So Cal Ellie

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Thanks for this, Clems. Working on downward angle for front shoulder is something I constantly keep forgetting to work on. Gotta keep that rear scap pinched while striding out and hopefully that corrects the elbow issue. As she pinches she lowers front shoudler and BAM, magic. ; )

Yes. The downward front shoulder (attack position) is a result of other things working properly.
 
Oct 2, 2017
2,283
113
Oh, it won't be! But hey, small steps of progress, right? Trying for that.

Absolutely! I think especially at the younger ages, Its one day you think that the swing issue she was working on is resolved then all of a sudden the next session a new one pops and or the old one is back with a vengeance! :D Thing is that when you look at the overall picture over time like a time lapse video you see the changes heading in a over all better direction.
 
Mar 22, 2016
505
63
Southern California
Two games in to the fall season of 8U rec. The pitchers are struggling to throw strikes, so Ellie's only balls in play have come from coach pitch (in our league, pitcher can't walk a batter during first half of season, so coach comes in to pitch). She's 4-for-4 with a double and a triple and four runs scored so far, batting leadoff in game one and third in lineup today.

This was her double, where she just missed landing it in the outfield grass by about a foot or two. If the DAMN CLIPBOARD wasn't blocking the view, and I had a better angle from behind the fence, maybe that'd be more clear. Alas...

 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
i didn't expect to see that slow and early done so well. nice job ellie! it's HARD to hit legitimate line drives at that age. staying stretched and coiled while still slow and early and then snapping like you've described is really advanced at that age. keep it up! most really young hitters just push with their puny arms and hit weak grounders. i'd work on getting more and more of the stretch/resistance transferred to the barrel which will help her to continue to hit the ball even harder/more solidly.
 
Mar 22, 2016
505
63
Southern California
i didn't expect to see that slow and early done so well. nice job ellie! it's HARD to hit legitimate line drives at that age. staying stretched and coiled while still slow and early and then snapping like you've described is really advanced at that age. keep it up! most really young hitters just push with their puny arms and hit weak grounders. i'd work on getting more and more of the stretch/resistance transferred to the barrel which will help her to continue to hit the ball even harder/more solidly.

Thanks for those encouraging words, RichK. I needed to see this after last night's team session at the batting cages. Any suggestions on how to work on getting more and more stretch/resistance transferred to the barrel? Another player's dad was chatting with me and I was sharing some frustrations I had in the moment with him and he said he thought she was leaving power on the table. Goal is to get balls going OVER the other team's heads, right? ; )

The issues I saw last night involved not loading slow and early, not coiling enough and then bailing out of her rear hip early and her rear elbow initiating the swing (rather than having her elbow move as a result of starting to turn barrel).

A separate issue I saw night was swinging around the body rather than out from the body, which explains some of those mishits she gets from the barrel not staying in the zone long enough.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Thanks for those encouraging words, RichK. I needed to see this after last night's team session at the batting cages. Any suggestions on how to work on getting more and more stretch/resistance transferred to the barrel? Another player's dad was chatting with me and I was sharing some frustrations I had in the moment with him and he said he thought she was leaving power on the table. Goal is to get balls going OVER the other team's heads, right? ; )

The issues I saw last night involved not loading slow and early, not coiling enough and then bailing out of her rear hip early and her rear elbow initiating the swing (rather than having her elbow move as a result of starting to turn barrel).

A separate issue I saw night was swinging around the body rather than out from the body, which explains some of those mishits she gets from the barrel not staying in the zone long enough.

First of all....relax, man. If you're having feelings of frustrations with her performance, take that as a sign that you need to stop, take a breath, and ease up.

Based on what you just said, you're asking your 9yo DD to remember to do all of these things...

- Load slow and early
- Hold the coil long enough
- Start the swing by turning the barrel, not moving the rear elbow
- Swing out from the body, not around
- Keep the barrel in the zone

...AND line up a moving round ball with a moving round stick at the right time to keep the ball in play.

The road ahead is long. Some of these things we try to teach take a while for them to sort out in their own head.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Based on what you just said, you're asking your 9yo DD to remember to do all of these things...

- Load slow and early
- Hold the coil long enough
- Start the swing by turning the barrel, not moving the rear elbow
- Swing out from the body, not around
- Keep the barrel in the zone

...AND line up a moving round ball with a moving round stick at the right time to keep the ball in play.
I couldn't remember the first on the list when I got to the third... :LOL:
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,831
Messages
679,484
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top