Simplifying Teaching Hitting

[Eugene Stryke]

I have coached rec. ball for young girls for a few years and I would like to get some input about how to teach basic hitting. For starters, I would just like to get input from those who agree with my premise which is: girls from 6-10 are not able to master more advanced hitting and should not be taught it at this stage. They need about 3 or 4 things to keep in mind and swing hard. All of the more advanced techniques like the foot tap, the negative move are beyond these girls. I just sat through the 10U ASA tryouts for a local team here and not a single girl could even make contact consistently. They were all late, the swing was in the arms, and they had narrow inconsistent stances. They all needed to start over and here is what I would have told them: knocking knuckles grip w/bat in fingers not palms, make sure it is not tight and that the whole body is relaxed. Wide stance, elbows relaxed and down, front foot slightly open. The swing is triggered by the rotation of the back hip and knee and it should be aggressive. I have been watching plenty of vid's of Pujols and other that are beautiful but of no use to girls this age. That kind of perfect swing takes 1000's of hours of practice. It seems to me that even with a technically bad swing the girls should be able to see the ball and make contact. One thing that I know is causing a swing and miss is an early rotation of the shoulders clockwise (right handed) which is a type of loading, but invariably causes them to lose sight of the ball, be late and miss badly. I have a few drills like the "double turn" drill to teach them to start the swing with the back hip and follow with the hands. What little video I have filmed I have not seen them start w/ the hips. It is really tough to not get them to start the swing with the arms.
Thanks, Jim

 

[Jim]

I love how you want to simplify this. That is what I feel hitting coaches are supposed to do at all levels and age groups. Help to make it easier... Simplify!

Three core fundamentals of hitting... 1.) See the ball - keep the ball in the middle of your face as the pitch comes in 2.) Maintain good balance before during and after the swing - Be in an athletic position in the batter's box, weight toward the balls of the feet 3.) Develop good timing or rhythm - the easiest way to describe the load is that "it is like the hitter's wind-up to swing the bat" dance with the pitcher and create timing of the "load" portion of the swing

Get ready to hit the ball, see the ball, and hit the ball while still seeing the ball!

Did I mention see the ball?

 

[softballphreak]

First thing, anyone who can teach 10U is amazing to me. I can't, I don't try. Hat's off to those who can!

I started with 12U years ago. We used to keep it simple I think. We had drills such as:
1-2-3 drill where 1. Trigger (Load), 2. Stride, 3. Swing.
See the ball, hit the ball.
We tried "no stride". Toe tap.
We were one of the first in our area using the "hitting stick".
We used the "hit away".

I remember our first hitting coach telling me to not let them get away with that when I was assisting. I had no idea what they were getting away with. Hitting was pretty overwhelming the first season I helped; and we were "keeping it simple."

So good luck. You're definitely right—keep it simple.

 

[Eugene Stryke]

Thanks for the input! I think that by keeping it basic they can have success at their age. I find teaching the balance, grip and other basics pretty straightforward, but getting them to swing with their lower half is really hard. You see elbows flying and feet twisting and even a fairly new coach like myself can see basic swing principles violated and it is tempting to hand them a laundry list of obvious flaws in their swing. If you compare their swing to Albert Pujols' it would just be a waste of everyone's time. I need to keep it simple and prioritize what I teach. I have to let them get away with some bad habits that are relatively easy to fix later rather than major flaws that will require a total relearning process down the line. I don't teach a stride or the backward load that goes with it. I do think just hacking away with the upper body needs to be corrected. The most difficult part of the swing I want to teach is the hip rotation that leads the hands through the swing. I guess it comes down to lots of practice and building muscle memory. Also the hip leading the hands is hard to teach because it is so hard to see with the naked eye. I have seen a lot of slowed down video where it is still hard to tell if the hips are leading the hands or not. Even with pro's it seems like everything starts and finished together with the naked eye. Thanks again!

 

[SBFAMILY]

Many good points posted. I work with many kids that age. Keep it simple, what I try to do is Howard Mattrix drill so they and can see and feel what a swing should look like and feel it. Weight shift can be taught at an early age if you let them feel it. Howard Carrier, Dave Paetkau, Don Slaught and others all have the student stand with the back foot on a box , brick or something so the weight goes forward. This prevents them from the bug squishing you see at this age. Take it slow. Balance, grip, weight shift( which is teaching them throwing first) are the basic things. Even Mike Candrea says he gets players that still can't throw correctly. We say you build a house you start with the foundation. Teaching hitting is the same.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have a new 10yo, that I am trying to teach hitting to. The poor little girl is way over weight and that is complicating things. But, I am going to have to teach her to throw, before we can try hitting again. Even watching her sister hit, isn't helping.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Amy try to get her back foot up and force her to shift her weight forward. . It is something that we started doing with all the young kids. Howard built a wooden wedge, I still have the wooden box that I have them place the back foot on.

 

[Eugene Stryke]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I am a little skeptical about having them do something radical like stand with the rear leg on a box. They are barely use to what a swing feels like normally and their balance is very tenuous at this point. Has it worked for you teaching that age group? Also, a lot of people I talk to emphasize the weight shift as the top or one of the top priorities to teach. I intuitively don't see it that way, but it may be a big help for some girls. When I look at hitters this age I see the problem of an all upper body swing which seems to throw everything off and cause weak ground balls. One thing that makes coaching frustrating but also very fun and challenging is how esoteric hitting is.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Yes we work with many kids some as young as 8. Teach them how to throw first and the small box or wedge is to get them to feel weight shift. Most throw with the upper body only and this is to get them to understand how the lower half is used. We have a saying, if you can't throw correctly you will never be a good hitter.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

SB, You are right. I haven't had a chance to talk about balance yet. I am trying to help sisters, one of which is a natural and one that looks like I am speaking pig latin, to her.

I tell the girls all of the time, that grade school does not allow much teaching of balance. We used to jump rope, run up and down the teeter totter, stand on the monkey bars and play hop scotch. These girls don't even know what hop scotch is.