Should 10u be moving their lower body when batting?

[SoftSocDad]

My dd's current team has been telling her that she isn't to step or shift her weight when swinging. Her HC has told me that they don't want them doing that until they are a few years older. He said it was too much for the girls to process.

Anyone heard else that?

When we lived in SoCal, the rec league did a basic beginner's clinic. It was great.

Then when we moved to NorCal, I watched as an 'I know EVERYTHING about softball' coach set about to ruin my kid's swing over the next couple of years until I finally got DD away from her. It's still in recovery.

If you know something is wrong, and I do mean clearly wrong when it comes to teaching bad mechanics, then you should step in as a parent to protect your child's development.

 

[Mr T]

Yes, I have, in baseball instruction. Sadly, it gets taught, even though it's demonstrably wrong.

This is a classic crutch for coaches who don't understand how to teach load or even what proper loading is. They give up and the idea that you can remove critical elements from the swing is appealing to them.

And do we not have our own cadre of "the stride is unnecessary" folks on dfp? Yes I realize you can have a high level swing without a stride, technically, but again, it shows how popular the idea of teaching a reduced swing is, and IMO it is something to be approached with caution and not used as a general teaching method.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

This is a classic crutch for coaches who don't understand how to teach load or even what proper loading is. They give up and the idea that you can remove critical elements from the swing is appealing to them.

And do we not have our own cadre of "the stride is unnecessary" folks on dfp? Yes I realize you can have a high level swing without a stride, technically, but again, it shows how popular the idea of teaching a reduced swing is, and IMO it is something to be approached with caution and not used as a general teaching method.

Yes ... you run into these "coaches" that wish to remove what they consider to be "unnecessary movements" ... and often they cripple the hitter's swing in the process. These same "coaches" tend to lack an understanding of body movement patterns.

 

[CoogansBluff]

The problem is that there just aren't enough people who know how to coach hitting, or throwing, or softball in general.

So rather than roll my eyes at just another ignorant 8U rec coach (I was probably one of those myself, to a point), my question is -

What can be done about it? Should the national governing body of this sport be doing more to help the instruction of young kids who are starting softball? Should they be doing more to educate rec coaches? There's not enough readily available information, or training, for rec coaches. Yes, it exists for those willing to hunt for it. But I'm not talking about travel teams and coaches who have that inclination, and even for them it's a struggle. For rec coaches, it needs to be readily available and inexpensive or it's not going to happen.

I don't know the answer. Softball is a sport of technique. Tennis is a sport of technique. But the difference is that tennis coaches are mostly professionals. Not saying that softball rec coaches need to be pros, but there's something missing, IMO. I don't know what it is. The instruction at the rec level is terrible compared to many other sports. And if the answer is ''if you want good coaching, you should get on a travel team,'' you're going to lose girls who don't want to make that kind of commitment so early. You're also going to lose girls who can't hit the ball because they don't know how to hold the bat or swing it properly.

I don't blame the parent who volunteers to head coach. They're trying. They need help. I don't know who has the time or interest to give it to them.

 

[rkt420]

Don't walk run from that coach.You are safe now.Read,read and read some more the post on this forum.Start with Megan1-tee post.Don't move or shift your weight when swinging, ok then, hopefully your 10u DD is very, very large in the upper body.Why,because that's all she will be using to power her swing.Maybe they mean not to stride.Not very advisuable,but hey.Do you shift to throw? Yes,you have to.Well,same as hitting.Well, when the other 10u girls are procession the proper hitting sequence your DD is going to be farrrrrr behind.There is no age limit on learning the proper hitting sequence.

My DD is not big anywhere, esp in her upper body. She has long arms and legs but she isn't very tall (and really skinny). Along with completely changing her batting stance, they also told her to get a lower weight bat (-13), which I've now reading maybe incorrect. I'm beyond frustrated.

They played in a tournament this last weekend and the experience was awful. They are currently an 8u machine pitch team, but in Sept will move up to 10u. The coach in charge of the pitching machine told every girl who stepped up to the plate to put her toes on the line closest to the plate. We were sitting in bleachers behind home plate and could see where the ball was falling over the plate as well as where the bat was striking the ball. Every one of the girls fouled several balls and quite a few struck out. I tried telling the HC that the narrow part of the bat was making contact with the ball and was told that the coaches knew what they are doing. After that my dd was moved to the bottom of the batting order and sent to left field for the remainder of the tournament.
This team is attempting to become a travel team and I've really begun to doubt that this is the best team for my dd to learn and grow.

 

[CoogansBluff]

The coach in charge of the pitching machine told every girl who stepped up to the plate to put her toes on the line closest to the plate. We were sitting in bleachers behind home plate and could see where the ball was falling over the plate as well as where the bat was striking the ball. Every one of the girls fouled several balls and quite a few struck out. I tried telling the HC that the narrow part of the bat was making contact with the ball and was told that the coaches knew what they are doing.

It's possible that the coaches are right and that most of the players are casting and need to learn to keep hands inside the ball. But given the other observations you've had of the coach, I'm not betting on that.

 

[Wellphyt]

My dd's current team has been telling her that she isn't to step or shift her weight when swinging. Her HC has told me that they don't want them doing that until they are a few years older. He said it was too much for the girls to process.

Anyone heard else that?

Do the coaches also teach the kids not to stride or transfer weight when they throw overhand

A kid who strides and weight shifts naturally when they hit is not "PROCESSING" anything. They are simply doing what comes naturally. Telling a kid to not stride or weight shift coaches the natural sequence out of kids. Kids that don't have a sequence never get to a good ready to hit position. Instead they launch their swing from their batting stance. Kids who launch their swing from their batting stance are rampant in fastpitch; including in travel ball.

The sequence needs to be preserved at all cost; and for those kids who don't do it naturally, they need to be taught early on.

Conventional wisdom in youth fastpitch and to some extent in youth baseball; is that hitters don't have time to perform a sequence. The reality is that against good pitching, hitters don't have time NOT to perform a sequence. In order for kids to hit good pitching, they need to get themselves moving. When coaches remove the sequence from kid's swings, they rob them of the opportunity to learn how to time their sequence to live pitching.

Sure young kids with a sequence will struggle with their timing against live pitching. They will often times be late or early getting their front foot down. However as their motor skills get better with age, they will figure it out. They just need to be given the time for their motor skills to develop.

The reason the kids hit the ball off the handle is because they cast their hands and or are late against middle-half-in pitches. Both of those issues come about when kids are told to stand in the batter's box like a statue with their hands held above the shoulder, and then swing from that position.

I ask again...do the coaches teach the kids to stand like a statue with their feet shoulder width apart and the ball help behind them in the "L" position, and then have them throw from that position without moving their feet or transferring weight over their front foot???

 

[rdbass]

Most young kids if left alone to swing do alot of things right naturally.The body figures out on it's own what it needs to do to hit a pitched ball. Might not be the correct way or the most efficient way. It's "well meaning dad's" like myself that coach it out of the kids. Then later find out how wrong they were.This coach needs to step a side or you need to move on and quick.

 

[rkt420]

I ask again...do the coaches teach the kids to stand like a statue with their feet shoulder width apart and the ball help behind them in the "L" position, and then have them throw from that position without moving their feet or transferring weight over their front foot???

I laughed when I saw your reply. Their comments on my dd's throwing also have me confused. They have repeatedly said that they don't want to see the arc in the throw. They want to see a straight throw. No matter how much my dd practices she has some arc which they repeatedly tell her is b/c she isn't snapping the wrist. She's throwing accurately from 3rd to 1st but they are still correcting her throw and nothing we've tried has removed the arc. She is probably has one of the more accurate throws on the team, however they constantly tell her that her throw needs improvement.
They are fine with moving their feet but don't like the crow hop.

 

[ConorMacleod]

I can see a Coach being worried about a large leg kick in someone young, because that timing is hard to get down. But no step and/or weight transfer? The ol "arm swings only" is what you try to coach a kid out of, not in to. Like everybody else, I am baffled at this Coaching. Remember this, if nothing else. At this age, the "Coach" is nothing more than a volunteer parent. Some know plenty, some know nothing.