My 10 year old doing some tee work, need help please!!!

[esco530]

Hi All,

My daughter is in her 3rd season of playing softball, this kid absolutely loves it. I don't really know what I'm doing so what do we need to work on to get better? She has trouble in game situations hitting with any power, she usually grounds out to the 2nd baseman or pitcher. She also has trouble getting behind in the count, once shes at an 0-1 count its almost guaranteed that she will be striking out.

We are on a great team but we are afraid that she wont make the cut come tryouts in a few weeks, we absolutely love the parents, coaches and organization. We are putting in a lot of work before tryouts to get better.


[video=youtube_share;lrRjipE9DEE]http://youtu.be/lrRjipE9DEE[/video]

 

[JJsqueeze]

that swing should be getting hits in 10U. How is her mental game? Is she tentative? does she go after bad pitches? Do you think she feels freed up enough to be aggressive or is she so concerned with striking out that she waits too long to decide? Does she slide forward early at pitches and then have to wait on them? If she's hitting to the right side with no power then it leads me to believe that she may be sliding forward early and then swinging with all arms when the ball arrives.

 

[cardaclan]

Work on the back arm. It looks like she leads with her hands. Try and close the gap so that her hands and elbow are aligned with the shoulder as they pass the shoulder. So the hands are neither in front nor trailing. So start by closing the hip/back elbow gap using the rear shoulder. Then use your hands. Take a look at what these guys are doing with their back elbow and see the alignment hands/elbow/shoulder. Just work on that for awhile and continue to use the legs. and Go NorCal
Best MLB Swings-Slow MO - YouTube

 

[softballphreak]

That is a really nice swing. One thing that stands out to me is how far the tee is away from her point of contact. Move the tee closer toward the catcher until it's well inside her front foot after her stride.

Using the tee too far out front could make her "reach" for the ball when facing live pitching, causing undesired results. Weak hits could be one of them.

Front toss is a much better option to do with a good swing like that. Also, try using the baseball size TCB balls.

Again, though, the swing is real good.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

She’s 10, and at this age this swing will be effective enough, as will many swings that are not ideal.

A few things to take note of … she initiates her swing sequence with her upper body, she is “all forward” prior to barrel transition, her whip action is all out front, among other things. Doc Yeager put out a DVD on “Back Elbow Function and Body Segment Rotation in the Elite Hitter plus Analysis” which may be of interest wrt to that particular issue.

Just a few things to consider as you look ahead and consider enhancements that will scale forward.

 

[esco530]

Thanks for all of the inputs so far, her mental game is not all their she psychs herself out and is not confident in her hitting at all. She has trouble on the high pitches, she loves to chase high balls and most often strikes out on these types of pitches. We did do a little soft toss and here is the video.

 

[JJsqueeze]

This is going to potentially ignite a big debate but here goes.....soft toss from the side should be outlawed as a crime against humanity. It is a timing killer and does nothing for the visuals. balls do not come in from the side. I grudgingly accept it as a pregame warmup in limited space otherwise tee or front toss only for my girls.

Try some high tee work and make sure she actually sees the ball contact the bat. She should be able to tell you where it hits on the bat every time. So many times high/low issues are just girls taking their eye off the ball. My DD had a spell where she stopped making contact on anything low or high. I forced her to see the ball hit the bat and she got barrel to ball much better.

As for the mental thing, I always solve this by removing pressure, encouraging them to swing and telling them that I don't care if they strike out, just give me three hard swings at anything close. With more swings comes more chances at getting a good hit and that leads to confidence. once that ice is broken the floodgates tend to open. Tell her you don't care if she makes the team and that you posted her video and everyone said she has a great swing for her age. Then tell her that the ball is an evil, mean, ugly thing that killed all the my little ponies and her job is to administer justice by crushing it.

 

[esco530]

LOL thanks, will take note on the soft toss and try to find a spot for some front toss, the main part why we don't do it in the garage is that I pull the cars back in the driveway and I'm afraid she might smack a ball into the cars.

 

[JJsqueeze]

LOL thanks, will take note on the soft toss and try to find a spot for some front toss, the main part why we don't do it in the garage is that I pull the cars back in the driveway and I'm afraid she might smack a ball into the cars.

Car dings are a badge of honor! The first one hurts, after that they are less painful.

 

[esco530]

haha thanks but no thanks! That dent looks big enough to pop out.