Vid of 8 year old - looking for feedback

[_MIA_]

Good advice so far. . Maybe your kid is different, but trying to tell my 9 year old something and expecting her to be able to incorporate it into her swing usually has
the same result as if I had asked her to solve the NP vs P problem. As others have suggested, sometimes finding drills which make it easier to isolate a certain movement pattern, in this
case "turning the barrel ", is a better solution. The link Eric gave looks pretty good, but admittedly I haven't tried it with my child.

Search the site for the "Braun drill (s)" which is a pretty good progression for trying to get the feel
for turning the barrel with your hands. I did that with my child as well as some swings from 1 knee (back knee with front leg out in front). If you search Casey drill you should be able to find it .

You may also see if starting with the barrel on her shoulder and having her swing from there helps. Once she gets the feel of that she can get back
to her normal setup (although you don't necessarily have to..see George Brett). It will also help with stopping her from dropping the barrel too far behind her
as FP26 alluded to.

Also if you have a video of her hitting live arm, post it (full speed..we can slow it down if necessary) or at least keep if for your reference.
Ultimately you want her live ball swing to work and while if she dragging the barrel off the tee she is probably doing it on pitched balls as well,
it is good to have a live ball swing checkpoint for future reference.

Finally, hopefully your chiild's improvement is monotonic in nature e.g. always improving, however I have found that with my kid it is often 2 steps forward and 1 step (hopefully only
1 but at times it seems like 10) steps back. Stay the course and be patient.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

In my experience and observation, the difference between 8yo and 10yo in terms of body awareness and comprehension can be pretty significant.

It isn't just age ... I'll come across kids that are 16 or older with significant body awareness issues. What may not be appreciated is that the baseball/softball swing is fairly athletic ... that point isn't always appreciated, and as a result you'll get kids attracted to a JV softball program with limited experience ... many haven't played another sport and turn to softball simply because they view it as a sport not needing much in terms of athleticism. The point being, that a lack of athleticism/body-awarness/usage-of-the-core doesn't simply go away simply by getting older. I'm all for kids playing multiple sports and working on building their athleticism ... it makes it a lot easier to work with them.

 

[Eric F]

It isn't just age ... I'll come across kids that are 16 or older with significant body awareness issues. What may not be appreciated is that the baseball/softball swing is fairly athletic ... that point isn't always appreciated, and as a result you'll get kids attracted to a JV softball program with limited experience ... many haven't played another sport and turn to softball simply because they view it as a sport not needing much in terms of athleticism. The point being, that a lack of athleticism/body-awarness/usage-of-the-core doesn't simply go away simply by getting older. I'm all for kids playing multiple sports and working on building their athleticism ... it makes it a lot easier to work with them.

Agreed 100%. I haven't worked with 16yos, but I've certainly come across 12-13yos who have poor body awareness. However, their language comprehension tends to be better than the younger kids - LOL.

Hitting is absolutely an athletic skill. No doubt about it.

 

[Rolling Hard]

FFS, Do you approve and see value the instructional video Eric posted (14)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEAwd8LCBXE&index=28&list=PLLo_t691U8DVQCriImV9Kt44VdEI6iFir

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

FFS, Do you approve and see value the instructional video Eric posted (14)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEAwd8LCBXE&index=28&list=PLLo_t691U8DVQCriImV9Kt44VdEI6iFir

I thought FP26 gave a thoughtful response.

I've used a similar progression before ... but instead of hitting into a tee I did it via front-toss.

Not a fan of arriving at impact with the rear-arm still in a Vee-orientation ... but the notion here is to get the torso working much more than it currently is for this kid, and having that goal will tend to encourage the torso to work more.

 

[Eric F]

FFS, Do you approve and see value the instructional video Eric posted (14)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEAwd8LCBXE&index=28&list=PLLo_t691U8DVQCriImV9Kt44VdEI6iFir

All drills are not for all hitters. I posted this one because I thought it might be helpful with the issues of this particular young player - introducing a feeling for powering the swing with the body, while reducing the involvement of the arms. Keeping in mind the age of the player, we need to think of working with large building blocks that will help form a foundation for the future. That said, I'm no expert. If someone has a better approach, please share it.

 

[Work=wins]

https://youtu.be/zYYxrt0602w

I would go with this. Once comfortable. I would go with front toss with the same progression.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Another pro describing what he does not do. He may feel what he is saying but that's not what's happening come game time. Feel as if your keeping the barrel above the hands. I like that. Feel being the key word. OP, I would not go with this teaching. Arms first then lower half? Could a 9 YO get confused ? Yep

 

[Rolling Hard]

Here is what he does game time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVh9a5_vA50

See 22 second mark. This is the position your DD needs to get into.

 

[Work=wins]

Another pro describing what he does not do. He may feel what he is saying but that's not what's happening come game time. Feel as if your keeping the barrel above the hands. I like that. Feel being the key word. OP, I would not go with this teaching. Arms first then lower half? Could a 9 YO get confused ? Yep

If you notice the young ladys body is way in front of the hands/bat. She has bat drag.
Doing the progression above will teach her to pivot the bat around her hands and not around her body. Using the hands properly is a key component to alleviating bat drag and having an adjustable swing. It’s a big fundamental that shouldn’t be ignored. As some others have said she needs to find the right pivot point for the bat to pivot around. The above drill is for that very thing.

Keeping the bat head up and having a feeling of swinging down will help with finding the right pivot and release point. Basically you can’t ‘cheat’. But you
must have the goal of a low line drive when practicing this mechanic. Pivoting and releasing the barrel will be a no teach if this drill can be mastered.

Don’t under estimate the hands.They control the swing.