some hitters who struggled trying to match the pros (as many/most do) by showing them "good" swings of players closer to their age to copy, as I believe they don't feel as intimidated trying to match someone they see as so far ahead of them, compared to one they can identify with, and say to themselves, "Heck if s/he can do it, so can I"...even if the example of the young hitter in question isn't 100% perfect or a 100% match to any pro player.

Sometimes we just have to be creative, know our audience, and teach to their comprehension, learning process, and most importantly physical abilities and/or coordination they bring to the table. Sure, we'd all love to coach the top 1% of athletically capable players...but the reality of it is that we have a better chance of coaching the ones who have a hard enough time walking and chewing gum at the same time...much less getting all of the perfectly timed sequenced components of swing down correctly.

Just saying.... :)

Balanced COM is everything. If you can not control it/keep it balanced , compensations will be made to get to the ball.
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
What part of Bagwell's sequence would you attempt to mimic? The negative stride? Do you see that frequently?

My comments were made jokingly.. that stance, head coach would have a fit. But to answer your question, that's exactly what I would avoid (negative stride). No doubt it worked for Bagwell.. or did it? Would Bagwell have been a better hitter without the negative stride? The reason why I would avoid it.. DD is actually doing it and it's a power leak for her. She coils but opens opens up way early well before heel plant with a negative stride.

One of the reasons I like the young ladies swing I posted is she remains coiled until heel plant with a resisting back side.. I showed my DD this and instantly the negative stride disappeared and much more stretch, potential power was created. Obviously Bagwell created stretch and resistance, but the way he did it just seems backwards and not something I would teach my DD.

I also don't like how is head elevates through out his swing, even after heel plant a little. Another issue my DD had. Wow, I'm not answering your question at all, maybe it's just easier for me to tell you all things I wouldn't mimic, :)
 
Last edited:
Aug 20, 2017
1,506
113
What are your thoughts on the following?



Disagree with the tilt of the body part of this and some of the balanced finish part. The body will tilt dependent upon the pitch location. Ball down more tilt ball up less tilt. Wouldn’t teach chest over toes in stance. I teach chin over toes, two eyes level on the ball. Too much tilt in stance will get eyes uneven. When working on dry swings or tees developing hitters I’m big on holding a balanced finish. It teaches players to stay anchored/attached to the ground longer which allows for seeing the ball a little longer. During BP on the field we don’t talk about holding finish.

Also, on the Bagwell video, it shows perfectly that the back knee begins the swing. Once at foot plant back knee starts forward which allows hips to clear and hands to slot

All this is JMHO
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,897
Messages
680,439
Members
21,632
Latest member
chadd
Top