DD needs some help

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May 6, 2015
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been topping ball a lot, as well as getting to far under on a lot of contact as well. off T or soft toss, swing looks good, ball normally hits net about 6-8 inches higher than where she makes contact. but against live pitching (and she gets little of this at her practices), she is not making solid contact a lot of the time, and she makes a lot of contact (through 15 games so far this year, probably about 40 PA, she has no Ks, a good number of base hits, either sharp ground balls or fly balls falling in between IF and OF, and probably about same number of GO/Pop ups/IF singles (she legs out the ones she tops very well, safe about 50% of time, but that will go down as year goes on).

I believe she gets so concerned about making contact she is slowing down in order to make certain she does.

Is there a way con convince her to swing all out (at least with 0 or 1 strikes) and don't worry so much about contact (she also does not go to deep counts a lot unless the pitcher is having control issues, doesn't swing at junk, but when she swings, generally makes contact), that a few swings and misses, and even Ks, are OK? I think she would still make contact, and better contact.

should I just try to get her some cage work against a machine (little oppotunity other than games for live pitching)?
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Post a game swing. First sentence may indicate too steep a path to the ball.
 
Feb 26, 2018
328
28
That was my DD's problem, she was dropping her hands slightly and caused her swing to be too steep. Took a little bit of work to fix her bat path, but she isn't beating them straight into the ground or popping them straight up anymore
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Without video, we are just guessing, but (as others have said) it sounds like a downward bat path through contact. This could be a result of an early forward weight shift (lunge), which is fairly common with young players, especially those focused on just making contact.

As far as hitting the ball hard, it's a shift in mentality. The intent in the box needs to be to do damage - be a predator. She has proven to herself that she can make contact reliably. Learning to trust herself the deliver the barrel while swinging hard is the next step.
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
Lots of good help on here, but I just have to interject one thing. I hardly ever find a downward swing path result in topping the ball. I can see a pop up slice type result or hitting the ball squarely which would still result in hitting the ball into the dirt with back spin which dies fast. Both not effective, but both not considered topping the ball either. Topping results from a severe loopy upward swing which results in bottom of bat hitting the top of the ball... no different from creating a top spin shot in tennis. The result is a ball hit with a lot of top spin which doesn't carry very far in air but can roll for miles.

I'm just saying the problem could easily be an uppercut swing as well...But like everybody said, it's hard to determine without seeing a video.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Lots of good help on here, but I just have to interject one thing. I hardly ever find a downward swing path result in topping the ball. I can see a pop up slice type result or hitting the ball squarely which would still result in hitting the ball into the dirt with back spin which dies fast. Both not effective, but both not considered topping the ball either. Topping results from a severe loopy upward swing which results in bottom of bat hitting the top of the ball... no different from creating a top spin shot in tennis. The result is a ball hit with a lot of top spin which doesn't carry very far in air but can roll for miles.

I'm just saying the problem could easily be an uppercut swing as well...But like everybody said, it's hard to determine without seeing a video.
In my mind level is too steep (for most pitch locations) so it doesn't necessarily have to be downward for it to be "too steep"
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
In my mind level is too steep (for most pitch locations) so it doesn't necessarily have to be downward for it to be "too steep"
That's true... but like I said this issue could be caused by uppercut swing as well.. instead of getting up and through, getting to and up. But for sure a level swing could cause top spin.
 

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