Question about hitting steps

[coachdan]

I have been ask to help with my daughters middle school softball team and after tryouts i realized that one on one work with the girls hitting would be difficult. With 16 girls on the team and 12 out of the 16 have never been taught how to hit. We do have 4 travel ball girls that are pretty good but the others are raw. So I decided to come up with a 5 step hitting program to try to teach all the girls at the same time proper swing mechaincs. I realize this can get a bit robotic breaking down the swing into steps but I could not come up with a better way. Can some of you give me some input on the five steps I come up with.

HITTING STEPS

KEY TERMS

• Load- getting your center of gravity over your back foot
• Knee Drive- driving back knee toward front knee
• Toe Touch- after your load and stride when your front toe touches
• Palm up/Palm Down- Left palm faces down right palm faces up
• Slot Position – back elbow lowers to your side when rotating
• Hammer- How we unload our wrist like using a hammer
• Extension- after contact with the ball extend toward the pitcher
• Finish- this is your follow through

1. LOAD & STRIDE
• Weight must go back and then forward
• Step away from your hands
• Land on front toe with slightly bent front knee
• Bat at 45 Degree angle over shoulder

2. Knee Drive/ Heel Plant
• Weight transfer into the front heel back heel comes up
• Hands must stay behind back hip
• Get on back tip toe
• Majority of weight on front foot
• Rotation starts

3. Swivel/ Hands Flat
• Must get to Palm up /Palm Down position
• Front elbow must be going up
• Back elbow by your side (SLOT Position)
• Continue rotation toward the ball

4. Release Bat Barrel “Hammer”
• This is when contact with the ball is made
• Hands must stay in palm up/palm down position
• Done just like driving a nail with a hammer
• Arms DO NOT EXTEND to hit the ball

5. Extension and Finish
• Arms will extend toward pitcher
• At extension is when the wrist roll over
• Finish with bat above front shoulder
• Should be balanced and ready to run

 

[ranstl]

I like your methodical approach, and I might plagerize some of it if you don't mind! I coach a B level 10U team. To give some kids a chance at some decent coaching, I take 2 - 3 new girls from the draft at my association every year. And every year, those 2 - 3 girls have to be taught how to swing a bat properly. I have found (referring to your Load and Stride part) that by eliminating the stride, we take an entire moving part out of the equation. Basically they turn their toes slightly in so that when the hips rotate around, the front leg comes to a locked position and gives the needed leverage and the toe is still pointed in the correct direction. Once they get the swing down with the proper rotation and rear foot positioning, I bring the stride back into it. Moreso, some of my better hitters don't stride at all. They lift their heel up and bring it down when they rotate, creating the leverage. Most girls keep a fairly wide stance. I know many will disagree with this logic, but my team is proof positive it works.

I actually got this method from a long-time collegiate baseball coach, and he taught it to me a few years ago when I was trying to get my very young boys team up to par.

 

[softballphreak]

I have been ask to help with my daughters middle school softball team and after tryouts i realized that one on one work with the girls hitting would be difficult. With 16 girls on the team and 12 out of the 16 have never been taught how to hit. We do have 4 travel ball girls that are pretty good but the others are raw. So I decided to come up with a 5 step hitting program to try to teach all the girls at the same time proper swing mechaincs. I realize this can get a bit robotic breaking down the swing into steps but I could not come up with a better way. Can some of you give me some input on the five steps I come up with.

HITTING STEPS

KEY TERMS

• Load- getting your center of gravity over your back foot
• Knee Drive- driving back knee toward front knee
• Toe Touch- after your load and stride when your front toe touches
• Palm up/Palm Down- Left palm faces down right palm faces up
• Slot Position – back elbow lowers to your side when rotating
• Hammer- How we unload our wrist like using a hammer
• Extension- after contact with the ball extend toward the pitcher
• Finish- this is your follow through

1. LOAD & STRIDE
• Weight must go back and then forward
• Step away from your hands
• Land on front toe with slightly bent front knee
• Bat at 45 Degree angle over shoulder

2. Knee Drive/ Heel Plant
• Weight transfer into the front heel back heel comes up
• Hands must stay behind back hip
• Get on back tip toe
• Majority of weight on front foot
• Rotation starts

3. Swivel/ Hands Flat
• Must get to Palm up /Palm Down position
• Front elbow must be going up
• Back elbow by your side (SLOT Position)
• Continue rotation toward the ball

4. Release Bat Barrel “Hammer”
• This is when contact with the ball is made
• Hands must stay in palm up/palm down position
• Done just like driving a nail with a hammer
• Arms DO NOT EXTEND to hit the ball

5. Extension and Finish
• Arms will extend toward pitcher
• At extension is when the wrist roll over
• Finish with bat above front shoulder
• Should be balanced and ready to run

Just being able to break that list out shows that you have a very good grasp of what it takes to teach hitting.

One could see a few areas where the terminology or description could be a little more clear (such as "Load- getting your center of gravity over your back foot" could be "getting your center of gravity over the inside of your back foot.") I don't know if you want that kind of detailed feedback.

That middle school is very lucky to have someone with your knowledge. Even luckier will be the HS that receive these players. You will make a positive difference for sure!

 

[RichK]

Coach Dan. Great list. I created a similar one myself recently, cribbed from a lot of discussion on this site and other things I'd picked up over the years. It really helped me cement my own thinking and understanding. Here's something further to think about that I learned myself:

In my opinion, the best recipients of that list are 1) other coaches, because as you noted it's almost impossible for one person to teach all of that to 16 kids, especially if other coaches aren't on the same page, so I say empower other coaches/helpers by working with them on your list and 2) parents, who usually do a lot of self-coaching too, sharing it with them perhaps via a learning session can teach them things they can use to help their own kids as well as gain their trust in you, which I think is important.

For the girls, on the other hand, seeing all of that in "list form" can be daunting (and frankly boring)...the challenge is helping them see and feel and learn everything on that list (over time especially, maybe more than one season) without realizing it ; >

Maybe that's obvious, and could very well be a path you were already headed down, but for me it was a key lesson to learn and take to heart.

Best of luck to you!

 

[coachdan]

To add to my earlier post, this is how I have been working with the girls at practice. I set up 4 tees down the left field line and I have 4 girls hitting at one time and 4 more girls loading the tees. I tell everyone we are hitting on Step 4. Then I will call out each step and watch that they perform each correctly and when I say 4 they hit the ball. I do this for several balls and then I will say, let hit on 3 this time and again call out each step and then when I say 3 they hit the ball. Then I say lets hit on 2 and then we keep working on my count ETC..... I have seen lots of improvement in the 5 practice we have had. The only problem I'm having now is getting them to still use these steps when facing a live pitcher. When they get in the box with a live pitcher they revert back to old swing mechanics. I'm hoping that if we keep practice the steps we can burn in some muscle memory.

 

[obbay]

I think it's a good list, the trick will be how do you convey it to middle school girls who aren't nearly as interested in this as we are.
For U12, This is where I start:

and I go over this:

This is Albert Pujols, one of the best hitters in Baseball.
This is what his swing looks like at CONTACT or, right when his bat hits the ball.
Some things I want you to notice:
1) The path his bat makes through his swing is a big circle.
2) He keeps his eye on the ball as he hits it.
3) His back elbow is close to his body and his arm is bent like an “L” with his hands (palm up/palm down) out in front.
4) His hips turn forward (or rotate) so his belt buckle is facing the pitcher at CONTACT.
5) Back leg bent, front leg straight- this happens when you rotate your hips correctly
6) His weight is shifting from his back leg to his front as he swings. That’s why only the toe of his back foot is touching the ground. His front foot is planted firmly.
I know that’s kind of a lot of stuff, so have a look at the attached clip and you can see Kristen Rivera does the same thing when she swings:

MPEG4 8 of 16, Fastpitch
All the parts go together very quickly so you can’t really think about it while you’re doing it. It’s just good to keep in the back of your mind when you’re working on it.

This may be dumbed down too much for many of you, but when dealing with young girls, you have to start at the beginning and don't give them too much to think about at once. So I start at contact and work from there- backward or forward.

 

[One2win]

I like your methodical approach, and I might plagerize some of it if you don't mind! I coach a B level 10U team. To give some kids a chance at some decent coaching, I take 2 - 3 new girls from the draft at my association every year. And every year, those 2 - 3 girls have to be taught how to swing a bat properly. I have found (referring to your Load and Stride part) that by eliminating the stride, we take an entire moving part out of the equation. Basically they turn their toes slightly in so that when the hips rotate around, the front leg comes to a locked position and gives the needed leverage and the toe is still pointed in the correct direction. Once they get the swing down with the proper rotation and rear foot positioning, I bring the stride back into it. Moreso, some of my better hitters don't stride at all. They lift their heel up and bring it down when they rotate, creating the leverage. Most girls keep a fairly wide stance. I know many will disagree with this logic, but my team is proof positive it works.

I actually got this method from a long-time collegiate baseball coach, and he taught it to me a few years ago when I was trying to get my very young boys team up to par.

I have seen and used the heel drop vs. stride as well. I learned that from a hitting instructor for my daughter. Basically, he would watch their natural 'stride' and then instruct them to open their stance up to that position, staying balanced. The point was to take unneeded movement from the mechanics. Start with your front foot where you would naturally stride, heel up slightly. Drop the heel as the trigger.

 

[ranstl]

obbay - i wonder if you'll draw me up next?!?

seriously, i teach this almost exactly, except that i explain your vertical yellow line going from the right shoulder thru the right knee. same point tho - everything is lined up.

do we think 10u/12u is too young to be able to hold a tissue in the right armpit while swinging? i know some southern collegiate baseball programs are doing this drill.

 

[obbay]

ranstl- I wasn't even getting as far as the shoulder/knee. The yellow line is the front of the plate to show them that we hit the ball before it crosses the plate - many younger kids think you wait until it arrives at the plate before you swing. Another thing was that most girls that age don't really have a clue about contact and how they should be positioned at contact.

I don't know about the armpit/tissue thing, maybe too young? I try to be careful with anything that might contribute to a tendency toward bat drag or girls swings getting "wristy".

 

[Greenmonsters]

do we think 10u/12u is too young to be able to hold a tissue in the right armpit while swinging? i know some southern collegiate baseball programs are doing this drill.

Not sure that this is a good idea, you need to consider the anatomical differences between boys and girls. Might be able to get away with it for younger girls, but 'developed' girls have breasts and the elbow needs to clear them as Hitter has pointed out previously!

Just sayin'

GM