Samantha Ricketts Two Tee Drill

[Doug Romrell]

Not to take anything away from her and her amazing run as a player and a coach, but I really hate the downward swing path. It just makes so much more sense to me to get on plane with the ball path and hit through the center of the ball. That's my goal anyway...

I'm with you! I hate it when someone else tries to step in and change one of my players to a straight-from-shoulder-to-ball bat path when I've worked so hard to get them to turn the barrel to come in from behind the ball on the bat path of the pitch.

The approach I've instilled in my players makes no sense to them. Their approach makes no sense to me. Thus, it seems to end up a competition of batting mechanics philosophy, which usually ends up screwing up the player.

 

[crankermo]

I completely disagree with rickett's drill and the premise behind it but my guess is she's getting it from tripp @ OU. He adamently requires his players and recruits to swing like this. He has an engineering background and to his credit OU's hitting has gone up exponentially with him as the hitting coach.

This is the equivalent of the slowpitch swing. Cut the ball and watch it fly. As posted earlier McGwire also believed in this philosophy when he was the HC or the Cardinals.

 

[Ken Krause]

People believe a lot of crazy stuff, especially if someone seemingly credible says it. Remember a lot of people gave Bernie Madoff their money after he made some fantastic promises.

This is absolutely a case where the Hanson Principle comes into play. No debate. Some of the gifs FFS posted, like the one with the two tees imposed on the swing, were pretty funny.

It's a shame this stuff is still being taught. Like Doug I used it years ago when I first started out, because I saw it a clinic and heard the whole backspin thing. Fortunately I didn't stop learning right afterwards.

 

[Spartans21]

Couldn't agree more with you guys! On the topic of hand dropping though, Any good drills to prevent a kid from dropping their hands then swinging?

 

[Eric F]

Couldn't agree more with you guys! On the topic of hand dropping though, Any good drills to prevent a kid from dropping their hands then swinging?

This is a battle many of us face with our young hitters. The DBSF (drop-the-barrel-and-swing-flat) pattern is largely a result of an arm-powered swing, and often includes significant bat drag. Getting a young hitter to understand (feel!) how to keep the hands connected to the rotation of the torso, and learn how to turn the barrel to contact is the goal. Unfortunately, DBSF is not an easy pattern to break. I wish I could point you at a couple of drills that would fix the problem quickly. One that I have been using a little bit more recently with my own DDs is based on Epstein's "torque drill". This seems to have us going in a better path as far as feeling the connection between hands and torso.

 

[Greenmonsters]

This is a battle many of us face with our young hitters. The DBSF (drop-the-barrel-and-swing-flat) pattern is largely a result of an arm-powered swing, and often includes significant bat drag. Getting a young hitter to understand (feel!) how to keep the hands connected to the rotation of the torso, and learn how to turn the barrel to contact is the goal. Unfortunately, DBSF is not an easy pattern to break. I wish I could point you at a couple of drills that would fix the problem quickly. One that I have been using a little bit more recently with my own DDs is based on Epstein's "torque drill". This seems to have us going in a better path as far as feeling the connection between hands and torso.

The "Stretch and Fire" drills are a better approach IMO

 

[Eric F]

The "Stretch and Fire" drills are a better approach IMO

For teaching the engine, I agree. I was speaking more specifically to teaching the hand-torso connection to break the DBSF pattern. For this specific situation, I don't involve the lower body at all.

 

[rdbass]

The problem will still remain of what/how to use the hands properly. I have been down the road of 'Torque drill'. I even had my DD hit in the 'torque drill position' in games. It was a quick fix/band aid. If I had to do it all over and had the 'knowledge' I have now I would have learned to 'turn the barrel' from the get go. We would have stuck with 'turn the barrel to the ball' through good times and bad. I would only practice 'turn the barrel to the ball'. Nothing else. That is what 'we' do now and will continue to do. That is the goal.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I spoke with a dad in Phoenix, today, that told me the instructors there are teaching "linear" and swing down. He can't seem to get away from it.

I can teach it and don't. I changed 10 years ago. Oh, they also said that the softball is coming up to the batter, so you have to swing down.

I really didn't know that anyone still taught level swing.

 

[Greenmonsters]

For teaching the engine, I agree. I was speaking more specifically to teaching the hand-torso connection to break the DBSF pattern. For this specific situation, I don't involve the lower body at all.

If you've got the engine moving, then is there still an inclination to drop and yank (DBSF) to get the bat moving? Just wondering out loud.