This drill is one that helps back slappers
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Reverse Hand Drill
- Thread starter straightleg
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Howard does a RHD. Howard I just made that up!!!
I guess I am part of the elite hitting crowd now with abbreviations.
Anyway this drill is one that helps back slappers and others to feel extension. I am sure it is not perfect mechanics, but I will post it anyway for all to see.
Straighteg
YouTube - Reverse Hand Swings.wmv
Gerry Thank you for allowing us to use Casey as an example of trying to help others understand what we do.
Thanks Howard
Howard, tks for the video. The girl in the video is a very good hitter and fairly strong. What have you found teaching younger, more experienced girls the RHD (there, I used the acronym!)?
We've had mixed early results with it -- some girls who can do a bottom hand (one hand drill) with a choke up on a bat just fine struggle with it. Others do it like a pro immediately.
For younger girls, do you find there's a learning curve to get it right? What is the typical things they do wrong if they are having problem making contact (which makes it hard to really get the extension benefit which is the real purpose of the drill).
TKS.
We've had mixed early results with it -- some girls who can do a bottom hand (one hand drill) with a choke up on a bat just fine struggle with it. Others do it like a pro immediately.
For younger girls, do you find there's a learning curve to get it right? What is the typical things they do wrong if they are having problem making contact (which makes it hard to really get the extension benefit which is the real purpose of the drill).
TKS.
Only issue I have found doing it with the very young , they forget to let go of the top hand. So you must walk them thru it slow so they see and feel what you are trying to show them. I just worked a clinic this weekend and a 15U girl that struggled finishing her swing to extension eyes showed it all. She could feel and hear how she was hitting the ball after we fixed this issue. The coach was watching and stated why hasn't someone fixed that in all the years she has played travel ball and it was so easy to fix.
RichK
Look for her grip in the bottom hand. We want the bat to be held where the fingers meet the palm of the hand and the thumb to not be closed fisted so much however just so the thumb touches the index finger and then when they PULL the bat with the lead arm elbow out of the top hand to release the barrel of the bat to the ball. Some times they even forget to rotate and are too linear. Make sure they are rotating and the shoulders opening towards the pitcher. We use the belly button as an indicator of how far we need to rotate. I use a chalk mark if they have dark clothes on or a piece of tape if they have light colored clothes on to show where the belly button is being rotated towards. If helps at times to allow the kids to get behind the net at a safe distance to see someone else who is doing it correctly as some of these kids are visual learners and pick up on it faster that way. Once they get it as to extension they usually will fall back into their old habit and then remind them to do a couple more hand overs. We encourage our kids that when in the on deck circle to do at least three hand overs before they step into the batters box.
The face the fire drill usually will seal the deal as it gets them to move their body under their head and as far as I am concerned this is a neuro muscular skill the girls need to work on and relates back to momentum.
Thanks Howard
The grip was the first thing I had to fix on the 15U girl. They all want to put the bat into the meaty part between the thumb and first finger. This girl was 15 and plays travel ball.
Ive been using this drill with younger (7 and 8yr olds) for about 3 weeks with good sucsess! I use a skinny trainer stick bat!
Her head is down at contact and her finish is over the shoulder. I use this to focus on just the extension of the lead arm as the girls do not use it during contact and give up on the ball! Why? Because we never taught them what extension feels like. This is why we teach balance, head down, throwing, leverage, how to use a hammer so they know what the wrist can do, grip top hand verses bottom, extension, matrix and face the fire as the staples to getting them to understand it. The big zone is also worked in there also. We think this is just basic!
Thanks for at least being open mind to try it out.
Howard
