daughter hitting

See if she can stand with her feet closer together and shorten her stride a bit.

The swing is great but she loses her legs in the swing at times. She loses her weight behind the swing in other words.

I know she doesn't get her front side loaded as much as she should,but she has tried a narrow stance and stepping but she is not comfortable with it,not sure why.

It might be something we try to revisit from time to time to see if will click for her.The wider stance really helps with her contact.

This quote by Quincy is understandable.....And, I believe a good observation....

quote:

She loses her weight behind the swing in other words.

I think her lower half is not the problem, though....If she's comfortable with the wide stance, I would say no problem....

Her problem is top arm action.....Tom Guerry has always said, "arm action is King"....He's right....

Consider this....Would she throw with that same arm action she is swinging with?

Siggy has some good looks at softball swings

Jessica Mendoza is a lefty.

http://imageevent.com/siggy/hitting/olympic;jsessionid=rt1z9vm8h2.kizo_s

Nice video comparing hitting a baseball pitch to a softball pitch. Jennie Finch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_de3HJvO-N8&feature=related

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:
Her problem is top arm action.....Tom Guerry has always said, "arm action is King"....He's right....

Consider this....Would she throw with that same arm action she is swinging with?

I hate to say it but she probably would. She does not throw very well at all,it has always been a struggle for her BUT the good news is after 1 day of the high school coaches working with her,she was 50% better so I believe it is there.The late start really has slowed her in that area.


I also agree with the obsevation by Quincy but not exactly what the best way to fix it is.

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:
Tfox, she can be a really good hitter....She seems to be naturally gifted, IMO......

This quote by Quincy is understandable.....And, I believe a good observation....

quote:

She loses her weight behind the swing in other words.

I think her lower half is not the problem, though....If she's comfortable with the wide stance, I would say no problem....

Her problem is top arm action.....Tom Guerry has always said, "arm action is King"....He's right....

Consider this....Would she throw with that same arm action she is swinging with?

Now is probably a good time to work on the top hand action but before when I worked on it,she was losing her hip rotation(actually not losing it but it was late and well after the hands had gotten to the ball) so I had to back out of it and concentrate on the hips.

Quincy,those videos were awesome but I would like to see a softball hitter try to hit the 95 mph fastball.We must also remember that this softball pitcher is one of the best in the world but cool none the less.


My daughter actually got her arm BROKE by a pitch last summer.She was stepping forward to slap and the pitch came inside and broke both bones in her arm.


When she stepped back on the field for the first time since it happened just so happened to be against the girl that broke her arm,how intimidating would that be?

She got a base hit and bunted for a base hit in that game.

quote:

......so I had to back out of it and concentrate on the hips.

Someday, maybe you'll learn isolation drills are mostly useless........But, maybe you won't since you believe in teaching 'em how to rotate......Remember, they do graduate from High School eventually.......

Maybe she'll figure it out...I hope she does....

She is spinning...

She is pulling the knob and not torquing it, like today's greats:
http://www.recruit.hittingillustrated.com/RunningStart.htm"]

quote:

Originally posted by CRadlo:
She is spinning...

She is pulling the knob and not torquing it, like today's greats:
http://www.recruit.hittingillustrated.com/RunningStart.htm"]

Actually, unlike your video where you head/body travels a large distance, this young lady keeps her head in the same spot. Reference video with CRadlo:



I'd say that in that regard (head location) she is not unlike:



Put your cursor on Ortiz's head and you'll see that it doesn't leave the cursor. She does have other problems but they can easily be addressed.

PM TFox!

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:

quote:

......so I had to back out of it and concentrate on the hips.

The arms work, the hips don't work...The hips work, the arms don't work.....Teach it, no, back out......Concentrate on another area........Someday, maybe you'll learn isolation drills are useless........But, maybe you won't since you believe in teaching 'em how to rotate......Remember, they do graduate eventually.......

Maybe she'll figure it out...I hope she does....

IMO,it is esier to to work from the hips out or bottom up than from the hands down.You have not even seen her swing the other way but yet you say this is the wrong way(heck,she couldn't even make contact the other way).Maybe she would graduate eventually but they have to be succesful NOW and still graduate.

I knew I would regret this. Please don't turn this into a normal my way is better than your way thread.

I respect your opinion and actually like alot of your input but there is more than 1 way to get to and end result and the student should be the indicator of the method,not an agenda.Why do you think I asked so many questions,even some directed to you specifically?


NO,she is not there and there is still much work to do and yes the hands need to get more involved to graduate the swing but the swing working the other way just wasn't producing results.Actually it was and they were ALL bad.

I do believe that now some things are clicking and going back to the hands will produce results,but it just wasn't happening before.

tfox,

Not bad. Alot of natural hand/eye coordination and she attacks the ball.

She is spread out a bit too much...takes alot of core strength to rotate the hips being that spread out. Very few MLB players can spread as wide as your daughter and properly rotate the hips. I know she likes wide...but she looks extremely wide. About 6 inches at least. Perhaps no-stride will help.

Hands...need to work the bottom hand under better and get the lead elbow up during the swing ( some swings she did a great job of this). Sometimes it looked like she rolled over a bit. Back shoulder/elbow is lower than front shoulder/elbow...at least even them up. Alot of knee flex particularly in the back leg...would like to see her taller on the backside. Alot of this nit picking because she's doing a pretty decent job in the clip. Tell her to trust her hands.

Basically, echoing what Quincy and Bluedog said earlier.

Hitting a softball is a totally different animal than a baseball. I would bet money that a good girls fastpitch team would have more success initailly hitting a baseball than the guys would hitting a fastpitch softball. Not talking about power just solid contact. The reason I 'd bet money is I've seen these contests before and not once did the boys come close to matching the girls as far as contact is concerned. In each case, you had boys and girls teams that had very successful seasons doing a joint fund raiser. Bragging rights may have had something to with it also.LOL

Your daughter seems to be a good contact hitter. Are you trying for home run power? Can't say this politely so I won't try...I have never seen a consistent petite/thin ( your daughter) power/HR hitter in girl's fastpitch at any level. The girl power hitters are Clydesdales to be blunt...big frame/big bone girls. Even Ms. Finch is a horse compared to most of the girls..she certainly isn't dainty.

Now that I've offended any females reading, I'm off to the doghouse...Good luck.

S. Abrams,

I hope my daughter proves your theory wrong. LOL! However, she's 14, 5'10" (Yes, she's grown another inch.) and weights 140. She does tend to hit with power. However, she also squats 145 lbs in 3 sets of 10 3 days a week along with her other lifting.

TFox, you're right and it is a shame, that there seems to be an element again on the site of heres our way and your way is wrong. It does dampen the discussion as your obviously percieve. Understand that having an opinion on what someone does right or wrong is one thing. To post with an open agenda without constructive dialoge is another.

S abrams,not looking for power at all,just the ability to get singles and a double every now and then.She has extreme speed (saw her reach 1st as a 10 year old at 3.5 seconds from contact on a bunt,60' bases )and that is the main focus and she will be a designated slap hitter from the looks of things but needs a solid swing to compliment that AND keep defense honest.

She has triple duty at this point learning 3 different techniques,slap,bunt and hit.

You think she is peteite,I hadn't noticed.

Her legs are proportionally long and I believe that is why she feels more comfotable with a wide stance.

quote:

Originally posted by CoachB25:
S. Abrams,

I hope my daughter proves your theory wrong. LOL! However, she's 14, 5'10" (Yes, she's grown another inch.) and weights 140. She does tend to hit with power. However, she also squats 145 lbs in 3 sets of 10 3 days a week along with her other lifting.

.

WOW,14 and 5' 10" 140.

She is my size. Actually slightly bigger.

My daughter is 5'2" and 94#'s,I doubt power will ever be her main goal.

But she is a black belt as well as my son so don't mess with her.

quote:

.....it just wasn't happening before.

Because you don't know how to teach it....

And, CoachB25, I'm being very constructive, IMO....

I asked.......

quote:

Her problem is top arm action.....Tom Guerry has always said, "arm action is King"....He's right....

Consider this....Would she throw with that same arm action she is swinging with?

Tfox answered..........

quote:

I hate to say it but she probably would. She does not throw very well at all,it has always been a struggle for her.......

This was after Tfox asked this...

quote:

OK,what do you think given what I have just described,points of emphasis at this point?

Very constructive, IMO!!

Bleudog,That may be.I don't deny it.

So it wouldn't make sense to stick with something neither one of us were getting results out of.


I am glad that now she has a staff of people that have seen thousands of girls and will be working with her further.

What she has learned has mostly come from the varsity coach because he is a friend and has worked with her but mostly he worked with me on how to teach her.PLUS some of the tips and knowledge picked up on here.

quote:

Bleudog,That may be.I don't deny it.

So why not learn it?

BD,you added some to your response since I responded.

I agree her hands seem to be a problem and I agree that maybe now would be a good time to address them.But you also indicated that isolation drills don't work which is what started some of this.They work in all levels of sport so imo,hitting isn't any different.

I have even seen a few of the prominent members of this site use them on here to help some hitters.

Coach has given me some nice drills to try and see if they clean things up as well.