In my opinion she is out of sequence, and that is leading to some other 'challenges' downstream. JMO.
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In my opinion she is out of sequence, and that is leading to some other 'challenges' downstream. JMO.
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
https://photos.smugmug.com/RED-FURY-swings-2016/i-VJkwsfb/0/640/lexi slomoderby_02-640.mp4
Im curious about what makes her swing "loopy" her hands drop and loop? is her swing Loopy, on the higher pitches above?
Would throwing the bat, fix the sequence? if not what is your goal with throwing the bat. you did say barrel, so maybe i am taking this statement wrong Five.
Mann, there are multiple issues here ... but one of them is that there is a complete mismatch with the goal/image this girl has of the swing.
Hitters that have an intent of throwing the barrel do not generally fold their front leg as we see here.
Instead the front leg straightens and assists with the acceleration of the barrel.
Now, be careful when this girl starts throwing barrels ... the first few times this girl throws the barrel into the open field she is likely to takeout the third-base coach. Why? Because her true swing will be on display.
Get the goal in order. Then let's see what clears up and what doesn't clear up. Often I will see that this particular issue is cleared up simply by instilling a sense of 'throw' in the hitter.
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
You are spot on here. Yes, you ... and many others ... including myself with hitters that I work with ... need to take the top-hand path seriously.
What Braun states here, in reference to his top-hand, is "stay over the ball".
Below I've added a pause. Notice how Braun completes the "short-to" portion of the top-hand path such that it passes through an upright-vee orientation with respect to his throwing arm. You want that. That is "attacking from the top".
Be careful of giving hitters contradictory goals. For many hitters, a goal of "get on plane with the oncoming pitch as early as possible" is a contradictory goal. They can't accomplish that goal and have a top-hand path that attacks from the top. Avoid such nonsense when you are trying to instill a proper top-hand path.
p.s.
Added for further clarity ....
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FiveFrameSwing
Banned
I have used the cue 'keep the hands above the ball longer' & 'hands above the ball' & 'stay over the ball' with my DD.
Rdbass, I believe the reason the cue to "keep the hands above the ball longer" does not resonate with everyone is because technically the top-hand is above the ball all the way through to impact ... so a kid may satisfy the cue, yet still not have the top-hand path we want. Same for "hands above the ball" and "stay over the ball". What the cue does help with is those that first "level to the ball" and/or those that attempt to "swing level to the ground".
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Yes, she is out of sequence.
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
You are spot on here. Yes, you ... and many others ... including myself with hitters that I work with ... need to take the top-hand path seriously.
What Braun states here, in reference to his top-hand, is "stay over the ball".
Below I've added a pause. Notice how Braun completes the "short-to" portion of the top-hand path such that it passes through an upright-vee orientation with respect to his throwing arm. You want that. That is "attacking from the top".
Be careful of giving hitters contradictory goals. For many hitters, a goal of "get on plane with the oncoming pitch as early as possible" is a contradictory goal. They can't accomplish that goal and have a top-hand path that attacks from the top. Avoid such nonsense when you are trying to instill a proper top-hand path.
p.s.
Added for further clarity ....
Coach: Sally, I think we need to improve your ability to square the ball more consistently.
Sally: Sounds like a good goal coach, how do we go about that?
Coach: We need to build a better top-hand path.
Sally: Okay coach, how do we go about that?
Coach: I want your swing to pass through an up-right power-vee like this [… coach performs a demo], and then have the top-hand work down towards the ball, before leveling out through the ball.
Sally: Got it. Let me give that a try.
Coach: You are getting better at this. But lets perform some one-hand top-hand swings, passing through an upright-vee. The result will often be that the ball is hit into the ground, but that is perfectly fine when working with just the top-hand. When we add the bottom-hand the result should become a line-drive. Here we go, I’ll pitch while you work on performing one-hand top-hand swings.
Sally: Okay.
Coach: You are getting it. Now let’s mix in two-hand swings in-between one-hand top-hand swings. I want you to mimic the same top-hand path when you use two hands.
Sally: Okay coach, let’s do it.
Coach: Very nice … you are smoking line-drives with a fairly clean top-hand path.
Sally: Thank you.
Coach: This is huge for you. Having the top-hand path correct will have you squaring the ball frequently.
Sally: Thank you coach. I’m excited to take this swing into action.
Coach: Great. Let’s move on. Don’t forget what I told you about getting on plane with the incoming path of the ball as early as possible.
Sally: Okay, I’ll concentrate on that.
Coach: Sally, I don’t mean to be critical, but all of a sudden your top-hand path isn’t good. All the work we performed is gone. You didn’t retain any of your top-hand path work.
Sally: But coach, I am getting on plane early. Aren’t you pleased?
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I was trying to find one of your posts from several months ago... In the post you talk about the importance of "preparing to throw". In my opinion, her preparation to throw and the throwing motion are out of sync. I believe that more concentration on "preparing to throw" will help this hitter.
Five, could I get clarification on the dialogue between coach and player? Is the top hand path dialogue desirable and getting on plane isn't?
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Turnin2, if you think about it, getting on-plane early is at odds with having a top-hand path that passes through an upright-vee.
You have likely seen your share of swings with broken hand-paths here at DFP ... ... ... the sort of hitter that levels the barrel and then swings/flings ... ... ... and while they got on-plane early, their hand-path was atrocious.
I wrote the following a short while ago, and will paste it below to save some time.
I am not one that advocates “staying on plane with the ball for a prolonged period of time”. Instead, I believe that the focus should be on having educated hands, … hands that follow a good hand path, and that know when/how to release, is what is responsible for squaring the ball. It is the ‘release/launch’ that squares the ball … which is why folks would be wise to understand Howe’s description of the swing … IMO.
IMO there should not be an attempt to have a prolonged period of time in which the bat/ball are on-plane in hopes that doing so will take care of errors in being early/late. To me, squaring the ball consistently is about having educated hands. It is not a mistake that sequence charts show peak barrel speed occurring just an instant prior to impact ... good hitters are releasing into impact, and peak speed is associated with the release.
