- Jan 24, 2011
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Like I said , I fully understand the concept. I am just not doing a real good job of getting her to understand/feel how the sequence should correctly function. I need to work on my "methods"
Opinions on DD Swing
- Thread starter CycloneSoftball22
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- Oct 25, 2009
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That's natural but has to be replaced with feel and flow.
Tell her to think of the bottom half and top half as being independent of each other. The bottom half can coil slightly inward while the top half remains aligned.
For the front shoulder have her imagine an eye on the shoulder and have that eye look down at the ball on the tee. That should help bring the shoulder down prior to contact. Remember, the front shoulder will come back up as soon as she swings. That will happen by itself. Make sure she isn't thinking the shoulder has to stay down all the time.
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Show her this lhowser training video. I used it with my kids last night. Paused it to explain. I would say over this 10 minute process they stayed engaged for at least 6.5 minutes. And several had some aha-ish type of moments.
- Jan 24, 2011
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Cyclone Softball22. Lhower is someone you can trust and will give you good advice. I think it was around 5 years ago I got the pleasure to meet him and work with his dd. He is also a good coach.
- Jan 24, 2011
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R
RayR
Guest
I love the way you refer to yourself in the 3rd person!! Classic!! You might want to start a second career!!
That way I can be objective and critical if later I don't like what I said
SB...mutual. Still retain notes from the clinic I attended with you.
Cyclone Softball22: It's one thing to understand the components of a good swing and an entirely different thing to figure out and teach how to sync everything up. Right now your daughter is out of sequence. It looks like she is trying to do what she has been told, but she doesn't know how to put all the information together in the right sequence.
IMO a good starting point is to understand the "overhand"/"sidearm" throw motion. I would put the bat down for at least one session, pick up a ball and work on how to throw sidearm. One of the most misunderstood movements in hitting, is the "hand cock". When a hitter coils/cocks/winds their hips back they have to figure out a way to keep their hands in the proper sequence with their lower half. The downward arc of the throwing hand when the hands break in the overhand throw is the hand cock action in hitting. In hitting it shows up as a slight downward pump of the hands for hitters who use a lower handset in their stance, or a smooth controlled arc downward in hitters who use a higher handset. In both cases the hitters have figured out a way to keep their hands in sync with their lower half, so that when their torso begins to move forward their hands are able to naturally stay back.
In my experience, most young kids are taught to not drop their hands. Believe it or not, telling kids to not drop their hands is what often times leads them to dropping their hands. Remember, conventional wisdom is almost always wrong. When you tell a kid to not drop their hands, what do they do? They stand in their stance with their hands frozen above their shoulder. When they cock their hips their hands remain frozen above the shoulder and their hips, shoulders and hands all turn back together as a unit. When that happens, everything typically uncoils together. You end up with "all back-all forward". Often times they will end up dropping their hands straight down before they uncoil. Or, they just keep their hands up high and swing down. Which results in the "V" type hand path that Jake Epstein warns against.
Basically, the hand cock typically gets coached out of kids because the hitting experts equate it with dropping the hands. If the hand cock is removed, then the kids need to be taught some way of getting their hands in sync with their lower half during the hip cock. I've seen hitters pull it off, but it's the most unnatural thing I've ever tried. I prefer to just teach the sidearm throw motion and use that sequence for hitting.
I understand your frustration. I've been there. Understanding how the overhand throw relates to hitting opened up a whole new world for me. I can now look at virtually any hitter and figure out how they transition from their style into the technique part of the swing. All you have to do is get in their batting stance with a ball instead of a bat, and go through the throwing motion. You might want to try it yourself using your daughter's stance so you can feel how out of sequence she is. Once you feel it, you will be able to better understand how to fix it.
Dropping the hands during the uncoil or the transition into uncoil, is bad. Dropping the hands some during the hip cock is good and mimics how the hands work when throwing. With a low handset the hands will arc down and then up to armpit height (Williams, Bonds, Ruth). With a higher handset the hands will arc downward to armpit height (Kent).
IMO a good starting point is to understand the "overhand"/"sidearm" throw motion. I would put the bat down for at least one session, pick up a ball and work on how to throw sidearm. One of the most misunderstood movements in hitting, is the "hand cock". When a hitter coils/cocks/winds their hips back they have to figure out a way to keep their hands in the proper sequence with their lower half. The downward arc of the throwing hand when the hands break in the overhand throw is the hand cock action in hitting. In hitting it shows up as a slight downward pump of the hands for hitters who use a lower handset in their stance, or a smooth controlled arc downward in hitters who use a higher handset. In both cases the hitters have figured out a way to keep their hands in sync with their lower half, so that when their torso begins to move forward their hands are able to naturally stay back.
In my experience, most young kids are taught to not drop their hands. Believe it or not, telling kids to not drop their hands is what often times leads them to dropping their hands. Remember, conventional wisdom is almost always wrong. When you tell a kid to not drop their hands, what do they do? They stand in their stance with their hands frozen above their shoulder. When they cock their hips their hands remain frozen above the shoulder and their hips, shoulders and hands all turn back together as a unit. When that happens, everything typically uncoils together. You end up with "all back-all forward". Often times they will end up dropping their hands straight down before they uncoil. Or, they just keep their hands up high and swing down. Which results in the "V" type hand path that Jake Epstein warns against.
Basically, the hand cock typically gets coached out of kids because the hitting experts equate it with dropping the hands. If the hand cock is removed, then the kids need to be taught some way of getting their hands in sync with their lower half during the hip cock. I've seen hitters pull it off, but it's the most unnatural thing I've ever tried. I prefer to just teach the sidearm throw motion and use that sequence for hitting.
I understand your frustration. I've been there. Understanding how the overhand throw relates to hitting opened up a whole new world for me. I can now look at virtually any hitter and figure out how they transition from their style into the technique part of the swing. All you have to do is get in their batting stance with a ball instead of a bat, and go through the throwing motion. You might want to try it yourself using your daughter's stance so you can feel how out of sequence she is. Once you feel it, you will be able to better understand how to fix it.
Dropping the hands during the uncoil or the transition into uncoil, is bad. Dropping the hands some during the hip cock is good and mimics how the hands work when throwing. With a low handset the hands will arc down and then up to armpit height (Williams, Bonds, Ruth). With a higher handset the hands will arc downward to armpit height (Kent).
- Jan 24, 2011
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- 0
Thanks for all the input and advice that has been presented in this thread. DD and I have been working on some things and I will start a new thread with the newer swing soon (So we can do this all over again ) I think there have been some improvements (but still a work in progress).
) I think there have been some improvements (but still a work in progress).
