Swinging under the ball

[Cornbread]

When I coached my GD in 8U, she only practiced and hit out of a 45. She was often late to both load and swing. I'd front toss and tell her verbally when to swing. After some time , she figured out to swing on time. There is a lot to process and the journey is long. Now, at 14 we are still working on her swing mechanics.

I’ve done the same with my 10yo son. We hit in games from a 45 using neck slot. The 45 helps feel the stretch so much better. He is quicker and has some burst from the 45. Both help in using less arms. Even with that he still wants to push hands a little and work down and across. IMO the 45 and neck slot will help EVERY youth hitter. It will also make teaching the more mechanical swing movements much easier down the road (hopefully )

 

[Bob Ullman8]

Have her swing and miss OVER a few balls on front toss. At her age, most kids take their hands to the ball. This causes the hands to be level with the ball at contact. Due to gravity, the barrel will almost always be below the hands at contact. Hands leveling with the ball is a mechanical flaw mostly caused by the hitter using the arms to power the swing. I wouldn’t get to mechanical with her but you want the hands to start working up as soon as possible after launch. Take practice swings with the hands going across the chest or neck. Give her the verbal que of “swing over the ball” during games.

 

[Cornbread]

OP, you should just follow Bobs advice here! It will certainly help you when your dd swings under the ball.

 

[Bob Ullman8]

I don’t understand why anyone would teach to swing under or over the ball. Please explain the theory.

 

[Cornbread]

I don’t understand why anyone would teach to swing under or over the ball. Please explain the theory.

Swing over the ball is an adjustment. Not a teach. Not a theory. It’s the basics! There are 4 reasons why you swing and miss a ball: Early, Late, Over, Under. If you are missing under the ball, try to swing over it. Or you could be that coach yelling mechanics to players during a live at bat. Hope that helps you

 

[Bob Ullman8]

Swing over the ball is an adjustment. Not a teach. Not a theory. It’s the basics! There are 4 reasons why you swing and miss a ball: Early, Late, Over, Under. If you are missing under the ball, try to swing over it. Or you could be that coach yelling mechanics to players during a live at bat. Hope that helps you

Calm down. First of all, educated motor skill instructors know better than to yell or applaud their students on every swing or pitch. In fact we are taught that the less we say, during a lesson, the better they learn. Basics of what? Anything you teach your students is based on performance, but they can’t learn what you’re teaching. It’s impossible to change a motor skill, IMPOSSIBLE!! Until we understand that, your students are wasting their money.

 

[ArmWhip]

It’s impossible to change a motor skill, IMPOSSIBLE!!

Bob, you're going to have to go into more detail about this. I have done a lot of research in this area and know that traditional methods of teaching motor skills have been shown to be less than effective when scientifically tested. The newer ways of teaching motor skills, constraints led approach, ecological dynamics, etc., and allowing the body to self organize are difficult to understand and implement. If you have practical examples of utilizing the new approaches sharing them would be of interest to me and probably some other people here.

 

[softballphreak]

According to ChatGPT:
Yes, it's possible to change a motor skill through practice, repetition, and focused training. This process is called motor learning, and it involves the brain adapting and creating new neural pathways to improve or acquire a specific motor skill.

 

[youluvalaya18]

I have a 10yo who is struggling behind the plate. When we do hitting practice she does extremely well, she hits the ball really well. We do hitting 2-3 times a week along with regular lessons. The problem is when she’s in games, she is swinging under everything, doesn’t matter what the location of the pitch is, she either misses just under the ball or fouls it off to first base side. Any advice or drills that can help with this? Thank you

she's most likely dipping her back shoulder, as she might've seen other people slightly dip her shoulder to hit the ball harder. which is more of an advanced move, i recommend working on swing the bat straight across, right above her belly button.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Swinging from the neck slot is a must for all hitters. It teaches the hitter that the core/ obliques/ glutes are motoring the swing. If their obliques are sore the next day you are doing it right. Most young ladies swing their arm with their hands frailing away from their core. Long swing. This is one of the reasons they swing under the ball. When the weight of the arms and bat gets further from their body it barrel drops under the ball.
Swinging over the ball as a game time cue is a bandaid. But a bandaid can stop the bleeding. I have seen it work many times.