I have a hitter that tends to really "loop" or drop the bat barrell low in the zone. This is great for low pitches as she stays very tall through the swing, but has a tendency to loopy with other pitches. Have tried all my stuff, any suggestions out there?
Trouble with looping
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- Oct 12, 2009
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Do you have any video? Was she taught to lean back toward the catcher to get on plane with the ball (aka Epstein)?
Tee on top of a bucket, top of strike zone. Have her come slo - mo to tee. elbow higher than hand, hand higher than barrel to ball. Go back and then swing full.
She will get tired of knocking the tee over, and fix her self. Then on a low tee, tilt over more but try to keep hands in same location across chest as it was on a high tee.
Straightleg
Yes, she was taught load up on back leg like Epstein. She did go to a camp where a guy gave a really bad tip of really rolling out to front foot as she would go through the ball, but that has been fixed. However, this looping came with it. She doesn't do it every time, but enough I have concerns
Straightleg, great drill.
Straightleg, great drill.
I have Epstein's material and he does not teach hitters to load up on the back leg. He teaches hitters to remain dynamically balanced throughout their swing with the weight maintained over the rear thigh. Epstein has also stated that keeping too much weight on the back leg can be just as bad as lunging.
Some parents who teach using Epstein's dvds may end up with a reverse weight shift. This is what happened to us. Not because Epstein teaches a reverse weight shift, but because the instructor (Me) at the time didn't understand dynamic balance. Many MLB hitters including Bonds hit off their back foot. But they do it with a proper weight shift.
IMO, loopy swings are caused by the arms disconnecting from the rear shoulder. Even with my daughter's reverse weight shift she hit really well and never had anything close to a loopy swing. She did have a tendency to miss letter high fastballs. Which only makes sense when you have a reverse weight shift and are not getting on plane with the pitch.
- Oct 12, 2009
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I've got a couple of D-1 college baseball players who have the same basic problem and were influenced by Epstein. Essentially, they are leaning too far back which results in too much of an uppercut. It's works against hanging curveballs, but not fastballs. It's just as bad as swinging down on the ball.
It absolutely isn't going to work against a riseball.
- Oct 12, 2009
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While this is true, I have seen some people interpret Epstein's stuff as advocating a pretty significant uppercut.
You see the same thing with Lau Sr.'s stuff. In some cases people teach stuff that he didn't actually believe in, but you can understand why they came to those conclusions.
I have seen some of the same stuff by Epstein and I agree with both of you - hanging on the back laeg can be as bad as lunging (this is not waht she is doing at all). I do think you might be right in a little disconnect from the shoulders. She does do a really nice job of getting back to what I would call "neutral" which I think is what you are referring to with a static balance position. I think here is one of the major differences between softball and baseball. Ted Williams promotes a slight uppercut to the ball simply because of the trajectory of the ball. All of you have given great suggestions though and I thank you.
Epstein has stated that big, strong power hitters tend to have more backward tilt than smaller line drive type hitters. One thing that Epstein emphasizes is that all hitters need to know what type of hitter they are. I teach my daughter to hit everything in the air, which is what Ted did. I know in fastpitch that borders on sacrilege. But in the air does not mean she tries to hit fly balls. She tries to square it up and hit line drives. IOW, she tries to drive the ball. I don't want her to hit fly balls unless we have a runner on 3rd with less than two out; then I'm ok with it.
CO said:
"Was she taught to lean back toward the catcher to get on plane with the ball (aka Epstein)?"
This is a good way to make sure the epstein system does not work.
A better description of the Epstein action is that the axis always stays the same or gets more upright during "drop and tilt".
more upright for high heater. stops getting more upright sooner for low/offspeed.
actively leaning axis back usually means reverse pivot and is not of the type of dynamic balance epstein (or well) describes
"Was she taught to lean back toward the catcher to get on plane with the ball (aka Epstein)?"
This is a good way to make sure the epstein system does not work.
A better description of the Epstein action is that the axis always stays the same or gets more upright during "drop and tilt".
more upright for high heater. stops getting more upright sooner for low/offspeed.
actively leaning axis back usually means reverse pivot and is not of the type of dynamic balance epstein (or well) describes
