- Oct 25, 2009
- 3,334
- 48
Many times we work multiple stations with just a tee and a pop up net. Thus, no home plate.
T Work
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Many times we work multiple stations with just a tee and a pop up net. Thus, no home plate.
Well, we set up the Tee as recommended by Hitter and began to work at hitting with my homemade whiphit. At first she was having some difficulty hitting it straight. We made an adjustment to her stance and now she is able to rip it off the Tee pretty much straight ahead, however, she was hitting it well below the 39 inch line as recommended by Hitter. I believe she is not getting into a good enough athletic stance, meaning she is standing to upright. We practiced for nearly 2 hours and toward the end I was finally able to get her to get into a more athletic stance and I did see that the ball was coming up into the line drive zone more frequently, and I also noticed that her posture through her swing looked more "high level". I think I have something to focus on for now.
I will say that with this whiphit, I have seen her use her hips and shoulders better than I have ever seen her do so, so that is a plus.
The other plus is she was really focused last night. I had to throw in the towel as I was tired. She kept wanting to do it. I think giving her something challenging stimulated that competitive drive in her. I can't wait to get the real deal.
What other drills can we do with this thing? And thoughts on what could be happening for her to be hitting below the line? She MAY be swinging a little down, but what causes that? Is she not working her front elbow correctly? I realize that it's all just guesswork on you guys part without video. I will get video in the future....
Thanks
I will say that with this whiphit, I have seen her use her hips and shoulders better than I have ever seen her do so, so that is a plus.
The other plus is she was really focused last night. I had to throw in the towel as I was tired. She kept wanting to do it. I think giving her something challenging stimulated that competitive drive in her. I can't wait to get the real deal.
What other drills can we do with this thing? And thoughts on what could be happening for her to be hitting below the line? She MAY be swinging a little down, but what causes that? Is she not working her front elbow correctly? I realize that it's all just guesswork on you guys part without video. I will get video in the future....
Thanks
One good drill to see if she is swinging down is use the T stackers. We also soft toss with the Whip Hit, when the student gets good enough.
I do not call posture balance...balance is balance and posture is what balance looks like. Have her bend at the waist first and then soften the knees next exactly in that order and her butt will be sticking out a little. We say for the girls no butt, no balance. Now push on her back and chest alternately and see if she rocks back and forth to her heels or is she solid? Very important she bends at the waist first as this loads the core sequentially. Her knees will be a little more towards her toes from an alignment stand point. Once you get her balanced, then prove to her it only works one way and have her soften the knees first and then bend at the waist and you will push her over or off balance.
As to the angle of the ball hitting the net...the lead arm elbow MUST be leading making a good first move. The movement of the lead elbow will look like it is going up a ramp. Many times when you are hitting below the 39 inch line the reason is the elbow is either going down or level. This is why we mark the nets to help refine our swing as there is only so much that can go wrong based on where the ball lands, how it got there is why we mark the net and then we can see if the suggested improvement actually had any effect.
Try this take her top hand and make a V with the index finger and social finger and turn that hand palm down and place the lead elbow on top of the back hand just like she was get ready to hit. Now say these magic words, where my elbow WAS my hand will now be. Have her move her elbow forward and up and NEVER loose contact with the hand it is resting on...where my elbow was, meaning this is where it started from moves forward and up like it is going up a ramp and your hand wil now be, as the hand replaced where the elbow was!
That in my opinion sets and determines bat angle and flight of the ball and yes there is tilt and turn used also. Keep it simple and move the elbow forward and up like it is going up a ramp. The elbow is above the hands, the hands are above the bat and there is an angle to the bat and the degree of angle will depend on the height of the incoming pitch. Lower the pitch the more angle and a rise ball less angle. This is why when she learns to adjust, we do a bat angle adjustment drill where we throw a ball below the knee, at the knee, mid thigh, waist, belly button and at the lead elbow.
As to the WhipHit, we hit opposite field AFTER we learn how to hit up the middle then inside. We use it for soft toss, front toss, double tee driving the ball off the back tee to the front tee and during cage work doing the Barry Bonds drill. You will notice the improvement when you put her bat back in her hands as now she has an additional 6 to 8 inches of bat that she never knew existed before! Make sure she at least tries the grip mentioned in another thread as I would like some feed back on what you think.
Thanks Howard
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I suspected a problem with her elbow and I was getting her into an athletic position exactly opposite of what you describe. We will try it the other way tonight during practice.
I remember seeing your discussion about grip. I will try and track it down, unless someone could be kind enough to link it. We will let you know what we think after trying it. Thanks for all the tips.
I remember seeing your discussion about grip. I will try and track it down, unless someone could be kind enough to link it. We will let you know what we think after trying it. Thanks for all the tips.
- Oct 25, 2009
- 3,334
- 48
I've been using a homemade version of a WhipHit from the directions in another thread. I've got the ball pretty close to 28".
My question: Should I adjust the ball on the rope to match the sweet spot of the bats? Where I have it now appears to be for the sweet spot of a 34" bat.
It seems to me this would be a critical consideration. If they learn the sweet spot on a 34" bat that translates to too close to the end of the bat on a 32" bat.
Do they consider this in the factory-made model?
It really is a great tool!!
My question: Should I adjust the ball on the rope to match the sweet spot of the bats? Where I have it now appears to be for the sweet spot of a 34" bat.
It seems to me this would be a critical consideration. If they learn the sweet spot on a 34" bat that translates to too close to the end of the bat on a 32" bat.
Do they consider this in the factory-made model?
It really is a great tool!!
I am not an agent for their company...my recommendation was 26, 27 and 28 however. You are correct and make sure you pre stretch the rope as an additional 1 inch is not un common.
Thanks Howard
I have been studying videos of different players and I notice one very glaring issue, aside from my daughter not getting into a good balanced position.
I will try and describe this as best I can. I wish I could get her on video, but she is being weird about it.
When she sets up in her stance, she has her hands probably about ear level. When she makes her move to load, her hands never drop to her armpit level. When she begins her swing, she begins from somewhere between the top of her shoulder and the bottom of her ear.
This doesn't really look like what elite level hitters are doing. I see them almost always drop their hands to about the armpits and slightly behind. Am I seeing what I think I am seeing from elite hitters? If so, what would be some good ways to correct my daughters swing? Someone once said or wrote that how a hitter sets up in the batters box is style, how they get to the load position is not. Should I just have her set up with her hands at about her armpits and then focus on taking a short negative move with her hands at toe touch?
I think with her hands being so high at the initiation of her swing is causing some of the problems with her hitting alot of balls down. She also slaps her back at the end of her swing. I am not so sure this is really a problem. I think this will correct itself if we get her hands to the correct launch position, the rest will follow with drills.
Thanks for input.
I will try and describe this as best I can. I wish I could get her on video, but she is being weird about it.
When she sets up in her stance, she has her hands probably about ear level. When she makes her move to load, her hands never drop to her armpit level. When she begins her swing, she begins from somewhere between the top of her shoulder and the bottom of her ear.
This doesn't really look like what elite level hitters are doing. I see them almost always drop their hands to about the armpits and slightly behind. Am I seeing what I think I am seeing from elite hitters? If so, what would be some good ways to correct my daughters swing? Someone once said or wrote that how a hitter sets up in the batters box is style, how they get to the load position is not. Should I just have her set up with her hands at about her armpits and then focus on taking a short negative move with her hands at toe touch?
I think with her hands being so high at the initiation of her swing is causing some of the problems with her hitting alot of balls down. She also slaps her back at the end of her swing. I am not so sure this is really a problem. I think this will correct itself if we get her hands to the correct launch position, the rest will follow with drills.
Thanks for input.
Nor10, If she is slapping her back she is rolling her wrists. The hand over drill that Howad talks about will help. She will punish herself with the whiphit. That is why we have them wear helmets, till we can teach them not to roll the wrists. What we teach , Top of the hand to the top of the shoulder and avoid the extremeness in hand position. I'm also thinking the lead elbow is not going up. Read Howard post on contact and using Basketballs to hit. He explains this.
Tap the back of your helmet with your bat where the pony tails comes out and this sets your hands and bat angle position so the bat is slightly behind your head. Some hitters find it difficult to take their hands straight back without rolling the shoulders inward or turning them or their head pulling away from the pitchers window of release. I'm sure Howard will add more . Most of my kids that drop the hands cannot hit a riseball, so we work on not dropping the hands. Howard has posted about how we use the swimming pool noddle to get the kids to take the hands back without rolling.
Tap the back of your helmet with your bat where the pony tails comes out and this sets your hands and bat angle position so the bat is slightly behind your head. Some hitters find it difficult to take their hands straight back without rolling the shoulders inward or turning them or their head pulling away from the pitchers window of release. I'm sure Howard will add more . Most of my kids that drop the hands cannot hit a riseball, so we work on not dropping the hands. Howard has posted about how we use the swimming pool noddle to get the kids to take the hands back without rolling.
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SBFAMILY touched on many good points. When viewing film location of the pitch is not always easy to determine especially a side view. A case in point is CB's 2004 Gold medal blast of 308.5 feet. It was inside by at least 8 inches and she baited Harding to throw the pitch.
We teach top of the hands to top of the shoulder and no higher than the ear hole in the helmet, tap the back of the helmet as Dan described. We set up off the plate by laying the bat head across the plate and then put our lead foot toe by the knob of the bat. We like a stance width of at least 1.5 times the width of the shoulders plus or minus 2 inches seems to work. We avoid the extremeness during set up and load. No leaning backwards or extreme hip or hand movements. There is a lot of variation in swings and we just do not teach that. I would like to think mechanics first and interject your style once who learn how to swing so you feel what works good, better, best for you the individual.
Most will say the style is in the set up and load and when they get to toe touch most elite hitters will look the same. I tell my girls how they wear their hair is their style however how we cut their hair is the mechanics as we use clippers, scissors or a razor. Try to understand the mechanics first and incorporate your style next.
As to hands, as we load we separate the hands rearward slightly. By looking in a mirror side ways have them do this and see how far the hands moved below the shoulders if it moves at all. We have them at this position take the top ha d off the bat and make a fist and put it near the bottom hand again. Then take the fist and go straight forward. Where you able to hit the bicep on the lead arm? Either yes or no. If it was at the elbow joint it is no, so the top of hands were probably below the shoulder too much. We also do not teach having the back elbow up shoulder height or more as we feel it is too extreme for now. We want the back elbow to go straight back and not turn the corner or cause the front shoulder to turn in or roll in. That is why we use the swimming pool noodle so they can bump it as they separate. You will see some chicken wing up and miss it, drop their hands and miss it or roll the shoulder in and miss it.
Slapping the back will not correct itself especially with the girls in my opinion. If is during contact that most females give up on hitting the ball and continuing through to extension because they do not use the lead arm and this creates an imbalance to the back arm and who knows where the bat will go after they hit the ball! Do the hand over drill and try the grip we suggested and the bat will never touch her again. We test the hitters by having them all swing before we make or teach any correction by doing dry swings. If they hit their shoulder or back we have them do the hand over drill and it stops at once or within 5 attempts. Pretty simple yet very effective. Look also as I deem it a girl thing...ask the hitter to raise her hands a little and observe what she actually did? She raised her elbows and her hands as a unit! Why! Because they do not understand the elbow is a hinge and we can raise the hands without moving the elbow. Now you see why we teach them how to use a hammer and about un hinging the wrist! They are dropping the hands in relationship to the elbows and in many cases with the elbow is too low or to high. When they see it in a mirror they see the relationship better in my opinion.
Thanks Howard
