5 year old always swings late

[Fastpitch_1]

5 year old daughter is swinging late. Her batting stance is good. Her bat is the lightest we could find. ( 11.5 ounce 25 inches long ). If I stand behind her and say swing, she will make contact. If nothing is said, she always swings late. I can stand beside her and "soft toss", she will hit the ball every time. She hits good off the tee. However. She now plays coach pitch and strikes out every time! She looks good standing at the plate. Her feet are correct. Her batting stance looks good. I have ran out of ideas on getting her to swing quicker. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[softballphreak]

Forget about most everything other than throwing her all the pitches she wants. Let her develop mostly on her own. She will probably surprise you.

At her age it's 99% about making it fun!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I couldn't get my 3.5 yo GDD to jump of the starting blocks at swimming lessons. Then, I remembered that doll at the store that she wanted. I bribed her.

Other than that, I wouldn't mention "the problem" to her too much. She will get it.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I remember striking out a lot in baseball around age 10 and a teammate telling me when to stride (right as the ball was around the pitcher's ear), and that made all the difference. So maybe she needs a cue like that.

But the advice you're getting above is more important. As Amy said, 'She will get it.' It's pretty hard to hit at age 5, IMO. I don't believe in strikeouts at age 5. Let 'em swing till they hit it, or give 'em a tee. The only thing to worry about is her getting so frustrated that she won't come back and play next season. So find a way to keep it fun. The best indicator of which of these 5-year-olds will be good in 10 years is not whether they can hit, catch and throw at age 5, but whether they're still playing at age 6. That's the main goal.

Edited to say 'main' goal and not 'mean' goal.

 

[SoftSocDad]

However. She now plays coach pitch and strikes out every time!

That's because she's 5 years old.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Seriously-she's 5. If she's not falling on her butt or hitting herself with the bat then she's fine. Make it fun. When she hits one back to you, fall down and tell her she knocked you off your feet. Interrupt her with random tickles and enjoy introducing her to the game. You'll have plenty of time to get all bat!&$' loony over swing mechanics In the future. Or worse yet...you'll find out you have a pitcher and you'll be typing replies on this board at 11:30 when you should be sleeping.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

 

[coach james]

This is a very common issue. There are kids at all levels that will do this. She is simply waiting to identify the pitch before she starts any kind of movement. Once she likes it then she will very quickly and jerky swing at the ball, and most likely its a massive uppercut. Does this sound accurate?
If so, teach her a slow stride with a graduated rotation speed. AKA "slow to fast" By starting the linear phase early at this young age it may rob a touch of power, however her hits will drastically improve which will improve her confidence. As she gets older the timing can be adjusted. For now, she needs to stride step as the ball is leaving the pitchers hand, and start to rotate slowly with her hands at her back ear. As the ball approaches her hitting zone then speed up the barrel as if she were trying to throw the bat into center field. But in her mind she needs to be thinking that every single pitch will be a crushable meatball. And if its not a meatball then simply stop. On every single pitch she needs to be striding and at least starting a rotation. If the ball is out of she zone, then dont throw the barrel.

 

[WB Coach]

Firstly, welcome to the forum!

Coach James makes some good points but IMO is way over the head of a five year-old. It must be kept much simpler.

My suggestion: Get a "hitting stick" (Easton Training Stick) and just hold the stick out for her to hit the ball on the end of the stick. The "ball" end should be held over where home plate would be, where she needs to hit the ball. Make sure she "loads" first, i.e., after taking her hitting position the rear elbow should then poke back slightly as her front leg makes the stride. Then she swings through and hits the ball. Very simple. Once she can hit the ball every time then you can start with the stick about three feet in front of home plate and slowly move the ball towards home plate and coach her to "load" before the ball gets over home plate so she will be connecting once the ball gets there. Of course, you're going to bring that ball in nice and slow until she can hit it consistently with a properly timed load. As she gets more and more comfortable with that you can start with the hitting stick even further away and you can start bringing it in faster.

And hogwash to those that say "she's only a five year old." If she loves playing and wants to learn and works on this she will be MILES ahead of all the other girls once she gets to the 10U level. Start them young, but don't be a drill seargeant and just keep it fun. Be encouraging and DON'T show any disappointment! Maybe do this drill only twice a week for starters. A trip to the ice cream shop after a good hitting session will keep it positive and teach her to work hard to achieve her goals. Let us know how it works out!

 

[JJsqueeze]

Because hitting a ball on a stick is soooo much fun, especially while you concentrate on elbows
and loading.

My tickle technique will produce a better, more natural hitter. Saying she's five so take it easy does not mean you can't start her development and put her on the road to being "miles ahead". It just means that that road starts in funville. It worked for my girls and they are demons on the diamond. My young one is 8 and we can talk all kinds of mechanics now without her eyes glazing over....I think this is because she knows that the game is first and foremost ENJOYABLE. If I had her hitting a glorified doggie toy instead of actual pitches I doubt we'd be where we are today.