What do you see?

[FiveFrameSwing]

Not long ago I was given a young B-level team to work with … many looked much worse than this. They all bought into working with me once/week. I took control of their ASA schedule and moved them all up to A-level where I had them play up 1 and 2 age levels. The logic was to bury them … and then help coach them out of the hole they were in. The ladies responded quite well. They all continue to play A-level now … one jumped up from 14U to 18Gold … she recently returned from a CA tournament where she finished her last at-bat with a stand-up triple scoring two RBIs ,,, she tells me she's loving the game ... while playing at a much much much higher level than she ever thought she would play at. Many on that team are now on teams that play a National caliber schedule. My point is … you can turn these girls around … but it will take work … hard dedicated work on your part … loads of individual attention … and they will need to buy into putting in the effort.

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

Not long ago I was given a young B-level team to work with … many looked much worse than this. They all bought into working with me once/week. I took control of their ASA schedule and moved them all up to A-level where I had them play up 1 and 2 age levels. The logic was to bury them … and then help coach them out of the hole they were in. The ladies responded quite well. They all continue to play A-level now … one jumped up from 14U to 18Gold … she recently returned from a CA tournament where she finished her last at-bat with a stand-up triple scoring two RBIs. Many on that team are now on teams that play a National caliber schedule. My point is … you can turn these girls around … but it will take work … hard dedicated work on your part … loads of individual attention … and they will need to buy into putting in the effort.

I plan to work hard with the ladies all Winter and I truly believe that they will put forth the effort. This will be a challenge that I look forward to. To me , this is the essence of true coaching. Now I have to execute my plans

 

[nanotech14]

cyclone, are you sure your dds back is feeling good or better, so looks like she could be concerned about it in her swing. I hope not and her back is better, but a back injury can take along time to heal and even alonger time to get it out mentally.

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

cyclone, are you sure your dds back is feeling good or better, so looks like she could be concerned about it in her swing. I hope not and her back is better, but a back injury can take along time to heal and even alonger time to get it out mentally.

I dont know for sure , but I believe she is healed physically (She ran cross country in the Fall). Could just be a mental thing. She lost total confidence in herself when she came back from the injury. She is also recovering from a bout with pneumonia which is affecting her some. Good news is that once she saw today's video , she was mad as hell

 

[nanotech14]

I dont know for sure , but I believe she is healed physically (She ran cross country in the Fall). Could just be a mental thing. She lost total confidence in herself when she came back from the injury.

it might not have been confidence in herself, rather her worried about re-injuring her self batting, a lot of torque on the lower back hitting. It sounds like you are ready to take this on and good luck, keep us updated

 

[straightleg]

I dont know for sure , but I believe she is healed physically (She ran cross country in the Fall). Could just be a mental thing. She lost total confidence in herself when she came back from the injury. She is also recovering from a bout with pneumonia which is affecting her some. Good news is that once she saw today's video , she was mad as hell

My younger DD tore her ACL in basketball her Freshman year. Senior now. Still on her mind from time to time.
I would say give her time and go slow with it, with the back.
I am a big believer in jumping rope to build up things. Total work out. Might give it some thought.


SL

 

[RayR]

IMO - I think all of the hitters could also use a heavy dose of this as well - we use a pole that is wrapped with a padded wall with diagonal lines that match up with the stick you are using in this drill (elbow / hands / barrel in diagonally stacked line at contact)....and although I believe there is no talk of turning the barrel - the way the top wrist is creating lag and then releasing the barrel into contact is what I believe to be training the hands to turn the barrel...



And they could also use a lot of this drill...and something to pay attention to is Sean Casey's hip bump to get the swing started....watch a lot of girl struggle with this drill because the lower half doesn't move and they drop the hands and sweep and lose their balance....ask them to move their hips like S Casey is doing and they learn how to start the swing with lower half....this is great for recall later on when they are facing the machine or live...."remember the one knee drill"

Balance & Elvis Move - YouTube

This is not a perfect demo of my DD, but it shows in slow motion the hips in front of the hands. I do this in slow motion then speed it up little by little hitting balls off a tee. Most get the feeling in a short time. I try to keep it simple.


SL

 

[redhotcoach]

Balance & Elvis Move - YouTube

This is not a perfect demo of my DD, but it shows in slow motion the hips in front of the hands. I do this in slow motion then speed it up little by little hitting balls off a tee. Most get the feeling in a short time. I try to keep it simple.


SL

Definitely do a lot of this...or at least similiar. When the whole team is together hitting, we will do slow mo to contact, low pitch, mid pitch, and high pitch, making sure their shoulder tilt angle matches their bat angle.
Also, get these poor girls some good level front toss, everything is dropping to the ground at their front knee.

Imo the one knee drill is good if for girl's that are 90% better then most, that are working on their swing individually several times a week. I use it with dd and one other girl to work on using their hands to turn the barrel quickly to the ball. I really think it could make arm swingers worse.

Team drills we do are: slo mo to contact, slow mo full, top hand only swing with small bat, upside down top hand drill, split grip swing, either drill, and full tee swings, then live pitching. I have parent helpers at 4 different stations that I have told what we are looking for at each of their stations. I keep myself free to walk between stations giving individual advice and adding individual work where needed. That is 2 hour team practice.

Really hope your dd is feeling good, back pain can really take the wind out of the sails.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Definitely do a lot of this...or at least similiar. When the whole team is together hitting, we will do slow mo to contact, low pitch, mid pitch, and high pitch, making sure their shoulder tilt angle matches their bat angle.
Also, get these poor girls some good level front toss, everything is dropping to the ground at their front knee.

Imo the one knee drill is good if for girl's that are 90% better then most, that are working on their swing individually several times a week. I use it with dd and one other girl to work on using their hands to turn the barrel quickly to the ball. I really think it could make arm swingers worse.

Team drills we do are: slo mo to contact, slow mo full, top hand only swing with small bat, upside down top hand drill, split grip swing, either drill, and full tee swings, then live pitching. I have parent helpers at 4 different stations that I have told what we are looking for at each of their stations. I keep myself free to walk between stations giving individual advice and adding individual work where needed. That is 2 hour team practice.

Really hope your dd is feeling good, back pain can really take the wind out of the sails.

I agree with that. Don't look for a cure from such drills. These girls demonstrate a basic lack of understanding. A drill like this could easily promote an arm swing if players aren't well instructed. Many drills, and this one included, are only as good as the instruction that is taking place.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Another pitcher. No confidence at the plate. She was actually much better this year than in the past. She had previously struggled with even making contact. This year only struck out 7 times in 150+ plate appearances. But , due to mechanics , she lacks power and struggles with really good pitching

I can understand why she lacks confidence. She likely feels what we see ..... that being that her swing is not very good. I wouldn't lie to her ... her feel is real ... her swing truly is not good. She disconnects from the start ... lowers her hands while reading the pitch and swings with level shoulders. Sequence trumps all ... and that's where I'd begin with this girl ... and in the process teach her how to use her body to generate SnF launch mechanics.