Hitting and Hitters Discussion Eye on the ball

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Are there any drills I can do with my daughter in a small yard with a tee and net. She has a good swing but there is nothing I have tried yet to get her to keep her eyes down and on the ball.

 

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i throw 2 different colored plastic golf balls... as late as i can, i will call which color i want her to hit...... pdad7

 

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Dry beans (with a speed stick) works well with hand eye coordination and you can do it in a small area.

 

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@fan and fun

Can also be helpful when used with a dowel rod as a "bat". Little less pricey.

 

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@fan and fun

Can also be helpful when used with a dowel rod as a "bat". Little less pricey.

Absolutely! Just mentioned speed stick so reader would hopefully visualize what i was trying to describe. And beans are cheap and you don't have to pic them up

 

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I think Howard talks about putting a cloth or napkin in the tee and telling them that they need to be looking at that after they drive the ball off of the tee. I have done this with my dd's and it does help.

 

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I think Howard talks about putting a cloth or napkin in the tee and telling them that they need to be looking at that after they drive the ball off of the tee. I have done this with my dd's and it does help.

Girls are audio visual learners and when you can get them to see it, then feel it they will usually buy into the concept. Demonstrate they are stronger with the head down during contact and it has nothing to do with vision.

Have her put her elbows down to their sides and bring her hands together palm to palm. Now raise her chin just above the horizon and gently push downward on her hands and tell her to resist and she will not be able to hold you.

Now repeat with the chin just below the horizon and push downward again and you should feel more resistance. With the head downward slightly you engage the intrinsic muscle group on either side of the spine at about belt level and can feel it bulge when you lower your head if you put your fingers there..

Now have them hold a bat and bring it to contact and take your baby finger and attempt to push the bat rearward with the head up and then down and they can feel the difference. The rag in the tee is to promote seeing the rag after contact with the ball.

You actually commit to hit the ball about 9 to 14 feet in front of home plate depending on your athletic ability.

This is why we teach to move the head first and then the eyes to track the ball better or give the head a head start.

I had a girl in a college near by that the head coach promotes front toss using soup beans....she had a welt under her right left eye about the size of a nickle. If I had an employee and required them to do this drill OSHA would fine me! They should have safety glasses on IF you would even desire to do this drill. Ask Coach Larabee about the girl who got a golf ball wiffle ball into the eye from front toss.

Learning how to track the ball correctly and using vision drills works wonders. Google Burton Worrrell for the vision drills.

I use a strobe light in the garage mounted over the hitters head so I can point out how to track the ball by turning the head first and use the nose as a point of reference by it turning slightly and then the eyes turn next.

When they are not tracking the ball correctly the strobe light allows you to see the bat is just over the ball and when tracked correctly they center up on the ball. I have the parent or coach stand behind me and ask then to watch the nose and as they get better giving the head a head start they begin to foul and then hit the ball. I explain to look forward and then to load and stride. At the stride I wiggle my finger so they can see it using their peripheral vision and when the pitcher releases the ball to turn the head slightly to give the head a head start and then the eyes can track or scan the ball.

A friend of mine sent me a article on strobe glasses that can be worn in sunlight however the $250 price is holding me back for now as Spencer gift shop and $25 was cheaper and I have used that for 12 years now.

UC's baseball team is using the strobe glasses and is tracking their stats and sees a huge improvement by using the glasses.

Howard

 

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I had a girl in a college near by that the head coach promotes front toss using soup beans....she had a welt on her right left eye about the size of a nickle.
Howard

good point Howard- my husband learned really quickly not to front toss the beans...dd got a hold of one and he had a welt on his shoulder (think bb gun) he started side tosses them after that

Never heard of the napkin on the tee....might have to give that a try

 

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Try putting a small letter each ball and have her tell you what the letter is after the swing.

She will have to start looking out at the imaginary pitcher so she doesn't cheat.

 

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Elaborating on Howard's advice about putting things in the tee, I actually used to put a $100 bill in the tee to grab the players' attention. Then one pre-game I lost track of the bill. I didn't even realize that I'd lost it until Bill Harder (then the coach of the Ohio Ice team we were playing) asked me if anyone on our team had lost it because the Ice team had found it.

Thank goodness for honest teams and coaches like Bill and his Ice team. And no, I don't use the $100 bill anymore.

 

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good point Howard- my husband learned really quickly not to front toss the beans...dd got a hold of one and he had a welt on his shoulder (think bb gun) he started side tosses them after that

Never heard of the napkin on the tee....might have to give that a try

We actually glue a rag inside the tee so it will stay inside.

At clinics I put tissue papers in the tee so they get the idea.

You would be surprised just video taping how un aware the hitter is that they are doing this.

We try to get them to understand they are stronger with the head down during contact and that once they hit the ball RUN! DO NOT LOOK....RUN!

Again the video tape of front tossing will highlight they are wasting time by looking and not running....get out of the box!

Many times the hitter never tracks while working off the tee from an imaginary pitchers point of release to the ball and that creates bad habits in my opinion.

Howard

 

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Thanks Howard!

 

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On top of what Tim Duncan taught my dd and I forget who told me this, but I have my dd watch the car in front of her. Using her peripheral (sp?) vision, notice how fast the signs, trees, and mailboxes fly by. At the last moment, I tell her to read one of the small blue signs you see on the side of the highway. The concept, it slows the object down and actually gets larger. Helped tremendously. Her slumps used to be constant strike out's, now they're just weak grounders.

 

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On top of what Tim Duncan taught my dd and I forget who told me this, but I have my dd watch the car in front of her. Using her peripheral (sp?) vision, notice how fast the signs, trees, and mailboxes fly by. At the last moment, I tell her to read one of the small blue signs you see on the side of the highway. The concept, it slows the object down and actually gets larger. Helped tremendously. Her slumps used to be constant strike out's, now they're just weak grounders.

Maybe another way to say this is too look at guard rails, trees, fence posts and lines on the road and then pick one and give your head a head start and it slows it down.....kind of like tracking a ball.

Additionally, was Tim drinking what looked like water however did not have ice cubes in it?

 

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Thanks everyone I have been making her look threw the net at a fence post then tracking back to the tee. Her hitting coach told me to use the little marshmellows instead of the beans. Like Hitter said all the tee work built the bad habbit of her not tracking back to the tee lots of work ahead. Thanks agian

 

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@ Hitter

I ordered a pair of the Nike Sparq Strobe Goggles to give them a try. I think this will help for several things. I will let you know what I find.

 

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@ Hitter

I ordered a pair of the Nike Sparq Strobe Goggles to give them a try. I think this will help for several things. I will let you know what I find.

Appreciate any information you glean from this.

Being able to use the strobe effect anywhere should be a plus. I have used it in the garage for years and it puts a whole new meaning to tracking or what is termed smooth eye head pursuit.

Howard

 

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Appreciate any information you glean from this.

Being able to use the strobe effect anywhere should be a plus. I have used it in the garage for years and it puts a whole new meaning to tracking or what is termed smooth eye head pursuit.

Howard

Howard, got the glasses, tried them right out of the box and they were cool as heck. DD missed several balls, then adjusted the setting and she was able to hit about 50% at 65 MPH from 43'. Did this for about 10 minutes, (found that hint somewhere). Took the goggles off and she missed the first 3 balls, way out in front of it and the she hitting everyhting after that. She said it was like going after a beach ball that was a change up.

Tried them again with some grounders and she missed several and when the goggles came off she looked like she had a lot more range. She said it slowed the ball down big time when the goggles were off.

This morning tried them again with some small whiffles in the back yard and she could barely hit one with the same setting from the pitching machine. Took the goggles off and she was hitting them all, but she usually does with the small whiffles. She did say the balls seemed bigger again but not sure how effective it was.

 

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Appreciate any information you glean from this.

Being able to use the strobe effect anywhere should be a plus. I have used it in the garage for years and it puts a whole new meaning to tracking or what is termed smooth eye head pursuit.

Howard

Do you have any videos available that demonstrates your drills? If not I guess I will have to bring my kid to Ohio.

 

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Do you have any videos available that demonstrates your drills? If not I guess I will have to bring my kid to Ohio.

No not yet.