Simplifying Teaching Hitting

[undergroundga]

That was actually one of the first athletic activities my dd did(started when she was 3), but she only did it a few years.Nothing competitive, just for fun. I would think that any amount of gymnastics/tumbling/dance would help, and I haven't met a girl yet that didn't enjoy them . Summer break is a good time gives them something to do. Most classes around here are like $35 a month/once a week. There are also places that offer summer camp type classes for cheap.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Cool, I like the idea of using throwing to get the idea of weight shift across eventhough I don't want to get them thinking about it necessarily for their hitting. It seems to me that if you are going to teach the weight shift you have to teach the toe tap and negative move to load for the swing. Like I said, I don't want to introduce the tap/move so I might just leave talk about weight shifting for later. I also like the check swing drill.

Don't overthink things yourself and don't sell your players short. If I could only teach girls that age just 2 things, it would be balance and weight transfer. IMO, these are the 2 hardest things to correct and re-teach later on. If you can focus on and get these down, you have a solid foundation for both throwing and hitting. If you can get them to feel it, they can usually get so they can repeat it without having to understand the technical specifics or terms like negative move, trigger, coil, stretch etc.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

That ain't simple. No offense.

And I eliminated several steps to the above!, but maybe that is the point that you really cannot simplify swing mechanics too much because you would not be teaching some key concepts. You have to have a good set-up, coil & uncoil, and create the proper sequence of events by the time you reach POC to have an efficient, repeatable swing. As the golf saying goes, you cannot just get up there and "grip it and rip it". By the way, 8U & 10U players can grasp most of these concepts, albeit slowly over time. If someone has a formula for good hitting that speeds up the learning curve, I would love to hear it?

 

[T Red]

Our coach started a drill this month that I think is good. I had never seen it before. I believe it has helped our players, especially the ones who haven't been thought the proper way.

The 123 drill.
-stand in the box
-load and count to 3. Really want to see them move their hands back and coil up.
-rotate hips toward the pitcher and count to 3. Not moving their hands much.
-then swing/complete the shift while counting to 3.


I'm sure it's too simple for better players but for young ones it re-enforces the coil up, weight shift and uncoil.

 

[Mr T]

Our coach started a drill this month that I think is good. I had never seen it before. I believe it has helped our players, especially the ones who haven't been thought the proper way.

The 123 drill.
-stand in the box
-load and count to 3. Really want to see them move their hands back and coil up.
-rotate hips toward the pitcher and count to 3. Not moving their hands much.
-then swing/complete the shift while counting to 3.


I'm sure it's too simple for better players but for young ones it re-enforces the coil up, weight shift and uncoil.

I like it a lot, thanks much