Swing Analysis

quote:

Originally posted by larrythompson:
Guys & Gals,

Couple of short video clips of my 10 year old hitting soft toss whiffle balls in the driveway on a rainy morning. He says he wants to play travel baseball this season, but he has never really worked at the game...and as long as he refused to work on the side, I told him we'd stick with rec ball. So this doesn't seem like it is coming from dad, I implore you to offer critique on his swing and tips for improvement.

Thanks!

The video clips can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFNgDpT1nWo&

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UqfFo-J4D0&

Well, first I would get rid of "getting the front foot down early". bbscout (who sadly died nearly 6 years ago) hated the front foot down early. He was right. It prevents loading and doesn't really have any positive effect. He needs to learn to coil.

So: have him press his foot clockwise against the ground. His knee will come in. Have him pull back with his lower back and he'll coil. He may feel like something is "too tight" in his hip socket. That is normal, don't worry about it. This "coil" will help him move forward. But, once he does it, he will be afforded the best adjustability and the correct lower body action. He will "stay back" until contact and be able to check the swing very late.

As for his upper body action, have him "walk away from the hands" and then pull the handle rearward with his top hand. It is an upper body move, and this "rearward pull" should FEEL like it's starting just before the hips fire, but it happens in sequential order.

If you have any questions, please PM me. Despite some of my (admittedly) caustic posts, I do enjoy helping people improve.

good point about the getting the front foot down early cue..bbscout knew that was a horrible cue..he also knew the value of tip and rip and the curse of pcr..if it wasnt for tom guerry and bbscout my second kid would be spinning his way onto a s****r field by now.

quote:

Originally posted by wogdoggy:
good point about the getting the front foot down early cue..bbscout knew that was a horrible cue..he also knew the value of tip and rip and the curse of pcr..if it wasnt for tom guerry and bbscout my second kid would be spinning his way onto a s****r field by now.

As Swingbuilder says: "The hands and hips DRIVE the swing". Not "the hands hold on while the hips drive". Please, if you believe that "the hands hold on" and nothing else, try to hit an outside pitch the opposite way 20 times in BP. If you can do it, then I'll shut up about hands and hips. But, I feel pretty safe in saying that nobody who believes that is going to do it.

Also, you have to love how the site automatically blocks out s****r.

Any good video and explanation of tip and rip out there?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_p0NIQpZm0

Yeah, I found that one! Actually I know wahat it is but I was looking for some clips from hittingillustrated or something. My son has departed a bit from this approach and wanted to remind him of what he used to do with video. I was able to locate 4 or 5 clips and have sent them to him.

I am trying very hard to stay out of his head this season, I hope I get better as the days roll on, lol!

quote:

Originally posted by floridafan:
Yeah, I found that one! Actually I know wahat it is but I was looking for some clips from hittingillustrated or something. My son has departed a bit from this approach and wanted to remind him of what he used to do with video. I was able to locate 4 or 5 clips and have sent them to him.

I am trying very hard to stay out of his head this season, I hope I get better as the days roll on, lol!

I would search here for posts by bbscout, and over at Baseball Fever for posts by Dougmac (aka DMAC). Both names belong to the same man. Swingbuster also has a few posts that are useful for it. I'll link you to the full presentation:

http://www.slideshare.net/Five...s-total-presentation

Feel free to ask questions!