November progress?

[RayR]

MTS, I think DD flattens the barrel by a 'radial deviation' move, while the AP clip shows she needs to instead do the 'extension' of the wrist without 'deviating' the barrel, yes??

Yes.

MTS said: "basic flaw is the top hand/wrist allowing barrel to drop behind her." Are we talking 'behind her' as in towards the umpire or referring to the posterior side of her body? I think from watching MLB clips that you mean that the barrel should stay on the plate side of her head/body, and not go to the posterior side. Is that correct?

Along those lines, when I watch Siggys fastpitch clips, Benyi and all except Bustos seem to wrap the bat to some degree. Benyi was the model for my DD for a long time. I now see that the majority of females don't treat the barrel/hands like MLB men (and Bustos)do.

posterior. and while Benyi and others may wrap (the player from Florida comes to mind) their barrel stays above their hands and recalling the quote above - they don't do it with radial deviation and they use pronation.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Vdubya ... I see a notable improvement with respect to the lead arm and lead wrist. Was this something that she worked on to improve ... and if so, what did she do to help realize this improvement?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Along with working the top hand the way MTS describes she needs to let her top hand load that back elbow up and jutted back, which will in turn help her increase her stretch, load/use her back more and feel some more resistance in her hands...basically tightening up a bunch of links that will help her launch the barrel even more powerfully...

Also, just noticed: I *think* her top hand thumb is pointing up and laying along the barrel, rather than wrapping it (do others see that)? I think that is causing some of the weakness/floppiness in the top hand wrist that MTS is pointing out..check her grip...

This can negatively impact the top hand wrist action.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

MTS, I think DD flattens the barrel by a 'radial deviation' move, while the AP clip shows she needs to instead do the 'extension' of the wrist without 'deviating' the barrel, yes??

RHC, your post and several of yours to other threads is quite helpful. I think the top hand-only part will be helpful and we did recently buy a $9 walmart bat in 16oz for that purpose. Thanks!

SBPhreak,and all: I whole-heartedly agree with the throwing comparisons you suggest. The hangup here is that she is right handed and bats left. Like you, me, and the rest of the right handed world, throwing left-handed is super-awkward. Some of the stuff we have done this month has had her swing looking like the first day she switched from right to left, lol. She hasn't looked 'un-natural' like that for a couple of years.

MTS said: "basic flaw is the top hand/wrist allowing barrel to drop behind her." Are we talking 'behind her' as in towards the umpire or referring to the posterior side of her body? I think from watching MLB clips that you mean that the barrel should stay on the plate side of her head/body, and not go to the posterior side. Is that correct?

Along those lines, when I watch Siggys fastpitch clips, Benyi and all except Bustos seem to wrap the bat to some degree. Benyi was the model for my DD for a long time. I now see that the majority of females don't treat the barrel/hands like MLB men (and Bustos)do.

Thanks again for the help and Happy Thanksgiving all!

VW

By the time a hitter is in the 'bat lag' position you will often see the top hand wrist both radially deviated and extended.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Yes Rich, the thumb is a carry-over from Carrier teachings (hammer) and meant to strengthen/reduce deflection.
RE the back elbow...funny when I was young it was always "get that back elbow up." Then that was shunned in favor of an inverted V with the forearms. Now it seems the highj back elbow is making a dramatic comeback. Lol, I will show her an exaggerated version like Youkilis to try to get hers higher. VW

That is not what Bustos herself did.

This action can inhibit the powerful hinging and unhinging action pertaining to the top hand ... along with the important process of transferring energy to the barrel.

 

[vdubya]

Vdubya ... I see a notable improvement with respect to the lead arm and lead wrist. Was this something that she worked on to improve ... and if so, what did she do to help realize this improvement?

FFS, yes she is actively working. Some of the improvement comes from no longer emphasizing one thing that we did last year. Last year, we specifically worked on taking the lead elbow straight at the pitcher with the forearm lagging basically parallel to the ground. We got started with this 'good first move' and it turned nearly every hit into a line drive. Pop-ups and weak grounders disappeared completely. She thought more in terms of pushing that lead elbow rather than pulling the bat. Eventually though, I started seeing the 'chicken winging' and for this last month I have de-emphasized the front elbow.

As for what we DID emphasize...I tried the 'throw the barrel' cue for a couple of weeks, but it wasn't working. It really had her upper body leaning forward. What did work was to get more extension by telling her to extend to a power 'V' pointing the bat to the field she was hitting to. Not a stop and freeze when hitting tossed balls, it was ok to continue thru that position with follow thru, but just picturing that got her extending better after contact, thus also helping the front arm to look better in the process. Any 'throwing' cue for a Lhb/Rht kid just doesn't seem to translate and I find that to handicap a switched hitter's progress.

The hits that I am seeing recently in the cage have more of a home run path than a line drive path. I am not sure if that is a good thing, given her size (5'4", 116#), the fear being that DD doesn't have the physical size to go over the fence and I may be turning line drives into aired out catches. BA was over .600 this fall in 20 games, so 'fixing' things does make me a bit nervous if that makes sense.

VW

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Thank you sharing that Vdubya. The progress on that portion of the swing is significant ... well done!

As for the last comment .... ask your daughter if she wishes to be a "power hitter" or a "hitter with power" ... I prefer the later mentality myself.

 

[RichK]

Yes Rich, the thumb is a carry-over from Carrier teachings (hammer) and meant to strengthen/reduce deflection.
RE the back elbow...funny when I was young it was always "get that back elbow up." Then that was shunned in favor of an inverted V with the forearms. Now it seems the highj back elbow is making a dramatic comeback. Lol, I will show her an exaggerated version like Youkilis to try to get hers higher. VW

The thumb thing is interesting. I know Howard is strong in getting the bat down in the fingertips and out of the palm, but I've never heard removing the thumb. When I play with it, it feels weaker in the grip AND in getting the proper wrist cocking action we've been talking about. I'm open to hearing otherwise.

I also heard a lot about inverted V elbows and think it's ok to start that way but like a more aggressive load which moves that back elbow up. I like how it feels and what I'm able to do with it...

Good luck. Your DD looks very athletic in both the original video and in the new one, she has a lot to work with....

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Vdubya ... I keep coming back and looking at your daughter's 'before' & 'after' swings. The unhinging process is so much better ... as is the rolling of the wrists and fluidity. Well done!

 

[FiveFrameSwing]