Swinging under the ball

[Rgriffith021]

I have a 10yo who is struggling behind the plate. When we do hitting practice she does extremely well, she hits the ball really well. We do hitting 2-3 times a week along with regular lessons. The problem is when she’s in games, she is swinging under everything, doesn’t matter what the location of the pitch is, she either misses just under the ball or fouls it off to first base side. Any advice or drills that can help with this? Thank you

 

[Lance Steckler]

look very closely at body positions and bat path hitting faster pitching. Something is out of whack if she's hitting stationary or soft toss well,

 

[Cornbread]

Have her swing and miss OVER a few balls on front toss. At her age, most kids take their hands to the ball. This causes the hands to be level with the ball at contact. Due to gravity, the barrel will almost always be below the hands at contact. Hands leveling with the ball is a mechanical flaw mostly caused by the hitter using the arms to power the swing. I wouldn’t get to mechanical with her but you want the hands to start working up as soon as possible after launch. Take practice swings with the hands going across the chest or neck. Give her the verbal que of “swing over the ball” during games.

I have a 10yo who is struggling behind the plate. When we do hitting practice she does extremely well, she hits the ball really well. We do hitting 2-3 times a week along with regular lessons. The problem is when she’s in games, she is swinging under everything, doesn’t matter what the location of the pitch is, she either misses just under the ball or fouls it off to first base side. Any advice or drills that can help with this? Thank you

 

[daywalkerdad]

I have a 10yo who is struggling behind the plate. When we do hitting practice she does extremely well, she hits the ball really well. We do hitting 2-3 times a week along with regular lessons. The problem is when she’s in games, she is swinging under everything, doesn’t matter what the location of the pitch is, she either misses just under the ball or fouls it off to first base side. Any advice or drills that can help with this? Thank you

When DD does this it is usually one or more of a few things.
1. Timing issue, doing dumb stuff to try and be on time.
2. Not firing the hip.
3. Losing the bat location in the zone.
Can be frustrating when they do not replicate game swing in lessons. Maybe video tape her and see what is different.

 

[Cannonball]

The further the hands get away from the body, the heavier the barrel of the bat becomes. This is a disconnection problem most often from a description you give. As mentioned above by @daywalkerdad one key is to look at whether your dd is using their back hip appropriately or if she is simply throwing her hands out at the ball.

 

[stox]

In my experience (coaching 8u players), swinging under the balls is a combination of

1. Being late/not loading until ball is released
2. Using arms to swing instead of hips

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[lhowser]

I am going to throw out a guess I have seen. MAYBE (without video who knows) she takes her hands to the ball. when they do the barrel will often trail late and pass beneath the ball.

She also may be making a first move hand (thus barrel) drop trying to level to the ball and oooppps...right under it.

Just shoot some slow-mo with your phone. The video never lies.

 

[Bob Ullman8]

I have a 10yo who is struggling behind the plate. When we do hitting practice she does extremely well, she hits the ball really well. We do hitting 2-3 times a week along with regular lessons. The problem is when she’s in games, she is swinging under everything, doesn’t matter what the location of the pitch is, she either misses just under the ball or fouls it off to first base side. Any advice or drills that can help with this? Thank you

What type of pitching is your daughter facing when “she does extremely well” in hitting practice?

 

[Shawn]

I am going to throw out a guess I have seen. MAYBE (without video who knows) she takes her hands to the ball. when they do the barrel will often trail late and pass beneath the ball.

She also may be making a first move hand (thus barrel) drop trying to level to the ball and oooppps...right under it.

Just shoot some slow-mo with your phone. The video never lies.

Yes, and I find it’s not the hands so much as it is swinging with the arms. Trying to guide the bat and then swing.The hands become dead in the process.

 

[Mike-Coach-Q]

When I coached my GD in 8U, she only practiced and hit out of a 45. She was often late to both load and swing. I'd front toss and tell her verbally when to swing. After some time , she figured out to swing on time. There is a lot to process and the journey is long. Now, at 14 we are still working on her swing mechanics.