Hitting and Hitters Discussion Batting Habits ?(Both Good and Bad)

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Last year I watched several teams and some of the habits that the batter does are really funny to watch. ?Such as
* swinging the bat like it is a baton
* hitting the bat to the ground
* This one is funny. The batter holding the hand up to the pitcher to wait and not to "blue".

What are some of the funny ones that you have seen?

Last year we faced one Indiana team that "quick pitched". ?She got called on it several times. ?The batter would step up to the plate and if blues hand dropped--she pitched; even if the batter was in the middle of one of her habits. ?It was very hard for our batters to figure out.

 

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The good ole' "back-slap" takes the cake for me.

 

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One that drives me the craziest, is when they start there practice swing, and at the point of where they might contact the ball, they just roll there wrists over. Then wonder why they can't drive the ball.

 

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I agree with Sammy- the need for self-mutilation and slapping your back with the bat slays me - I wouldn't be surprised if some of these girls have brusies on their backs for how manya nd hop w hard they swing and hit themselevs- maybe they think it makes then look "tough" I think they look stupid.

 

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One that gets me is seeing the batter take warmup swings with a pronounced downward stroke. A lot of times this is accompanied by the "wrist roll" Lady knights describes. And, more often than not, the whole routine is preceeded by a very deliberate "bug squish" by the back foot!

Hey kid! Are ya gonna try to hit the ball like that?

 

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I forgot about the back slappin. It was really popular last year. Did someone teach these girls that? Is it a form of massage therapy? ;D

 

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Something has puzzled me since my kids have been playing "higher level" travel softball and baseball. I've been to many summer tournaments & high school games, both softball and baseball. Why is it that it's only the girls with those "funky" swings - back slaps, severe wrist rolls, hard down-swing, exaggerated bug squish, and on and on! I've NEVER seen this stuff at a boy's baseball tournament! Oh, I've seen some poor swing mechanics in boy's baseball, but NEVER this type of stuff. Who teaches this junk anyway?

I have a son & a daughter, and both were taught what I'll just call a classic baseball swing, which is always a work in progress. DD thinks it's a discredit (and embarassing) to the girls game every time she sees a softball player swinging like that. I agree.

There are SO many girls doing this - aren't the parents watching? What are the coaches doing in practices? You never see these circus swings in college, or at least not in Div. I. It's no wonder they don't get recruited with a swing like that!

 

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Sammy, I think what you are seeing is the result of years and years of teaching the philosophy that the softball swing is something different than the baseball swing. Thankfully, this notion is slowly falling by the wayside as folks are realizing that the best swing model is to emulate the best hitters in the world- those found in Major League baseball. The best hitters in the softball world are using these same techniques.

I still see some of this same screwy instruction in youth baseball, but baseball generally seems to be ahead of the curve in terms of video analysis and optimizing mechanics. Softball is catching up, but seems to still suffer from a long history of "we have to something different".

Sure, males and females are different. Forget about "males/females" for a minute and realize that we are talking about human beings performing a complex mechanical task. The physics are going to be the same no matter if we're dealing with a boy or a girl.

The goal of both is the same, the reaction time you have is the same at 60 feet versus 40 feet and except for a few degrees difference the trajectory of the ball coming through the hitting zone is nearly identical.

Granted, the release of the pitcher is different and the movement on the ball is different, due mainly to the size of the ball and the spin, but these are issues that affect the batter's timing, not the actual swing mechanics.

I think that you will see less of the odd swings in softball as the training and video analysis slowly catches up with the baseball world.

 

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Re: Batting Habits  (Both Good and Bad)

Well, the season is about ready to start up, so hopefully we'll see some gains this year.

I remember being at an OSU game a few years back. If I remember correctly, I think it was Kristine Himes batting, but I'm not sure. Anyway, this girl's on-deck practice swings looked like a major league baseball player. One thing I noticed was she was really focusing on bat extension. Then she just seemed to have such confidence stepping up to the plate. I remember thinking to myself, "she's gonna belt one out". She crushed the very first pitch. I thought it was going to hit the scoreboard as it cleared the center field fence. It was like one of those old Babe Ruth film clips! That was impressive!

 

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I too like the "back-slap". ?Another one I like is when the plate takes the bat and pounds it as hard as they can on home plate. ?What did it come loose and is moving around, or what!? ?;D

I believe Bretman is correct in the fact that softball is finally realizing that there is no difference in the Major League and softball swing. ?This is good. ?I remember trying to teach squish the bug style and not really understanding it. ?Having played baseball in school it didn't make any sense. ?> ?Now using the RVP method it is much easier to buy into the style. ?

 

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I enjoy watching the "backslap" I know that there will be no extension on the follow through,actually I get amused on the hitters recoil, sometimes they have a better recoil than the swing itself.Joe A had a girl on the team last year that did this,but she sure could smack the ball,I think she could have hit lefthanded just as well.