Series of Hitting Failures

[lhowser]

Not all failures at the plate are due to hitting mechanics. She isn't making contact. What, besides the eye checkup tip, is going to help with making contact?

She does hit quite few off the end of the bat and she often seems a little early/hitting out front often. That open front foot may be an important part of it.

 

[FPMark]

You said she hasn't played since July. Could be she is just out of practice. The thing most noticable in her swings, to me, is a lack of consistancy. She seems to be swinging differently each time. Most are just out of sequence, and some she is early and some late. One swing (I believe #7) she is leaning forward and doesn't straighten the front leg untill after contact. The last swing is by far the best. She needs to relax, loosen up, and swing the bat, as much as possible.

 

[Cannonball]

I'm going to suggest something else. First, some of the balls are out of the strike zone. For example, the first swing, the ball is high. Also, some of the swings, it looks like she is having timing issues. For example, on two of the swings, I think she is fooled by a change up. She is so far out in front of them.

If I were to change something right away, I'd change her front knee/hip action. I think that is the source of the flaring front foot. It other words, I have her practice/mirror drill/think about an inward slight rotation of the hip and a sense of slightly closeing the gap between her front knee and back knee. I would tell her not to go so far as to show her cleats to the pitcher but in practice to get that sense of hip action, she might have to have that cue. In my dd's case, that really helped her with timing as well and so, something to think about.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

CB ... good recommendation. That's what I meant when I wrote "suggests that there isn't a feel of the backside being in control ... of not putting the rear leg in charge". Want to develop a sense of backside picking up the front leg ... and when you get that, you often get the internal rotation in the front leg you described.

 

[Cannonball]

FFS, you know I'm not one to discuss "feel" too much. How do you go about instructing this? I want a sense of pressure on the inside of the back knee. As you know, I've posted this a lot but I think it is important. Also, and this is off the topic, I know that once the uncoil is started, I'm not one who discusses hitting around the back hip. Rather, and I know this is a cue which can be interpreted differently, I want that "feel" through the back hip. I really don't want the back hip to rotate backwards. Rather, I want a sense of load or pressure or ... and imo, that through the back hip happens when the hips and the hands begin movement. I hope this makes sense.

 

[Mr T]

My 2 cents: the kid is rusty, that's all. A good swing. Changing a bunch of mechanics while trying to get back into the swing of it...bad idea. Just let the kid hit

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

CB ... one 'feel' associated with this is with the tension in the rear inner thigh area.

 

[RookKev]

Rusty or not, mechanics can always be tweaked. That is all I'm hearing here, minor tweaks. I'd start with the simplest of all, the vision check. Not the one at school. Go to the optometrist and get a good check up. Best case, it's $75 or so to tell you that her vision is perfect, or you find out she may need some vision correction and wahlah!

I think some of the comments are very keen though, and would be good to look at. I saw the bat really wrapping behind her head in her swings, which surely adds a lot of components to getting the head around and into the zone.

 

[Ken Krause]

The other thing I see is her lowering her hands as soon as she starts to bring the bat into the hitting zone. On most swings her hands are around her belly button. Have her try maintaining connection with the back shoulder longer, which will allow her to work from high to low. If she starts low, it's tough to come back up, and there can be a tendency for the bat to flatten out too much going into contact.

 

[Cannonball]

CB ... one 'feel' associated with this is with the tension in the rear inner thigh area.

I understand and agree. When my dd wears those softball pants, you can clearly see what you are talking about. I'd say that she wears her pants too tight but she has a very small waist but rather strong thighs.