This I what I work on with our girls. The idea is to track the ball from the pitcher right? So with that idea still in mind, To prevent a batter from being too eager or raising her head and shoulder at swing contact point try this........ REVERSE TRACKING with soft toss. Set up 3 feet back from where the umpire would be and toss towards the pitcher at waist high. Have the batter load and watch you toss and then hit as the ball comes into the strike zone of the plate towards the pitcher. This will fix a few areas that need adjusted very quickly. Try it and let me know if it helps. It is not easy for a player to do at first but if you teach what is hard and then the easy things become even easier for a batter and they will be that much better at the plate. If the drill causes the batter to "wait" and use timing to make good contact you will be on your way to teaching hand, eye and timing contact with the diving for the ball eleminated.
We need to explain when to load and when to step and where is the pitcher in her motion?
I explain once a pitcher starts her motion we must learn to dance with her.
We load at about her 12 o'clock position or K position.
Lets break it down a little more and we say slow to load and soft to step and land on a flexed front knee as the pitcher releases the ball or at her window of release depending on her athletic ability.
The load into the back leg and hip is crucial also.
We do a simple knee cock by turning the back knee inward (towards the catcher) so the weight is inside the back leg and not over it and this could cause the lunge or over striding.
Have them stand with their arms stretched out to the sides and shoulder high. Now ask them to load without turning their shoulder and we want to see the lead hip go towards the first baseman as a RH hitter and the back hip goes towards the third base dugout. You will feel a little bit of a bind at the rear hip.
Now I put my hands below the knee cap and force the leg/foot into the ground and ask them to concentrate and focus on the weight being on the big toe and the toe next to it!
Usually they pick up on it rather quickly and if you see the arms and shoulders moving a lot ( more than 3.65 inches is 12 degrees) point out they will not see the ball with both eyes equally.
Now back to slow to load, soft to step and separating the hands rearward a little during toe touch.
While in China it was difficult to get the girls to be aggressive and attack the ball. Working through an interpreter was interesting as my voice inflection was lost through the translation process.
So I tried this....E is one and R is two in Chinese. So I explained as I would say EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, they would be loading and getting the tension into the rear hip and inside the back leg. The I would say R and they would step on a flexed front knee to allow their weight to shift or flow forward under control. I would look at their hip action and try to time it using the EEEEE and then when it looked like they were there I would say R. Then they would say it out loud and time the pitcher movements.
The back elbow lowering triggers the connection or linking the back hip and shoulders together in my opinion, so if the are pushing the bat they will be forward and then we have to see if they are even getting to heel plant to block the front side as some refer to the hip action of the lead hip and the back hips moves forward and the lead hip moves rearward.
Flex in the front knee is critical as is the action of the back elbow coming down verses pushing the hands forward and not linking the hips and shoulders together.
Lets us know how this works please.
Howard