Hitting and Hitters Discussion hitting techniques

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What are some of the hitting techniques that are commonly taught in girls fastpitch?

If a girl is hitting well, (good average, power and % hits in play) and has good mechanics (for some technique) why would you try to teach her something different?

I think I remember reading on here awhile ago that some coaches will only take you if you conform to their preferred technique, even if you are a solid hitter.

 

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The three major hitting techniques taught in fastpitch are:
1. Linear
2. Rotational
3. Trans-Rotational
......with 2 and 3 being the more popular techniques. Slappers are very linear however when they are truly slapping.

Personally, if a hitter is getting it done I leave them alone.

Len

 

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Why mess with something if it isnt broke, Thats one aspect of coaching I have never understood.

 

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I agree with Boulder.. We picked up a girl this year who sees and hits the ball well. However, her mom said she had a very low batting average this past summer because her coach kept messing with her swing. We have not touched her swing since she came on board and the kid batted over .500 this past weekend. just sayin.

 

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Folks if you think TB or HS is bad wait until you experience it at the college level. Its down right maddening

 

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Can you say........CONTROL FREAKS!!!!!!!

Len

 

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Can you say........CONTROL FREAKS!!!!!!!

Len

Some of these guys are just trying to out think the room.

 

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Folks if you think TB or HS is bad wait until you experience it at the college level. Its down right maddening

Parents too......just saying..

 

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As long as a hitter can make it 60 feet. Proper mechanics do help in this process. At some time, just putting the ball in play isn't going to do it. As the girls get older, they should learn to place the ball and smash the ball. What about switch hitting? LOL

 

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I would think the age of the player could come into play in deciding if a successful hitter is changed from their current swing. A 10U or 12U player can very often have a bad swing, but end up with great success if they are a great athlete. However, if they are not given coaching to improve the swing, at some point as they move up the age groups, they will most likely fail. There are very few (if any) 18U hitters that play against good competition that are successful with poor technique. [That doesn't mean that every hitter must look identical when they swing.]

 

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Great post Rdsherman5. Untill you play against the best who knows if they will be successful at the next level. I have seen many 18U hitters struggle when they play against college level pitching. I know dd played as a slapper as a sub on an 18U gold team and almost every pitcher was college bound. That tournament got her many offers, because they get to see how you play against top level pitchers and defense. PS: Never have I seen a slap hitter at that level of play. I do see many trying it at the lower levels.

 

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I would think the age of the player could come into play in deciding if a successful hitter is changed from their current swing. A 10U or 12U player can very often have a bad swing, but end up with great success if they are a great athlete. However, if they are not given coaching to improve the swing, at some point as they move up the age groups, they will most likely fail. There are very few (if any) 18U hitters that play against good competition that are successful with poor technique. [That doesn't mean that every hitter must look identical when they swing.]

Excellent points. I witnessed this phenomenon as my DD was coming up through the ranks. She had a few team mates who were athletic, and against decent 12u pitching could put the ball in play quite often. These were kids who didn't put in the individual work necessary to progress in hitting skills. Therefore, they began struggling at 14u, and those struggles became fail at 16u. Had they been working with a quality hitting instructor, chances are that they could have progressed in skill as they faced tougher experienced pitching. I have video of some of the "younger years", and I've seen some ugly swings!

Regardless of how tough you think 10u or 12u pitching is - it ain't nothing like top shelf 16u or 18u! 10u and 12u are the rookie years, and a LOT of learning and development is taking place - with MANY "mistake pitches". A hitter at 10u or 12u can often get it done with sheer athletic ability, and many do. But come 16u, a college bound pitcher will pick apart obvious swing flaws.

Don't get caught up in the "linear vs rotational" debate. But DO get caught up in a campaign to keep your DD on a path of constant improvement. That doesn't mean change your DD's swing mechanics just for the sake of "she doesn't swing like so-and-so who is a good hitter". NOW is the time (off season) to be working hard and smart on hitting skills - with a KNOWLEDGEABLE instructor.

You want your DD going into college with skills already in place - the skills she was recruited for. If those skills are deeply rooted, and a kid is having college level success, it's doubtful that any coach would try to change them (unless they're an idiot). But the idiots are out there!! Besides, the deeper rooted the quality skills are, the harder it is to change. Remember - the opposite is also true, so the longer your DD is taking BAD swings, the harder it will be for her to change.

Odds are that a "certain" southern Ohio kid who is putting up some huge numbers at a "certain" Horizon league school will continue. Pssst... Not telling you what to do, but if I were you, I'd look into the type of teaching THAT kid received. You can't argue with results - even when pitchers are given "chalk+" (for you BD )

 

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What are some of the hitting techniques that are commonly taught in girls fastpitch?

If a girl is hitting well, (good average, power and % hits in play) and has good mechanics (for some technique) why would you try to teach her something different?

I think I remember reading on here awhile ago that some coaches will only take you if you conform to their preferred technique, even if you are a solid hitter.

The only time I would try to teach her something different is if you see that what they are doing will break down when they go to the next (or even next) layer. Like the player who does well as a youngster because she is advanced athletically but then fades when everybody catches up to her.

 

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Good answers and some of them have made me think. So here is some more info. This has been bugging me for awhile. What happened is that one of the evaluators came up to her at a tryout and was instructing her on her swing as she was hitting wiffle balls off a tee. She attended several other tryouts and if there were any comments, they were positive. No one trying to change anything. The coach of the team she ended up going with thinks her swing is fine and she is hitting well in scrimmages against live pitching. She is 14U. Any more feedback?

 

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Unless that person is a hitting coach, ignore the feedback. There are few in Ohio that know what they heck they are talking about. That includes the 20 plus college camps I have attended. Most of them go to somone else for advance! If she is 14 it is time to make sure she is on the right path, it is tough to fix things that will hurt her later on. See someone like Tim Duncan/Bouldersdad. The reason I pick him, he has a dd producing at the next level, which tells you he has results!

 

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Thank you SB And Sammy for the props. I have one thing I would like for any parent of a kid in travel ball to remember and tell their dd this. If someone gives your dd advice or if their coach tells them to do something different in their swing when it is working, simply and polity ask........... why? How does what you tell me make me a better hitter. Please explain how what you tell me to do works. Tell me the mechanics of it and how to incorporate it into my swing. If their response is simply because I told you too. Then place that information in file 13 ( spam or trash ) If they know what they are doing they will be able to explain the function of the change.

Do this politely no need to be nasty. Some coaches tinker with swings because they do not understand your swing and its easier to totally change your swing to theirs than try and correct something they cant figure out in the first place. Some tinker because a certain word or line is what they were told as they were learning and they go back to it. Some tinker because they want their name on a good hitters swing. Some tinker because they do not want to be shown up by a kid in front of other kids. And some tinker because they care and honestly feel they are helping. ( even though they may not know what they are doing ).

Share your hitting instructors number with the coach. Or better yet have the coach attend a session with your dd and her instructor. The end goal is to make the dd a better hitter if the coach is worth his salt and learning is as important to him as instructing you should be able to find middle ground. If not there are always other teams and coaches that are there for the right reason.


Tim

 

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I have been fortunate to have my dd's coaches understand that she sees a hitting coach (BD) weekly and they leave the mechanics of the swing alone.

 

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Good answers and some of them have made me think. So here is some more info. This has been bugging me for awhile. What happened is that one of the evaluators came up to her at a tryout and was instructing her on her swing as she was hitting wiffle balls off a tee. She attended several other tryouts and if there were any comments, they were positive. No one trying to change anything. The coach of the team she ended up going with thinks her swing is fine and she is hitting well in scrimmages against live pitching. She is 14U. Any more feedback?

If your DD is even thinking about college ball, this is a critical time for her skill development. From your comments I get the feeling that you are leaning toward thinking your DD's swing is just fine because she is hitting fine against live pitching. Some things to consider:

1) Be completely honest with yourself in evaluating the level of pitching she is facing.

2) BEWARE: "Fall Ball" pitching is NOT a good venue for evaluating a pitchers in this context. Fall ball is more like scrimmages and/or friendlies. This is the time that pitchers are working on new pitches (at least the ones dedicate to self improvement), and in the process, are not as accurate and sharp as they would be during real games. They are experimenting with new stuff and making lots of mistakes, so hitting success in this venue does not necessarily translate to hitting success next summer. Many pitchers are in "down time" right now, so I have no idea the level she is seeing. But that makes a HUGE difference!

3) IMO, the single most important thing you can do is educate yourself about hitting - not to the degree that an instructor would, but enough to know what your DD should be doing, and what a quality at-bat should look like. That way you'll be able to distinguish between the snake oil salesmen and the real McCoy of hitting instructors. Honestly, make the trip "to the south" and get an evaluation. Start on a educational journey about advanced hitting that will pay off in huge dividends for your DD.