another...another...another 10u Swing

[lhowser]

I thought it would be fun and interesting for you coaches of young ones to see these young swings and I'll give you a quick note of what I am focusing on with each one. Footage from our first scrimmage against a pretty quick and somewhat wild pitcher. We will be a 10U team this summer.
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April – Maintain front arm angle. Connect and rotate. start with hips!
Becca- Maintain front arm angle. Move barrel by externally rotating the back arm in connection with hip rotation
Cassie - Maintain front arm angle. Move barrel by externally rotating the back arm in connection with hip rotation. Only swing at pitches lower than the Shaq’s armpit.
Emilie – I like a lot of her swing. She needs a running start. Good bunting posture…just the way we teach it.
Faith – I don’t instruct her. She is a student of someone who was a student of the most successful travel hitting team in our state. I don’t agree with the method of pulling the knob in but the coach who taught this method has bunches of successful kids at high levels.
Ja’Maya – she is strong and I like her progress. Goal - keep her connected and in her shoes.
Lexi – getting there. We need connection to hip rotation as she begins that turn
Sammy – first step…she needs a weight transfer. Maintain front arm angle. Connect and rotate

 

[lhowser]

What is nice about this video is it is the real deal. Most of these kids blast the ball off the tee with much better form. They can hit front toss too. That pony tail in the circle however is another story...

 

[Chris O'Leary]

April – Maintain front arm angle. Connect and rotate. start with hips!
Becca- Maintain front arm angle. Move barrel by externally rotating the back arm in connection with hip rotation
Cassie - Maintain front arm angle. Move barrel by externally rotating the back arm in connection with hip rotation. Only swing at pitches lower than the Shaq’s armpit.
Emilie – I like a lot of her swing. She needs a running start. Good bunting posture…just the way we teach it.
Faith – I don’t instruct her. She is a student of someone who was a student of the most successful travel hitting team in our state. I don’t agree with the method of pulling the knob in but the coach who taught this method has bunches of successful kids at high levels.
Ja’Maya – she is strong and I like her progress. Goal - keep her connected and in her shoes.
Lexi – getting there. We need connection to hip rotation as she begins that turn
Sammy – first step…she needs a weight transfer. Maintain front arm angle. Connect and rotate

Good to hear from others who actually work with players.

April's a caster/arm swinger (aka hitting from the top). I had one of those this year, and my cue to him was to hit the ball with his back shoulder.

Becca is a classic level swinger. I had a 4th grade boy who did this this year. Notice how, regardless of the height of the pitch, she puts exactly the same swing on the ball (petty much exact same height). She's got to learn how to tilt to adjust. She also drops vertically down to adjust down.

Cassie's got to learn to not swing at anything over her shoulders, among other things.

Emilie's swing may be a little slow, but she could also just be starting it late. Above average mechanics, if she can maintain them while swinging faster.

Faith's bat position at set up isn't my favorite, but some people teach it because Pujols kind of does that. You also see it in linear knob pullers. She looks strong. She looked like she decided to start her swing too late.

 

[RayR]

So true...

What is nice about this video is it is the real deal. Most of these kids blast the ball off the tee with much better form. They can hit front toss too. That pony tail in the circle however is another story...

 

[lhowser]

April is my kid. You should see her off the tee. awesome mechanics. In a game she

1. drops her hands straight down
2. straightens her arms
3. casts and arm swings

She has still had a lot of success because she has a great game attitude.

I think I can fix that swing by cutting off McDonalds, I-Carly and her MP3 player until she improves!

 

[Chris O'Leary]

April is my kid. You should see her off the tee. awesome mechanics. In a game she

1. drops her hands straight down
2. straightens her arms
3. casts and arm swings

She has still had a lot of success because she has a great game attitude.

I think I can fix that swing by cutting off McDonalds, I-Carly and her MP3 player until she improves!

Been there.

Casting and bat drag definitely work off a tee.

Kids tend to optimize for the level they are at. My girls are moving from coach pitch to kid pitch this year, and I expect a lot of their swings will fall apart this year.

 

[lhowser]

Becca is a classic level swinger. I had a 4th grade boy who did this this year. Notice how, regardless of the height of the pitch, she puts exactly the same swing on the ball (petty much exact same height). She's got to learn how to tilt to adjust. She also drops vertically down to adjust down.

She put one over the fence this fall. 186' fence with a 30" Rockettech. Strong 10 year old. She also strikes out a lot unless they happen to pitch it where she swings.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

She put one over the fence this fall. 186' fence with a 30" Rockettech. Strong 10 year old. She also strikes out a lot unless they happen to pitch it where she swings.

I bet she was a terror in coach pitch or machine pitch, but she's got to learn to adjust.

I have seen the same thing in my boys in the first year of kid pitch after years of machine pitch. I like machine pitch (and coach pitch) in some ways, but it's too consistent and can mask some problems.

 

[RayR]

lhowser - I would go with less tee work except for inside tee stuff (Yee drill) and high/low tee

We didn't have tees and we learned how to hit. More front and side toss. Joe Mauer grew up on a drop toss device and hit in a cage...

You can force an adjustment doing a low inside side toss. I sometimes will front toss alternating between inside and outside hitting regardless of where I throw the ball.

 

[lhowser]

lhowser - I would go with less tee work

I am starting to agree. At first it seemed like tee, tee, tee was the answer but i am learning that ideas regarding timing and transfer make the benefit of the tee limited.