Batting question of the week.

Great question

Great question! We've tried to "scoot up" in the box (until the ump says back up), breath and swing....LOL, heavier bat(Worked better this weekend)

 

A Couple of Possible Things Going On

Cheeze- without seeing the young lady in person, there are usually a couple of things that are the cause to the "pulling down the line" problem.

The first thing you should look for is how quickly is she rolling her wrists/hands after contact. I would day at least 70% of hitters roll their wrists too soon after (some even before) contact. All good hitters get good arm extension AFTER contact, with the bat end pointing at the pitcher, then the wrist roll to a high follow through. Rolling the wrists early cause either a weak ground ball to the ss and sometimes a hard pull to that side. A key to pick this up is to watch the swing follow through. If the bat finishes below the shoulder, chances are the wrists rolled to soon.

Another thing that can cause the hard pull is the bat casting away from the body at the beginning of the swing. Usually he batters who have the pulling issue have quick hands, but a long swing. The swing path is very long, but the quick hands allow the batter to compensate for the casting, but you almost always get a hard pull when they make contact.

Ways to correct- First there is no quick fix, especially this time of year. But there are some things and drills that can help. The first thing to do to correct the wrist roll would be to talk and drill bat extension. You have got to make sure both elbows are bent at contact while maintaining the "palm up/palm down" hand position as long through extension as possible.

A good tee drill to help with this is to break the swing on to different pieces and swing in slow motion. For example, with a ball on a tee and in slow motion, have the batter start her swing with hands higher than normal, bring her hands across her chest towards her front hip (while keeping wrist cocked) and bat bottom end toward the ground. Once hands have come across chest (they must stay close to chest) release the hands/wrists and take bat head to the ball. With the bat barely touching the ball, check to see if both elbows are still bent, and the hands are in the palm up/palm down position, then have the bat push (not hit) the ball off the tee. The right arm would simulate punching someone in the stomach. Have the batter maintain the palm up/ palm down position as long as possible, then extend the hands towards the pitcher, hold for a second, then continue with a high follow through. (kiss the bicep is a good mental picture I use for the follow through).

Watching where the ball rolled will tell you a lot about wrist roll. You want the ball to go straight, but if the wrist rolled early, the ball will go left. I would recommend 100 a day of this drill.

To correct the casting and wrist roll, I have a drill i use with just a hammer, with a ball on a tee. This drill is just like like the one handed bat drill, but instead of using a bat, use a hammer.

This drill can be done on one knee or standing, but to start, it should be done 1/2 speed or in slow motion. About 95% of the girls I have worked with on this drill miss the ball completely on the first several tries, even at half speed or slower.

They key to this drill is to have the player to take the hammer from her shoulder to the ball while keeping her hands close to her chest and wrist cocked. At contact, the elbow should be bent, she should she fire her wrist and take her hand straight towards the net without rolling her wrist. Point the hammer towards the net. You want the ball to pop off the hammer in a straight line. If the ball goes anywhere but straight, you know the wrist rolled too soon or the hand was to far away from the body or BOTH.

A good visual key in this drill is to set up another tee and ball about 5-8 ft. directly in front of the first tee and have the batter try to hit one ball into the other, or at least try to take the hammer towards the second ball. The follow through should be long and straight ahead, not low and around to the side.

Coaching points on this drill are looking for the hand to stay close to the body as the hammer approaches the ball, elbows bent and wrist cocked at contact, then wrist snap at the ball and a long straight follow through. Again, 100 of these a day with each hand will make a huge difference.

If all else fails, just tell her to hit the ball into the first base dugout...lol!

Sorry to get so long, but to to the drill correctly, you can't leave anything out.

I hope this is of some benefit and let me know if I can me of more help. I would be more than happy to come out and work with your girls.

 

Bmac1 ... good advice !!!

 

Yes !!!

Cheeze I'll add one thing,you don't want to ever decrease a kid's bat speed. Tweak everything else,but never bat speed.. Big M gives good advice !!

Guru

 

Great Example

Here is a photo of a young lady from ACHS who is going towards great extension, still in palm up/palm down position, elbows still with some bend, with excellent alignment and good weight transfer coming. I would say she hit this ball a long way by looking at her back foot. It is off the ground and that tells me she is getting well timed (not early on front side) and full weight transfer to her front leg.

Just for comparison and not to criticize, look at the young lady in the background on deck. She is timing the pitcher with her swing, but as you can see, she has rolled her hands way to early. If it hasn't happened already, I'm sure coach S will get her corrected and swinging like the young lady in the foreground.

 

Great Advice - Now How Do I Get Her To Wait On The Pitch?

Bmac, awesome post. Mike Candrea recommended using a hammer for hitting drills at a clinic I attended several years ago.

My daughter is notorious for not waiting on the ball to get into the hitting zone.... How do we fix this? I have thrown BP to her, worked with her off machine, even thrown beach balls to her to exaggerate waiting... She hits fast pitching quite well. But, anyone in the low 50's gives her troubles.

I'm not sure if the answer is visualization or what it is. I know it is frustrating to old dad!

 

Play Pepper!

It didn't see Coach Candrea suggest the hammer, but rather i stole the idea from my good friend, Chief, the pitching coach. Chief uses a hammer drill to teach his girls wrist snap, and knowing wrist snap is also important in hitting, I thought the hammer concept would work. So I stole Chief's drill and modified it some.

As for waiting on the ball to get into the zone, this is a very good question. My oldest DD always had problems with slower pitchers, but the way we fixed this was to play pepper with the pitcher.

Rather than looking to take a power swing, I had her to feel as if she was playing pepper and just concentrate on bent elbows, wrists snap and hands to to the pitcher. She would keep her hands a little higher at the start of the swing, keeping the wrists cocked a little longer, but would focus on "punching" the ball back at the pitchers head. I also wouldn't stress the follow through, more just simple contact with the ball.

You will be amazed at how hard the ball will be hit with just trying to make contact. Let me know if this helps!

 

See the ball in flight from the pitcher before committing to toe touch...
Most kids stride before the ball is released, and their
momentum carries them through the pitch, before it arrives.

That's why you throw off speed and breaking stuff.

Same principal as the footwork a first baseman uses... stride to the
flight of the ball... after it is released...

Striding before the ball is released does not allow you to adjust to
movement from the throw...whether it is good or bad..

It could cost you a game or a National Championship...

Ask UNC Baseball........

 

This thread got me wondering, is anybody using Right View Pro? If so, is it worth the expense?