Tips/drills for getting DD to use her hips and lower body

[BB875]

My DD is a good contact hitter, very strong kid for her age(14U), has one of the better batting averages on her TB team, but uses mostly her upper body for her swing. Over the winter I would like to work with her to improve her swing.

I ask this question in the "Hitting Practical" section because I am not going to completely redo her entire swing. She has a nice swing, but its like her timing is off and her upper body starts moving before her hips. She finishes late as a result, I believe. I love the phrase "hips lead the hands" because if she were to swing in that manner, her hits would be more powerful.

Any ideas on drills we can work on to correct her muscle memory?

I certainly appreciate any help.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

From the sound of it, your daughter has a sequence issue.

If she's hitting fine, and you don't have a desire for a meaningful change, then simply move forward and wait until your daughter faces better pitching and then runs into a brick wall.

"Hips leading hands" ... is not something that you simply think about and try to force ... that approach will fail in the batter's box.

"Hips leading hands" ... is a natural result of using a proper sequence ... a result that doesn't require a conscious effort in the batter's box ... it is a result of a good sequence.

I've seen dads work with their kids for years trying to force "hips leading hands" ... and it was painful to observe ... they literally spent years attempting to force "hips leading hands", only to see their practice efforts fail when the DD would face a pitcher. They also didn't wish to make a meaningful change ... they attempted to believe they could just think about it in the batter's box ... and despite proving themselves wrong they kept plowing ahead. In practice swings they could realize the goal marginally ... but because they were out of sequence, they were doomed to fail ... and they did fail.

Make no mistake about it ... if the hips aren't leading, then she isn't using SnF mechanics ... she isn't using the mechanics that deliver the bat from 'launch' to 'contact' the fastest.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Having read through hundreds of hitting posts on this forum I wish there was a simple 10 step approach to the core movement that everyone agreed on. The reality is there are a lot of younger girls with bad swings that simply will never get it right. This could be a time issue, money issue, or simple lack of knowledge.

I teach hitting is like throwing to girls that have poor swings (or simply never had anyone show them the proper way).

Just my thoughts.

 

[Greenmonsters]

While an upper body swing may be working well now for your DD at 14U, these mechanics usually do not hold up well when facing older, bigger, faster, and more experienced pitchers. You need to decide whether you/your DD are willing to take a step or two backward temporarily as the trade off for significant longer term improvement. As FFS noted above, learning the proper sequence is not a swing tweak - it requires a lot of time and effort. The upside to going down that road is that she can be become a much better and successful hitter than she is now.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

GM is right ... if your daughter wishes to go far in this game, then she'll want to tackle this issue.

 

[redhotcoach]

IMO an athletic girl could change their swing to a high level swing and be successful over winter. If shes a good hitter and learns the mechanics of great hitters only good things will happen.

I saw a couple different 13u and 15u tb teams from the larger metro near you in July that had some really good hitters, someone has to be a good instructor over there.

 

[redhotcoach]

When I click it says document doesnt exist

 

[BB875]

I appreciate the comments and suggestions.

Here is a little video.
[video]https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzTO0LJYmEaiODFVNjBhc2M3RXc[/video]

 

[redhotcoach]

She spins (bug squishes). If everyone watched this 9 minute video they would need to move the fences back in softball.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

I appreciate the comments and suggestions.

Here is a little video.
[video]https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzTO0LJYmEaiODFVNjBhc2M3RXc[/video]

Some of the instruction I believe I heard here included … “let the shoulders do the work” … “don’t roll the hands”.