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Nov 26, 2020
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If I remember correctly she was pulling off outside pitches; slicing and dicing. Right? Would you care to share the remedy(ies)?
She's been landing closed now for awhile but we did switch her late last season to the foot behind setup in an effort to keep her in her back hip longer and in posture longer. The big change to keep her from getting to contact and just holding and spinning was that we worked very hard on making contact with the barrel in front of her hands, using her wrists to get to extension. Which meant hitting the ball out front. We also allowed her to swing around her body a bit instead of so much South to North (as long as she got to extension to the pitcher). She doesn't hit it out front as much anymore but the farthest we want it to travel is to her front foot. She is hitting it more in the left field gap rather than down the left field line. But she is now getting less XBH so there is probably a balance we can find. The big thing we're working on now is getting the back knee lower and keeping the foot more on the ground. To do that we have mostly been working on landing on bent a front knee and not straightening it right away.
If I could sum it up I would say - swing hard and make contact with the barrel in front of the hands. Edited to add: Also get the bat in the zone early. BTW - I had this convo with Megrem (softball social media trainer), she works with Cameron on defense and she thinks I'm crazy. Her philosophy is hands inside the ball and hit it the other way.
 
Last edited:
Nov 26, 2020
338
43
She's been landing closed now for awhile but we did switch her late last season to the foot behind setup in an effort to keep her in her back hip longer and in posture longer. The big change to keep her from getting to contact and just holding and spinning was that we worked very hard on making contact with the barrel in front of her hands, using her wrists to get to extension. Which meant hitting the ball out front. We also allowed her to swing around her body a bit instead of so much South to North (as long as she got to extension to the pitcher). She doesn't hit it out front as much anymore but the farthest we want it to travel is to her front foot. She is hitting it more in the left field gap rather than down the left field line. But she is now getting less XBH so there is probably a balance we can find. The big thing we're working on now is getting the back knee lower and keeping the foot more on the ground. To do that we have mostly been working on landing on bent a front knee and not straightening it right away.
If I could sum it up I would say - swing hard and make contact with the barrel in front of the hands. Edited to add: Also get the bat in the zone early. BTW - I had this convo with Megrem (softball social media trainer), she works with Cameron on defense and she thinks I'm crazy. Her philosophy is hands inside the ball and hit it the other way.
This video sums up the philosophy. The pitcher was throwing heat.

 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I
This video sums up the philosophy. The pitcher was throwing heat.


Not that I think it is that big of a deal (Acuna does this) but she doesn't seem to lose hinge angle between her forearm and bat (getting too vertical with the bat at foot down is what I think you called it) on the live swings..unless I am misunderstanding what you are talking about.

I don't like side toss that much tbh..it causes kids to do some weird stuff sometimes.
 
Nov 26, 2020
338
43
I

Not that I think it is that big of a deal (Acuna does this) but she doesn't seem to lose hinge angle between her forearm and bat (getting too vertical with the bat is what I think you called it) on the live swings..unless I am misunderstanding what you are talking about.
You understood correctly and actually I noticed that as I was looking through the videos to share. It's very evident in practice and causes bad Blast connection numbers but it may not be an actual issue.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
You understood correctly and actually I noticed that as I was looking through the videos to share. It's very evident in practice and causes bad Blast connection numbers but it may not be an actual issue.
How does she do with inside pitches in games?
 

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