SB swing -VS- BB swing

[Chris O'Leary]

Isn't everyone advocating that "from the cradle" they should emulate the elite hitters swing?

Yes, but girls actually have to be closer to the ideal than most boys.

However, they are helped by somewhat slower pitching and shorter fences. That lets them do things that lengthen the swing a bit but that give them a bit more pop.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

IMO, their swings have a larger margin for error and the hitters can use their strength and speed to produce a good outcome when they are slightly askew from their ideal swing pattern or timing sequence. Given this, the mechanics of less mature hitters (e.g., young boys, girls etc) need to be more refined because their strength and quickness are not as great and therefore their margin for error is smaller!

Well said.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Older boys can get away with stuff with raw upper body strength.

That's not an option for younger boys or most girls.

They have to be more efficient.

Agree 100%.

 

[lhowser]

There is as much as a 36" difference, maybe more in the point of release and so the ball does arrive from a dramatically different angle. This is something I rarely hear discussed. Does anyone think it changes the swing. especially as you try to match plane?

 

[Greenmonsters]

Nope. If you can rake baseballs, you can rake softballs and vice versa. The classic Jenny Finch domination of MLBers is simply due to the fact that these hitters aren't used to the release point, timing, and movement. You give even a mediocre major league hitter a couple of days or weeks practice v. FP exclusively and it would be a different story.

 

[lhowser]

The classic Jenny Finch domination of MLBers is simply due to the fact that these hitters aren't used to the release point, timing, and movement. You give even a mediocre major league hitter a couple of days or weeks practice v. FP exclusively and it would be a different story.

I agree but really Greenmonsters...how do we know that? Is it simply an assumtion or has it happened? When I have seen clips most of the time the baseball batter...at least the one in the famous SPORTS SCIENCE clip dumps the barrel and swings under the pitch because the rise ball is on a different plane than his swing has ever hit. It is a rise ball and it is a pitch plane impossible to acheive throwing overhand (maybe submarine style).

 

[Randy O]

I just want to add that you (and DD) most likely meet "experienced" coaches who willtell you there is a difference. DD needs to learn how to tune them out while pretending she's listening. Smile and nod and keep doing what you're doing.

This exact situation is why I posted the question. I took her to a camp last weekend at a D1. I won't mention the school in fear that someone here may have ties to it, but the coaches were advocating things that go completely against everything we have taught. My daughter afterwards looked at me and simply asked "Are you sure you know what you are doing"... I think so, but really wanted to make sure before I went too much further with her.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Greatly appreciated!!!

We will keep going in the same direction. I guess the school in question won't be offering her a scolly anytime soon.

 

[lhowser]

I took her to a camp last weekend at a D1. I won't mention the school in fear that someone here may have ties to it, but the coaches were advocating things that go completely against everything we have taught.

I have been there. It is tough to swim against the flow when it is a D1 program. It is even more bizarre when you listen to what is taught at the clinic, then watch what their successful hitters do and it does not in any way resemble what you have just paid to be taught.

 

[mrslug01]

Same swing except the swing plane is a bit different because baseballs come in from a sharper downward angle.

 

[RayR]

I believe that the swings are very similar, but with the anatomical and physical (strength) differences between boys and girls the swing needs to be taught differently.

In exchanges with Howard - I am now convinced that because of issues with carrying angles, pelvic bone structures, shoulder/chest to hip ratios the swing has to be taught differently to achieve the same results.

I have one student who manages to internally rotate her front arm during the swing (inside of the elbow turns so it faces up) and because of her natural carrying angle cannot extend through the ball and has to cast through the swing (hits a lot of balls off of the handle) - she makes a hard left after contact but with her shoulders and looks like a pretzel. Never saw that with a boy - ever. I have to come up with something that eliminates this rotation of the arm - which for her will be the hardest thing she has tried to do (seeing how she has been swinging like this for 6-7 years).