Softball vs. Baseball swing

[Cannonball]

Here is a still of the video:

 

[mann]

kad sounds exactly like the coaches i deal with on a daily basis. Keep the weight back, or you will lose power, hands straight to the ball, drive the back knee down and in. If you get on the front foot, your will be unable to hit ofspeed, and lose power.
This is what our coaches (hs), teach our baseball players.

I actually lost a friend last year when he mentioned at a softball game, that my daughters foot came off the ground at contact and that she would never get any power without keeping her weight on her back foot.
When i mentioned trhat he should look at some video in slo mo, he said that you could see anything you want with video, then he lost his temper, saying that he has been a hitting coach for 30 years bla bla bla.

It takes awhile for the aha moment to happen with men, we are a pridefull bunch, it took two years after a sparky parker clinic, but i get it (almost, always learning), some might never.

 

[Ken Krause]

Trust me, many females coaches are just as stuck and stubborn about hitting. They'd rather cling to what their old coaches told them than actually look at what good hitters do. Or probably even what they actually did when they were playing.

 

[Cannonball]

First, Mann, I too lost a very good friend over a similar argument. It isn't easy to understand for many that hitting is like a religion to some and some coaches are never going to be open to any new thoughts. Secondly, as coaches, we need to always be learning. I'd love to spend a weekend with Howard and pick his brain. I could mention so many more here. Ken and I live in the same state. Ken, who know, you might get a visit some day. Good coach, imo, know that of they remain stagnant in what they know, soon they will be passed up. That's why if a I go to a clinic, often if I learn one thing, I think the clinic was a success.

 

[dadonachair]

Sorry I tried to post a link to it but it didn't work. Just type Babe Ruth swing analysis on you tube. If his back foot has weight on it that means he made a bad swing. His rear leg slid forward for all his swings.

I do not think that there is much difference in a baseball swing or a softball swing. I hate to say it but I think it is a rotational vs linear swing. I like a rotational swing more so when I change the swing I first have to sell the dads on a softball comes in flat or up vs a baseball comes down speech so the first thing I am going to change is your DD grip. It seems to work as a good way to sell it to the dads, rather then telling them they are wrong.

I know from playing golf that the longest hitters in the world all have one thing in common. They get the weight shifted to the front leg at the finish of the swing. If you see a pro golfer leaning back at the finish of the swing 99% of the time they are loosing the ball to the right. Just like in golf I don't think in baseball/softball swing you should get trapped on the back end. I also think in all 3 sports you should get to the ball in the strongest most efficient swing possible. Posture, Grip, Alignment, Negative Movement, Swing Path, Start of the Forward Swing, Position at Contact, Balance after Contact.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Sorry I tried to post a link to it but it didn't work. Just type Babe Ruth swing analysis on you tube. If his back foot has weight on it that means he made a bad swing. His rear leg slid forward for all his swings.

I do not think that there is much difference in a baseball swing or a softball swing. I hate to say it but I think it is a rotational vs linear swing. I like a rotational swing more so when I change the swing I first have to sell the dads on a softball comes in flat or up vs a baseball comes down speech so the first thing I am going to change is your DD grip. It seems to work as a good way to sell it to the dads, rather then telling them they are wrong.

I know from playing golf that the longest hitters in the world all have one thing in common. They get the weight shifted to the front leg at the finish of the swing. If you see a pro golfer leaning back at the finish of the swing 99% of the time they are loosing the ball to the right. Just like in golf I don't think in baseball/softball swing you should get trapped on the back end. I also think in all 3 sports you should get to the ball in the strongest most efficient swing possible. Posture, Grip, Alignment, Negative Movement, Swing Path, Start of the Forward Swing, Position at Contact, Balance after Contact.

That may be a hard sell here too. Care to go into more detail?

 

[quincy]

Here is what I have come to learn about facilities, all their instructors teach the same thing. It is both a blessing and a curse. They seem to be very slow to react to “new” ideas.

 

[dadonachair]

@Greenmonsters.

I am not saying that a ball does any of those things. Or that one swing is better than the other. I am talking about when you have a girl that is first playing. The only coaching she has had is the 35min she has played catch in the back yard with dad once in her life and now she has to hit. She steps in the batters box with both elbows as high as her ears the back of her hands lined up and the but of the bat as high as her chest. I tell her to change her grip and drop her elbows. She says this is how my dad taught me to hit. I can't tell her that her dad is wrong. I have to tell the dad the changes and give him a reason why or he will change her right back. So I use the good old the ball flies different speech and it saves me trouble later.

 

[Daddy O]

Was talking to my dd the other day. She gave up basketball this past winter so she could go to every open gym for softball. Has worked really hard on her swing. I know she can hit the crap out of the ball but I have struggled trying to get her off her backside and stop squishing the proverbial bug. I asked her if she is now transferring her weight after working all winter. Her reply was that her coaches no longer emphasize using lower half because they want them to keep their weight back to maintain balance. My first thought was "what the h---" She has so much potential if she ever gets her lower half properly into it. I calmly told her to ask the coach to explain themselves, because she must have misunderstood, since NO good hitters do that. I doubt she will ask but it would be interesting. I would ask myself but I vowed to stay out of her softball career this year. I spoke with the coach last year about an issue (not pertaining to playing time). Basically was told dd needs to do it their way or she would never play varsity for them. And I think coach is holding a grudge against my dd because she considered me interfering, so never again.

 

[Bouldersdad]

Was talking to my dd the other day. She gave up basketball this past winter so she could go to every open gym for softball. Has worked really hard on her swing. I know she can hit the crap out of the ball but I have struggled trying to get her off her backside and stop squishing the proverbial bug. I asked her if she is now transferring her weight after working all winter. Her reply was that her coaches no longer emphasize using lower half because they want them to keep their weight back to maintain balance. My first thought was "what the h---" She has so much potential if she ever gets her lower half properly into it. I calmly told her to ask the coach to explain themselves, because she must have misunderstood, since NO good hitters do that. I doubt she will ask but it would be interesting. I would ask myself but I vowed to stay out of her softball career this year. I spoke with the coach last year about an issue (not pertaining to playing time). Basically was told dd needs to do it their way or she would never play varsity for them. And I think coach is holding a grudge against my dd because she considered me interfering, so never again.

Thats a shame. I believe she has a ton of power that is waiting to be released by that lower half coming thru the ball. One of the reasons we called her lil britt was her lower half weight and power transfer when she subbed for me a few years ago. Its a shame that some idiot can threaten a player like that.

Tim