Hitting your arm or back on follow through--hate it

[Screwball]

I see a lot of girls hitting their opposing arms and/or backs on follow-through. Often seen on practice swings but translated to real swings too. What is up with that? Is that taught? I actually saw a Website with a flyer saying that is how you do it. Really?! Then I saw (Bill Dryden newsletter) rallying against hitting the arm or back.

It looks so unathletic (Little League semis, high school playoffs, for examples). It is like a wrist flick rather than a swing.

If you look at strong hitters, they don't do this odd flick. Baseball especially. I think it pulls your arms out of the hitting zone too quickly, too short, and keeps your swing too low. This makes you vulnerable to rise balls or outside pitches.

I prefer what Michelle Smith says "short to ball and long follow through." I never came close to my arm on my follow through when I played.

Also, why do the girls swing so much between every pitch? They also have a saying about "leaving it in practice" which applies to practice swings I think. I don't teach either of these two things.

What do you think?

 

[SBFAMILY]

It means they roll the wrists and have no power hitting an outside pitch. Read hitters posts on the Hands over drill and how we fix this fault. If you want to see how weak the bat is at contact. Have a "back Slapper" come to contact point before extension. If they have rolled the wrists you can take your little pinky and push the bat back. If you have a good camera you can watch at ball bat contact the bat moving back wards. If you want to see a good swing look at someone like Bustos. Mike and Sue talk about this issue on RVP. For some reason we find more RT user at the younger ages have this issue. Bat heavy and they can't handle the end loaded bat yet.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

I see a lot of girls hitting their opposing arms and/or backs on follow-through. Often seen on practice swings but translated to real swings too. What is up with that? Is that taught? I actually saw a Website with a flyer saying that is how you do it. Really?! Then I saw (Bill Dryden newsletter) rallying against hitting the arm or back.

I describe this as cargo cult thinking.

People are teaching approximations of actions, and usually getting them wrong, because they don't really understand what they are seeing.

The point is to not cut the swing short and to accelerate to the ball, but people think something else is going on.

As a result, you get something that looks kinda sorta like the high level pattern but that really isn't.

Kind of like this...

 

[crystlemc]

I can really only speak on two of your points.

1. Tees are used all the way up through the majors. It is used to work on swing mechanics, from what I gather. A lot of coaches use the tees and have the player slow-mo swing until the point of contact. That gives the player and the coach the ability to truly see what is going on with the swing. The really great hitters put hours in doing tee work.

2. Gloves.... they are not causing the issues. The swing mechanics are causing the issues. The player's grip on the bat is not helping the issues. If the player is gripping the bat deep in the top hand, that will contribute to the roll over at contact. The $5 dampers.... useless. IMHO

If you really want specifics, ask Hitter (Howard), Bouldersdad, SBFamily, CShilt, Chris O'Leary.... any of these guys about the importance of grip, tee work, and the importance of lower body movement.

 

[SBFAMILY]

RVP Right View Pro. Goggle it and you will get a demo . Mike and Sue ( both two of the top college coaches in the game of softball AZ, UCLA) instruct on it. RT= Anderson Rocket Tec. Above post covered it pretty good.

 

[alexander58]

Tees causing poor swings? Gloves causing issues? You're probably right. It's the other 99% that are wrong.

 

[obbay]

Screwball- I share your frustration with the arm-slappers/back-slappers.

You can lead the horse to water but you can't make him drink. If using the tee isn't working it's not the tee's fault. I find that girls typically need to learn things in bite-sized pieces. If they can't hit a stationary ball off a tee correctly, how can you get them to hit a moving ball?

I've seen lots of bad swings compensated for with expensive bats (CF4) but usually it comes down to fundamentals that can be worked on via one and two-handed hitting off a tee.

Not knowing the strike zone or reading pitches is something else entirely. My DD has a very good eye but what she needs to improve on is fouling-off pitches she doesn't want to hit. Many girls her same age need to learn how to get to the bat to the right place at contact. Others need to get their weight shift right. others need to eliminate bat drag - there are a myriad of problems that are rampant that can be addressed through REGULAR tee practice.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Intersting. Even Bustos hits so many balls off a T every day, not a batting machine. One of the best hitting coaches I know and an Olympic coach doesn't have a batting machine and uses a T and soft tosses to his students.

 

[lclifton]

Pretty darn good hitter here.

As perhaps a "general rule"...the kids that you see slap the arm or the back don't combine "the flick" with the superior lower body that Chambers does.

 

[SRenfro]

Hitting Through or Follow Through

I also understand some of the comments brought up here. I often watch these players and wonder what they're getting out of their swing when they hit their arm or back. Frankly, it's the hitters that hit their back with the bat I find the most odd; I just stare on wonder. However, it doesn't seem to matter either way since its their follow through. The important part of the swing is hitting through the ball, not what happens after the ball is hit, ins't it?