Thoughts and Ideas

[Brptl.2012]

I’m looking for ideas and wanting to have a discussion on teaching hitting. What are the things you all use to get through to your kids? I’m not to proud to admit that I don’t know it all. I’ll say that my understanding of proper hitting mechanics are amateur at best. I’m like most coaches/dads in that I watch a lot of YouTube and read a lot different blogs etc. Currently I coach an 8u team and we spend 99% of our time on 3 things. 1. Stance 2. Getting to a proper launch position. 3. Just hitting in general with nothing specific. They are 7-8 so it’s just hit it girls and have fun....We will introduce a load but we don’t spend a ton of time on it just because just getting them to repeat the same stance and getting into that launch position each time takes so much time.
Where I’m at is this, I understand/believe whatever you want to say that hitting is just a sequence of events. Each motion/movement is tied into the previous one so if you are jacked up anywhere along that process things after that are going to bad and issues will show through. This is why I spend so much time on stance and getting to a launch position. I believe that if nothing else at this age if we can at least get to the point of starting that sequence of events and understand that then we’re doing good. It’s easy to teach and easy to understand. I can show the girls pictures and videos and generally we’ve had good success.
What about after being in that launch position though? I think I understand rotation and what it should look/feel like but I have a really hard time explaining it. I could be completely wrong too and have no idea what I’m saying or doing. I get stuck a lot between is it the bottom hand pulling or the top hand pushing. It’s actually a little of both but it’s the rotation of the torso too. And hips? Hips fire first to create separation right? I’ve also read and seen a lot that just fixing the upper body gets the lower half in tuned the synced up properly. How do you get them to understand that elbow slot? What drills do you do to create that muscle memory? Seems like more than anything else we see and deal with is bat drag/lag (elbows are leading the hands) and casting. I’ve tons of videos of stuff to do to fix but what should I trying to get them to feel? How do you get them to understand? Is it different with each kid? Do some respond to the bottom hand pulling thought vs some a top hand push? Does this fix itself as they get older or are there things I should be doing with them now? I just really struggle at this point of the swing and I do a terrible job of communicating/teaching it.
Look I get it I coach 7-8 year olds and I don’t want to over technical at this age but I also believe in doing things the right way. I believe as a coach I need to be installing the proper things so they are not developing bad habits that need to be corrected down the road. More than anything I just want to know for the future. I want to make sure I’m doing right by the girls and I’m not some bs hitting guru just from watching YouTube thats out here destroying girls swings. Don’t beat me up to bad, I’m just an average dad/coach looking for input and ideas. Thanks in advance for any ideas and advice.

 

[_MIA_]

Outside of lots and lots of reps, at that age a good stance (but not overcoached..let them play around with their style within reason) and intent to hit the ball hard are the most important things imo. Try and get them to do what you want through goal driven activities vs lots of verbal instruction. For example play HR derby with them on front toss where a HR is past location X in the air or have a contest where the kid who hits the most line drives over the L-screen is the winner (where you work on pitches middle out) . Teach them to do self toss and have them play HR derby that way where they start a certain distance from the fence. Do HR derby with the tee where you work both regular swings and a Happy Gilmore type drill. Etc, etc....

 

[corlay]

where a HR is past location X in the air

yeah, when DD was 12U and younger, we would set front-toss goals for "balls that reach the OF grass in the air".
in those early days, a 50% success rate was outstanding.
Now, it's "balls that reach or clear the OF fence".
Fun to look back and reminisce, and understand the gains that have been made over the years....

 

[Rolling Hard]

I think you are moving in the right direction and you are doing these young ladies a great service. Seen too many coaches with the "let them figure it out" approach with horrible results. Girls dropping out of the game at 12u because they have the same swing they had when they were 7 years old and they cant compete. Most don't figure it out. The deltoid drill helps get the torso involved and arms out of it. Throwing frisbees (fun) with their bottom hand can get them to feel the torso coil/load and release/ rotate.

 

[_MIA_]

I think you are moving in the right direction and you are doing these young ladies a great service. Seen too many coaches with the "let them figure it out" approach with horrible results. Girls dropping out of the game at 12u because they have the same swing they had when they were 7 years old and they cant compete. Most don't figure it out. The deltoid drill helps get the torso involved and arms out of it. Throwing frisbees (fun) with their bottom hand can get them to feel the torso coil/load and release/ rotate.

With regards to bold, maybe, but I would also contend that most kids don't hit nearly enough...

 

[Cornbread]

I would harp on a couple things with them:
1.) Think hit with legs. Most will be all upper body. Tell them to hold balance after every tee and front toss swing.
2.) Hit balls over the lake (the infield is the lake). Most are gonna chop wood. Get balls elevated on tees and front toss. No balls on the ground before they reach the pitcher.
3.) Do the PVC pipe progressions by Justin Stone (YouTube). Will help begin to incorporate some of the feels without a bat and ball.

Glad to have good coaches working with girls this age. Can absolutely change the course of their softball lives! Good luck!