Reverse Hand Drill ---- I'M NOW A BELIEVER!!!!

[FiveFrameSwing]

Doug, what RHC is telling you is that you need to teach your kids how to use their hands.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Doug, what RHC is telling you is that you need to teach your kids how to use their hands.

This week I held batting practices Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to accommodate their schedules. It was Wednesday that I started using this reverse hand drill. Just last night I would stand with the reverse hand grip and show them the motion of the hands that it this odd grip caused, and I did so without a swing. That is, I rotated the hands to rotate the barrel, which is much easier to do with the reverse hand grip. I showed them with both the reverse hand and normal grips. I said, "Now people would look at this motion and think it was very silly. HOWEVER, with a full swing, this motion doesn't look so silly, yet it is vital to getting the barrel on the path of the pitch sooner rather than too late like many of you do. Many of you 'chip' the ball." I see it as vital in getting that Nike shape swing.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Sure ... what you do with the hands at the start of the swing is important.

 

[Doug Romrell]

With one player in particular, I've had a very difficult time getting her to stop launching straight down from her shoulder to the point of contact resulting in swinging down through the path of the pitch rather than making the turn and getting the barrel on the path before contact. This reverse hand drill seems to be the answer to get her to see what she needs to do with her normal swing. Given we just started using this this week and given this girl has a long way to go in breaking her current muscle memory with her historic swing, she is the one I told that I may have her use the reverse hand grip if she gets two strikes on her later today swinging down through the path of the pitch. I still don't see anything at all wrong with this, knowing that we are working to get her normal swing corrected and looking more like the reverse grip swing over time. She will definitely be using the reverse grip a few times in our pre-game warm-up hitting and in the on-deck circle.

 

[Perfect Circle]

redhotcoach,

Fantastic post!

"Now to swing and keep the same effect in the drill, but with the hands in normal grip, the hitter has to provide the same perpendicular force to the handle as the drill, but with hands normal."

This is what I constantly reiterated with them--they must get the same action in their normal grip swings. When I'm pitching to them from 20-30 feet out, I can see very easily when they aren't swinging this way with their normal grip, so I say "Reverse hand!" and have them swing a few times with that, then go back to normal grip. What's amazing to me is how much better the path of the barrel is when they switch to reverse hand and how much less they swing under the ball or chip it. I point this out to them and remind them that they must incorporate the swing they get with the reverse hand grip into their normal swing.

Again, redhotcoach, fantastic post. One of the best I've seen on hitting.

Looks like your happy with the Drill find... Not to kill your enthusiasm, but I have a question for... before this gets off topic... or over simplified to relative truisms : I'm at the feet first stage. The hands is just things we do to get the video of the feet. I have DD do lots of exaggerated things to not invest myelin in total "Swing" Yet... The hands for us is just the decision to go to the letting go of the bat in the finish...What do you think about it ??? I can't help but think in terms of Dot to Dot... Feet/Finish Swing. I have had some success. I get the feet right, and the finish, it seems to be cause the middle to be improve... ???

 

[Doug Romrell]

I've spend a lot of time one the feet, legs, hips, head, coiling, head, shoulders, etc., but I've not seen a single drill do so much to get the girls to understand the swing path (the Nike symbol). Of course, the feet, legs, hips, head, coiling, head, shoulders, etc. are all important aspects of this. I understand that.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Stop doing this ....

And begin doing this ....

 

[MountieSB]

Looks like your happy with the Drill find... Not to kill your enthusiasm, but I have a question for... before this gets off topic... or over simplified to relative truisms : I'm at the feet first stage. The hands is just things we do to get the video of the feet. I have DD do lots of exaggerated things to not invest myelin in total "Swing" Yet... The hands for us is just the decision to go to the letting go of the bat in the finish...What do you think about it ??? I can't help but think in terms of Dot to Dot... Feet/Finish Swing. I have had some success. I get the feet right, and the finish, it seems to be cause the middle to be improve... ???

What is done with the upper half (hands) is just as important as what is done with the lower half. To think if you get the feet just right, the hands and everything else will take care of itself shows a limited understanding of the swing. I'm not sure if that's what you meant, but if it is, that's very limiting advice for a new dad/coach.