Use of a "baseball swing" in fastpitch?

[Eric F]

Nope. I'm not a guru on anything. I'm just a dad trying to help his kid be as good as she wants to be. I only regurgitate information I've learned from people way smarter than me.

 

[JJsqueeze]

And humble too...everyone is regurgitating info they have learned though. The smart ones realize it.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

My car stopped working the other day. I had my mechanic neighbor come over to take a look at it. He popped the hood, said "distributor cap", slammed the hood closed, and walked away. He was just as helpful as the above post.

C'mon, FFS. You can do better than that. How about some info for the OP on what "bat drag" is, and maybe a usable suggestion on how to make an improvement?

EricF ... it isn't like I haven't written on the topic ... many times. Those interested will perform a search ... and then ask questions if they need further clarification.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

I don't think I get your point FFS. Maybe if you posted a GIF of this kid next to an MLB hitter it would make more sense. preferably from the Nationals or another team with a red Jersey so we would make sure that the red jersey is not contributing to her bat drag.

I suppose it can be confusing to see a kid totally eliminate the "short-to" / "around" from their swing, to see it in a professional swing, and then see that the professional isn't wearing a red shirt.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Said differently, there is no 'around' in this swing ... there is only an 'along' ... there is a drop the barrel head and then fling the barrel head mentality. Replace the "drop the barrel head" mentality with the "around" / "short-to" mentality. Replace the mentality of first leveling the barrel to a perceived height, based on the "reading of the pitch", with a mentality of "working the barrel to the ball as you swing". Learn to activate the hands and forearms by "working the barrel" ... instead of having "dead hands" and simply lowering the barrel behind your head as a means of "leveling to the ball" ... instead "level as you swing".

The "short-to" ... the 'along' ... needs to be developed.

During the "Around" the barrel is rotated 'around' the rear forearm, whereas during the "Along" the barrel is flailed/cast/sent/thrown 'along' the rear forearm.

Around:

Along:

Around:

 

[Eric F]

Good post, FFS.

 

[Greenmonsters]

I find "Short to...throw through" to be more intuitive and helpful

 

[CMMom1740]

Good post, FFS.

Indeed. I find visuals to be very helpful. Given I don't have a baseball background or anything like that, some of the terminology is Greek to me.

 

[Eric F]

Indeed. I find visuals to be very helpful. Given I don't have a baseball background or anything like that, some of the terminology is Greek to me.

Which is exactly why I was encouraging FFS to offer more than one comment using a term that might not be familiar to a newbie (nothing wrong with being a newbie).

 

[TMoney]

One thing I see right away that is common in most young players I have worked with is that her back elbow is "sliding" in front of the hands. I would start here and correct this first by having her feel the connection between the rear elbow and her backside ribcage. The hands should always remain in front of the rear elbow.

You can correct this by taking dry swings to launch (knob of bat pointing to pitcher), no follow through, and video the swings so she can watch the connection. It will take a few weeks or even months to correct the muscle memory, but its a must.