Same Ole Story..

[FP26]

Concur.

I say get that barrel against the top of her pony tail and swing from there.

I personally don’t like how her knees start so far inside her feet. Looks very mechanical and restricted to me. Looks over coached to be frank. (ETA: Was typing the same time as bobbyb. Think we are seeing the same thing. Call that dude.)

I have not been following your dd’s progress or what advice you have been given. I’m going to say this: I like a whole lot about her swing. I can tell you have been working hard with her and just from the video it looks like she is trying to do it. I fear you have arrived solidly at paralysis by analysis. I say quit it. Relax about the mechanics for awhile, especially the minuscule details. Instead: Focus on hitting good pitches hard. Get her out on a field and front toss to her and have some fun. Hit with intent. Emphasis on attacking good pitches. There are a whole lot of very good hitters that don’t pass the technical forum swing analysis eye test.

Don’t make this harder than it has to be. It’s hitting a rock with a stick.

This is great advice!! And I have been there myself...

 

[julray]

Looking again at that last 2 pics your posted, her bottom hand grip is contributing to her elbow position being off. View attachment 14602

See how her bottom wrist is bent back. She should have a straight wrist at this point. Her bottom hand grip needs to be turned forward so that the hand and forearm are in alignment.

That's a very good catch. We look into that one. I was confused I see her pull back as she moves forward. I see it in her live swing from different angles. She does load her scap and maintains her coil.. but I could never figure out why her lead arm wasn't lengthening so much as it should.

 

[Shawn]

MOST IMPORTANTLY is this. Her lead arm is not getting up in a strong position. Her lead elbow is down during the swing. This cannot happen and must be addressed first.

Absolutely, the lead arm/elbow starts very low, which is OK to be low, bit perhaps not as low and into the body she gets into. The lead arm/elbow should work itself into the shoulder plane at launch or start of the swing and not below her shoulder plane like she is doing.

I agree with you 100%.

 

[RichK]

It can be very hard to properly clear the hips/open the still-coiled torso with a no-stride swing. Her COM is popping up due to a very strong front-leg block/pushback. Honestly not being trollish and I know you don't want to hear this but a good dose of (proper) one-leggedness would help that issue immensely as well as, when combined with proper tilt (enabled by that one-leggedness), get her the behind and through barrel path you are looking for.

 

[Shawn]

Julray,

I don't like the knees so far inbetween the feet either. The hips/body have to move backwards to much as a result. Try starting from a loaded position in the launch position. See how and if it changes anything.

 

[Shawn]

Julray,

Yes Betts is dropping the hands in that swing/pic you posted. It happens, but it's not ideal and shouldn't be something you strive to copy.

 

[julray]

Thanks everybody for their feedback and willingness to help me out!! With two major tournaments around the corner I think I will "finally" listen to Westwind for I fear I have indeed arrived solidly at paralysis by analysis. Going to the field to hit some balls... at the end of the day that's what I use to do when I was a kid.

BTW, I grew up playing fastpitch and slowpitch softball. For years I didn't understand what it felt like to barrel up the ball. In other words I was mostly hitting the ball not on the sweet spot, but more towards the hands, not because I didn't have bat speed and good hand eye coordination, but because I really didn't have an awareness of how long a bat was with extended arms. Silly right? One day in a game I was way ahead of a pitch (at least I though I was) and ended up hitting an inside pitch towards the end of the bat. The result, an absolute bomb. That made something click, changed my entire game. I started hitting balls further out front, with good extension and had better awareness where the sweet spot was. I also felt like my swing became smoother, less effort, and I was using my all the bats and my leverage. I just wanted to share my story, sometimes you just need to hit.

What seems to help my DD is when I tell her to stand tall and hit ball. For some reason this advice results in her best at bats and tournament performance. I believe stand tall gets her off back knee during the load, so she loads more into than onto.. and hit ball just says forget about everything and hit the ball hard.

Keeping in mind that my DD has had some of these bad habits for years, if there is anything which is simple, with impact that can be implemented relatively easy, I am all ears. Thanks again everybody.

 

[julray]

It can be very hard to properly clear the hips/open the still-coiled torso with a no-stride swing. Her COM is popping up due to a very strong front-leg block/pushback. Honestly not being trollish and I know you don't want to hear this but a good dose of (proper) one-leggedness would help that issue immensely as well as, when combined with proper tilt (enabled by that one-leggedness), get her the behind and through barrel path you are looking for.

That's been said before as well.. and it completely makes sense. I always thought it was the back leg/foot.

 

[julray]

Julray,

I don't like the knees so far inbetween the feet either. The hips/body have to move backwards to much as a result. Try starting from a loaded position in the launch position. See how and if it changes anything.

What does that mean? You mean heel planted, but still backside still loaded and ready to fire?

 

[julray]

Absolutely, the lead arm/elbow starts very low, which is OK to be low, bit perhaps not as low and into the body she gets into. The lead arm/elbow should work itself into the shoulder plane at launch or start of the swing and not below her shoulder plane like she is doing.

I agree with you 100%.

I don't want to talk too much to her.. words are frustrating her right now. D you suggest one handed lead arm drills to address this? This has been an issue wirth her forever