Hitting grounders

[quincy]

DD was annoying me for some reason so I told her when I was pitching to her to hit me in the head. Mistake on my part, she almost took my head off.

Like idea of telling her where to hit ball then circle back to mechanics.

If your DD cannot hit over the fence a ground ball is not a bad thing.

 

[_MIA_]

I agree it is (at least partly) a sequencing thing. She is "loading" her upper half as she goes back vs against her forward move like this:




Feet together and hit (by Justin Stone) and a step back drill (where you keep your hands quiet until you stabilize the back leg and start your move out) could be helpful.

Edit: I don't disagree with the intent idea either it is just that sometimes if a kid has been doing something for so long it might be hard to overcome the muscle memory with it..I think if you start a kid young enough(4-6 YO) with only intent in mind it works pretty well..especially if they are athletic enough.

 

[CoachJD]

I mean hey grounders are better than strikeouts lol. In all seriousness my youngest dd also struggled with the hitting a lot of grounders problem and let me tell you there is nothing harder than getting a defiant teenager to change their swing just slightly. She says that the hits work and we’ve been trying to get it into her head that the grounders work now cause she’s fast and can beat out most throws, but once you get into the older ages most grounders are a guaranteed out unless you’re one of the speedsters than can run 2.7 and lower. So either we’re gonna have to keep working with her or maybe she’ll get a speed boost when she’s older .

Like you said, at older ages/higher levels, most grounders are outs, which means they're only marginally better than strikeouts much of the time.

 

[CoachJD]

I think if you start a kid young enough(4-6 YO) with only intent in mind it works pretty well..especially if they are athletic enough.

Mila is gonna Mash for a long time.

 

[Mike-Coach Q]

Move the tee closer. Inside the front foot. Some great posture suggestions that will also help.

 

[_MIA_]

Mila is gonna Mash for a long time.

?

 

[TDS]

She is using the rear leg to power here ABAF movement vs the core. IOW's she needs to get into her legs fyb for leverage against the core contraction.

 

[Towny9]

I’m think maybe it’s a sequence issue. Any drills to help with sequence? Thanks

 

[Cannonball]

Look at the placement of the tee. It is way out in front. In hitting the ball, she has not held the stretch position efficiently enough and her hands are out in front.

 

[clemenslee1]

Lot of good advice here so I don't have much to add, but here is my .02. Aside from tee placement, Her thought process concerning what the stride is to accomplish, is that its to take her to the ball. She should have the thought process that the stride is simply to create a base in which to swing from. This can be accomplished a couple different ways, depending on your hitting philosophy. 1 - is use the rear leg to control the "forward move" by coiling and stretching around the rear/leg hip in which the stride leg becomes simply a kickstand or 2 - The legs are simply dead or just anchors if you will in the ground, in which you try to move out by using the core etc. Either way, the thought process is not to push forward, or go forward, its really more of getting to a platform. Along with also not unloading the swing all together once at said platform.

Just my .02 Hopefully that makes sense.