Jayleen - 13yo

[HunterMO]

This will be Jayleen's third year of competitive softball. She'll turn 13 in a couple weeks. She's had 1 year of 10u, 1 year of 12u, and now this year will be a mix of JH ball (Spring) and 2nd year of 12u (Summer/Fall). Hoping to find some 14u fill in so she can experience better pitching as well. The bulk of her hits in 10u and 12u were hard(ish) grounders with an occasional hard line drive or hit to shallow OF. I don't think she's ever hit it over an outfielders head. We didn't start seeing a hitting coach until earlier this year. And it was sparingly as we were dealing with knee pain spurned from two large growth spurts. But, the knee is nearly back to 100%. Once her JH season is done we'll start seeing a HC more regularly.

The hitting coach first worked on her lower half mechanics. Jayleen didn't even touch her bat once the HC had seen her warm up and take some swings off the tee. She was squishing the bug, not driving the knee/hip, lunging, rolling the hands, and all sorts of things I didn't know to notice. But, we didn't know what we didn't know. She took to the initial fixes pretty well and then they worked on hands, staying connected, and extension through the ball for a couple lessons. In tee work and soft toss this REALLY made a difference quickly. Then the knee pain came and it was tough to practice. Her JH season started up and they practice 5-days a week for 2.5+ hours. Lots of hitting, but it left little time to work on the small things at home due to managing her knee pain. Not surprisingly it looks like she fell a little backwards into old habits. But, having worked with her on pitching it wasn't entirely unexpected.

So, DFP, I hand over to you a couple videos from last nights season opener for DD's JH. I will work to get videos of her front side and post them as well over the next couple of weeks. Open to any suggestions or items some of DFP's resident experts may pick out.

 

[Work=wins]

Like everything about her swing. Solid. W that said, I would learn to use the legs more for stability. Less for power. You hit against the legs. You don’t drive them. She has early hip extension. So she stands up to swing. Leaks energy from her knees through her feet. See how Griffs knees/feet never turn over. Energy between the feet.

 

[HunterMO]

Like everything about her swing. Solid. W that said, I would learn to use the legs more for stability. Less for power. You hit against the legs. You don’t drive them. She has early hip extension. So she stands up to swing. Leaks energy from her knees through her feet. See how Griffs knees/feet never turn over. Energy between the feet.

Glad to hear she hasn't regressed as much as I had feared. The early hip extension and standing up to swing has been one of the harder habits to break. Although she's gotten much better. I'll keep a closer eye on the items you mentioned and see if we can continue to tweak for the better.

I appreciate the comments and gif. Hitting is a foreign language to me. I'm learning, but everything helps.

 

[Work=wins]

Some early extenders have a less than optimal feel for the hands. Or just get plain disconnected early from their torso. Something to ponder.

 

[HunterMO]

Some early extenders have a less than optimal feel for the hands. Or just get plain disconnected early from their torso. Something to ponder.

What do mean by “less than optimal feel for the hands”? In terms of them getting out early or staying inside or dropping...etc etc?

 

[Work=wins]

What do mean by “less than optimal feel for the hands”? In terms of them getting out early or staying inside or dropping...etc etc?

just a need to fire the lower to early bc the hands are being dragged. Usually happens w an arm barrish type player. Or shoulder dominant type launch.

 

[HunterMO]

Oh ok - got it. That makes sense.

 

[HunterMO]

This is from a FB live feed of DD’s game tonight. At 19:45(ish) she hits a deep ball to LF for a double. Not the ball I would have recommended to swing on, but they were getting called strikes and she’s always liked them there.



Will post a couple less successful clips as well that DW filmed since I couldn’t be at the game. DS plays hockey so we alternate taxi duties.

 

[Work=wins]

For her age not bad. I liked how she somewhat stay down on a low and away pitch. But if this is her normal swing, she has some drag. Nothing you can’t fix w more emphasis on her hands. And less on rotation


her back shift might be causing all of this. Putting her off time. Maybe try losing the back shift and replacing w a hand pump/wiggle or a ‘posture’ load might help. It’s a change and see thing imo. Different things work for different people.

so w that in mind. Try the ‘load’ change see if it helps her timing and rotation leak. If not then work on the hands being more direct. Make sense?

 

[HunterMO]

For her age not bad. I liked how she somewhat stay down on a low and away pitch. But if this is her normal swing, she has some drag. Nothing you can’t fix w more emphasis on her hands. And less on rotation


her back shift might be causing all of this. Putting her off time. Maybe try losing the back shift and replacing w a hand pump/wiggle or a ‘posture’ load might help. It’s a change and see thing imo. Different things work for different people.

so w that in mind. Try the ‘load’ change see if it helps her timing and rotation leak. If not then work on the hands being more direct. Make sense?

I'd say the initial videos and the double are her more normal swing types. The low and away swing was just that....a go get it swing. She was given a hit & run sign. But, we're still working on pitch selection to get that done properly.

She used to have a hand pump with slight back load and light toe touch. Once she began seeing the faster pitching from her A-squad pitchers she developed the larger back load where she almost sits on it now. In her mind it was allowing her to get through the process faster by taking care of the load right away. Talking with her hitting coach as well.....the HC mentioned not so much concern of the back load motion but more towards the timing of it. Not doing it so early and getting more in rhythm with the pitcher so she's not hanging out on the back leg so much.

I'll talk through it with DD this weekend and ask her to try a few variations at next weeks practices. If the load change doesn't help then we'll focus some more on the hands as you suggested.

Appreciate all of the feedback and advice.