My 15 daughter batting...any thoughts, advice and/or pointers needed

[Crystol Owens Brown]

From a layman's perspective I think the separation thing is not as big a deal as what she does instead of separate. Because she is so still it is hard to pick up but it looks like she has an all back and all forward motion, her heel comes up and this is my biggest issue her hands instead of being still or going straight back actually reach behind and she wraps the bat behind her head. Then she begins her forward motion bringing the heel down at letting the hands go together. It's all feel and timing, maybe just a simply cue like keep the bat straighter up and down would help letting her go back instead of wrap around, then hold for a millisecond let her heel come down then let everything go...disclaimer I am not an expert by any stretch.

Thanks...I will let my daughter know and give it a try.

 

[Shawn]

My daughter is a beast hitting it off the tee...she can place the ball where she wants deep into outfield or line drive. For some reason, when she is soft toss or live pitched, her bat speed seems to slow down in mid-swing. The only time she hits it hard is against fast pitchers or off the machine at 50+.

What are some drills or visual points to help using the large muscles more effectively? The reason I am asking is that I will be able to explain to my daughter in a way that she may understand.
Thanks for the input.

The bigger muscles are like the handle of the whip. They are used/moved to crack the end of the whip (arms/bat). The arms receive energy they don't create the energy.

Using the big muscles doesn't mean you just muscle up the bigger muscles. I heard the 80% rule on TV the other day, 80% effort with the big muscles will get you 100% in your upperbody. Meaning it also matches up to the kinetic chain of transfering energy upwards. So that rule always apply to hitting.

You always apply the use of bigger muscles in hitting. There "are" better ways, but it as simple as good torso action.

 

[Shawn]

When I say the bigger muscles, I don't mean to merely muscle the swing. Less is always more in the hitting.

 

[AUtiger98]

This is a bad example of RHD(Reverese Hand Drill):

This is a good example of the RHD :

............................................

Crystol,
My first evaluation of a player starts with the feet. Watch the USA softball player in the gif above. She takes a stride which someone else has already mentioned. Now look at the back foot. See how she rolls up on the toe. Now Google “MLB Swing Finish” and go to Images. Count how many images you see where the batter finishes on his toe. The golf swing is the same. A golfer rolls up on the toe on the back side. By rolling up on the toe during the swing, the hitter has proper weight transfer.

Now look at your daughter’s swing. She squishes the bug and her energy is push down into the floor. In fact, it give the appearance she is leaning back during the swing. (Not 100% sure about the lean back due to camera angle.) In my opinion this is also why she looks so tight at the end of the swing. (I think others have mentioned the extension).

The funny things is I taught squish the bug after watching a Dusty Baker video. Do you think Barry Bonds used squish the bug? No way.

If I were going to address anything with her hands, I would say try pointing the knob of the bat at the catcher in her stance. This creates a wrist angle and increases bat whip. Again, many MLB batters do this, just look at the Google images for “MLB batters stance”. Those who don’t take a stance that way usually end up in that position before the stride. It’s easier for amateur players to start that way to limit movement. For the record, I believe addressing the footwork is more important than the hands for your daughter.

My opinion is worth what you paid for it. All the information I shared above are things I learned from the super 8 hitting system. They have some free videos on Youtube if you’re looking for some drills.