Hitting advice

[Cornbread]

As has been said, she’s rushed. Can’t put a consistently good swing on the ball this way. Starts with her front foot. Front toss and tee swing will never match her game swing until it’s fixed. Hard to work on mechanics if they don’t somewhat match. Learn to get the front foot up on time which is detailed in the thread I linked above

 

[BigSkyHi]

As has been said, she’s rushed. Can’t put a consistently good swing on the ball this way. Starts with her front foot. Front toss and tee swing will never match her game swing until it’s fixed. Hard to work on mechanics if they don’t somewhat match. Learn to get the front foot up on time which is detailed in the thread I linked above

Looks extremely tense. Front foot should be moving toward the pitcher when the ball is released. During the game, this can be the focus when in the hole and on deck.

 

[Shawn]

Dry swings, learn to swing first. THEN try to hit a moving ball. Hard to hit a moving ball if you don’t know how to swing. Although you should try to swing to a spot, a tee no ball works well. If she can see herself in a sliding glass door, mirror that’s also good.

 

[Shawn]

Yes she had ball anxiety. Yes rushed, although she is rushed because she doesn’t know how to swing. Rush is the symptom in this case.

 

[Shawn]

Blast now measures air swings. Which is beneficial.

 

[Cornbread]

Hey all,

Looking for some advice to help my DD on her swing. Hoping for some practical advice that we can utilize.

Seem to have the following issues lately.
1) seems to be late, lots of balls at first base or fouled off.
2) lots of hitting under or on top of the ball. Not squaring up the ball well.
3) seemingly limited power compared to fall ball.

She has been working with a hitting coach for about a year now and things were going in the right direction but we’ve seen since seemingly lost progress. I’m thinking the issue is bat drag. The elbow is dropping too soon I think. What am I missing? Any help is appreciated.

How’s she progressing?

 

[wheresmycar]

She is dropping bat, and swinging flat through the zone... This creates a long path for the bat, making it difficult to catch up to the pitch. The faster the pitching gets, the worse her timing is going to get. This is pretty common in 10/12 U. My youngest DD didn't really get away from this in games until 2nd yr 14U.

 

[RichK]

Dry swings, learn to swing first. THEN try to hit a moving ball. Hard to hit a moving ball if you don’t know how to swing. Although you should try to swing to a spot, a tee no ball works well. If she can see herself in a sliding glass door, mirror that’s also good.

This. She doesn't load. She swings from a standstill. So the only way she can get the bat moving is to drop it flat and create 'power' with her arms. That's why the weak, topped grounder. I bet she hits a lot of those

Get her a hitting coach who can help her properly load her body and sequence her swing. You can dig around here but nowadays that may be more conflicting than useful. But build a swing that can hit 1) line drives off the tee to all fields, 2) line drives off front-toss to all fields. When she takes that swing into a game it will break down. Figuring that next step of timing and and squaring a live pitch is the whole ballgame. Of course, she'll also be playing during this whole time. Focus her young years on love of the game, learning how to play and be a good teammate and ABOVE ALL do your best not to burn in bad habits (including bad swing habits) because once they are part of her it's almost impossible to get rid of them. Even if the results aren't great, try to do things right. Working smart and consistently on hitting out-of-game is the answer, coupled with not worrying about in-game hitting results in these early years. She CAN build a swing and WILL get stronger. Aim for late 12U early 14U for things to come together. Good luck.

 

[BigSkyHi]

Visual tools work well for some and not for others.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Visual tools work well for some and not for others.

View attachment 27958

So much can be learned/taught from this one photo. This is text book. No arm bar, both eyes on the ball, back foot turned in a little to help prevent over counter rotation and loads glute. If you can get your hitters into this position they have a great chance to hit well.