Hitting and Hitters Discussion Does anyone still teach this?

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About 10+ years ago there was a thing called squish the bug hitting style that was taught wide spread to the ladies. This style utalized a wide stance (no step) hands high and tight contact to the ball with a more level swing.

Ladies also struggled finishing there swing so, hitting deflated Basket balls was a training technique and later hitting themselves in the back was adopted when it was found the basketball idea caused injury.

After seeing a team at a showcase tournament a few weeks back that had a lot of players doing this who still teaches this along with the hitting yourself in the back with the swing?
Sounded like someone checking tires the whole time they were at bat as the bat head hit them in the scapula area or upper back with just about every swing. UGLY...

Folks, this has got to hurt or leave a bruise.... and watching them roll their wrists and arms around their body to insure contact with their back had all watching shaking their heads.

 

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I hope people realize the reasoning behind the 2 methods mentioned and have evolved past this to have a better understanding of the swing and show they have the ability to swing a bat like the big kids. lol. The "squish the bug" thing happened during a time when girls in general had never been taught any swing technique and coaches were desperate to get a girl-----any girl to make contact to a fastball coming at them. The slam the back thing was merely used to try and get girls to swing thru and quit stopping the swing on contact.

Watch the college girls swing and you'll not see a "squish the bug" swing. There is weight transfer, full throttle swings with power along with quickness being used by all. Ladies are getting proper instruction from a young age helping the game evolve to the level everyone is enjoying now. If you see an instructor using these techniques don't panic. They may simply be trying to teach very young girls how to turn their hips and finish a swing. They should evolve from this to a more modern swing and instruct the kids it's simply a drill to advance them to the next level.

 

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That bug died in 10u.

 

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That bug died in 10u.

That is what I thought and why I was surprised to see 18U ladies using it. I have seen it some at the younger ages especially; the hitting their back thing12u-14u but most of the 16s-18s and above swing the bat with athority as described above.

 

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Dennis it is still being taught. Crystl and I were doing a clinic in the Kings Island area and a ex Reds player could be heard saying squish the bug as he threw the ball. The boy looked to be 15 or 16 years old.

One of the dads questioned why he teaching that? It is easier to teach for sure. He came up to me and we went to where his daughter was at a station and was not squishing the bug. I said now listen to how much harder she is hitting the ball than the boy as you could she them through the nets. If you do not squish to throw why would you do it to hit?

The focus point especially on the females is the flex in the lead knee for either throwing or hitting which is why we teach how to throw first and it is a natural lead in to hitting.

Turn the hips slightly rearward or coil slowly and soft to step on a flexed front knee. We put a concrete block on the outside edge of the back foot. The Elvis move, the lead foot foot lowers without allowing the heel to assume all the weight. The back foot heel raises up with the focus on the big toe and toe next to it and the knee under them or forward allowing the weight to be on the inside of the back leg as the hips turn. If they do not start from the ground up they will not clear the brick and be up on the back foot toe.

The glutes fire the ACL, knee, like a hinge on a male. However, it does not fire for the female and their ACL works more like a ball joint. The females can be taught this and in my opinion this is why many of the females do not throw very well and were taught to squish the bug. We start every lesson using the flamingo drill and then I roll grounders to them to check the foot work. Load, step and throw and load step and hit usually makes sense to them.

Howard

 

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Squish the bug has been squashed for years. You will not see any collegiate sball player using it. My DD works with Ali Viola. She's coached at D1 including OSU and does not teach it. What is being taught now is to load back, fire the hands, weight transfer to front with hip rotation, which naturally turns back leg into a backwards K ending with back foot up on the toe. I would run from anyone teaching you to squish the bug. My DD is 5' 5" and 110 lbs. Using good mechanics with fast hands, the ball rockets off the bat for screaming line drives better than much stronger girls with bad mechanics. Get a good batting coach with no squish the bug!

 

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Squish the bug has been squashed for years. You will not see any collegiate sball player using it. My DD works with Ali Viola. She's coached at D1 including OSU and does not teach it. What is being taught now is to load back, fire the hands, weight transfer to front with hip rotation, which naturally turns back leg into a backwards K ending with back foot up on the toe. I would run from anyone teaching you to squish the bug. My DD is 5' 5" and 110 lbs. Using good mechanics with fast hands, the ball rockets off the bat for screaming line drives better than much stronger girls with bad mechanics. Get a good batting coach with no squish the bug!

Agreed, but as Howard stated... someone is still teaching this...I think about the ladies development but also their safety. Hitting oneself so hard in the back with a bat that it makes a thumping sound cannot be good...Not to mention the weak ground balls it produces...
Yes, most of the ladies were lefties I seen and it may be a modified slap "as some have PMd me" but; I feel (like most) that getting the ladies to swing properly is the key... left or right... and if the batter wraping their arms around their body to hit themselves in the back with their swing, little to no stride... more often than not they are not getting the most out of their swing...

 

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Back in 2004 when my oldest DD first got into travel I noticed this back slapping a lot from the older girls in the organization especially the 18U girls. Honestly I don't think this was necessarily being taught, but was a result of them thinking it sounded "cool" I don't really recall girls taking that "back slapping thump" to the plate, so I just brushed it off as girls being girls.

Now with that being said...if you have a bunch of young ladies watching 18U and 16U girls thumping their backs in the on deck circle, then step up to the plate and smash the ball, what are you going to start seeing from their younger under studies? How many of you dads out their watched the Big Red Machine as a kid and then went out to your games and had that back arm pumping up and down like Joe Morgan, or were all hunched over at the plate like Pete rose??? Monkey see...monkey do.

 

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Now with that being said... young ladies watching 18U and 16U girls thumping their backs in the on deck circle, then step up to the plate and smash the ball, what are you going to start seeing from their younger under studies? How many of you dads out their watched the Big Red Machine as a kid and then went out to your games and had that back arm pumping up and down like Joe Morgan, or were all hunched over at the plate like Pete rose??? Monkey see...monkey do.

Agreed Lady Knights, this may be a case of younger siblings watching older siblings or players and mimicking them without knowing what they are doing. Lets call them, "those that SQUISH the bug in denial"...

I will say this, any player that steps up to the plate with a swing that has them hitting themselves in the back so hard it makes a thump is not going to smash the ball more often than not... It may sound cool to some but will not result in hits for most and will not increase ones power...As most have stated...Some ladies do this in practice swing but, "know better" come the real deal....Unfortunately; some don’t as Howard pointed out as they are taught this and brings the bad mechanics to the dish..

 

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Forgot to post about it last week, but during the telecast of the TCS 16U Power Pool Championship I noticed some girls on both the OK Diamond Girls and TN Fury 96 hitting themselves in the back on practice swings. I'm not promoting it, just doubt it is much of an issue. I didn't notice it in the other televised games, especially not the 18U game.