Late swing

[Maachil]

My DD is 13 years old and is swinging late when she is up to bat, and in a downward chopping motion. Any ideas on the fix?

 

[daboss]

With all due respect, it sounds like this young lady at the age of 13 still swinging like this has been left behind in the learning curve. Whether it is from lack of skilled instruction or a possible learning disability, you won't find many 13 yr olds hacking at a ball if they have been active in the game since T-ball days. She needs intense training and instruction that will probably mean going back to working with a tee. They write books on how to fix the problems you have mentioned. I'm not going to write a book on here. I hope she can pitch or she has little future in this game--------even at the Rec level. Sorry.

One thing I will mention is try video her swing and show it back to her. Better yet, video her swinging while watching herself in a mirror. Have a tape of somebody with a proper swing and point out the differences in each video. This might speed up the learning curve and get the body doing the right thing. Timing is a completely different issue. Don't worry about timing till the swing is fixed.

 

[Louuuuu]

Try to condition her to think "I'm going to swing at every pitch". It's easier to stop a swing for an unwanted pitch than it is to start one on a "surprise" hittable pitch.

She may be seeking the safer "Ball 4" than risking swinging and possibly missing. In essence, she should want to hit the ball. Every pitch.

 

[OhPhat]

Like Louuuu states she needs to be ready to swing at every pitch. We teach our girls that every pitch is a strike first and they need to be ready to swing the if they decide that it's a ball they can stop their swing. This is intended to keep them going through their swing motion ever pitch and seems to help. I would recommend having your DD see a good hitting instructor to help iron out the swing path as a downward chopping motion is not viable as the bat does not stay in the hitting zone remotely long enough. Hope she figured it out.

 

[Passion4theGame]

T work, t work, t work!!!!

 

[wow]

With all due respect, it sounds like this young lady at the age of 13 still swinging like this has been left behind in the learning curve. Whether it is from lack of skilled instruction or a possible learning disability, you won't find many 13 yr olds hacking at a ball if they have been active in the game since T-ball days. She needs intense training and instruction that will probably mean going back to working with a tee. They write books on how to fix the problems you have mentioned. I'm not going to write a book on here. I hope she can pitch or she has little future in this game--------even at the Rec level. Sorry.

One thing I will mention is try video her swing and show it back to her. Better yet, video her swinging while watching herself in a mirror. Have a tape of somebody with a proper swing and point out the differences in each video. This might speed up the learning curve and get the body doing the right thing. Timing is a completely different issue. Don't worry about timing till the swing is fixed.

Not sure why the thumbs down? This info, although maybe harsh, is spot on. There is some very good advice, especially the video review. I agree at 13 many of these girls at this level have been playing for 6+ years. Take the advice holistically and digest what is being said you will come out the other side with a better understanding of the fix you seek. Also maybe a few batting lessons are in order? Nothing like paying for advice you got here for free.

 

[reagansdaddy]

Maachil - My DD sometimes struggles with a top hand chopping motion, especially if she's late on a swing. She's neither learning disabled (4.0 gifted identified student) or receives poor instruction (sees one of the top hitting coaches around weekly). I think she might just have a future in the game, too, but I could be wrong. It's never too late to make changes to a swing to improve. Jose Bautista completely made over his swing in his late 20's to become one of the best hitters in the game - he had just a little bit of success beyond the rec level.

A couple of things we worked on with DD -

Approach. A hitter needs a "Yes, Yes, Yes" or "Yes, Yes, No" mindset. Every pitch is a strike until the last moment when the decision is made NOT to swing. The hitter doesn't decide to swing but rather not to swing. The decision to swing is made before the pitch is ever delivered. This will help her get on time which by itself may help with the chopping motion. Look up Matt Lisle on the web. He is the hitting coach at South Carolina and an online hitting coach. This is straight from him and he has some good free stuff you can look at on approach.

Getting work on the tee is great advice. I'd recommend a particular drill which we call the Angle Drill. Other call it the Stretch and Fire Drill. Look up Casey SNF 2013 on YouTube for a great example of this drill. Really concentrate on getting the back elbow in the slot on this drill to keep it from being choppy. I'd also work on some one handed drills with both hands using a small t-ball bat or one handed bat to concentrate on the proper hand path.

Hope that helps. Good luck to you and your DD!

 

[tjsmize3]

My DD is 13 years old and is swinging late when she is up to bat, and in a downward chopping motion. Any ideas on the fix?

All good stuff on here but I would say get your daughter on slow motion video where you can see her swing frame by frame before settling on any "fix." It's amazing how much our eyes can fool us sometimes into seeing something that's not really there when watching a swing full speed. At 13u the biggest questions I would have is does she have her weight centered and hips moving properly into contact, is separation occurring, are the arms connected during her swing, does she finish balanced (i.e can she hold her finish without falling). A lot of times the "chop" comes when girls have a 1-piece swing and jump out on to their front foot to make contact. Very common problems, pretty easy to see on slow motion video, reasonably easy to fix with proper instruction. Good luck!

 

[Softball04]

Can't help without a clip!

 

[dannyboy]

A girl on my daughters team is simply getting to toe touch too late, and obviously late on her swing. My two cents.

 

[LADY_KNIGHTS]

This could be caused by any number of things. Many good coaches on here that could give some advice if they were able to take a closer look at some video of her swing.

 

[CARDS]

Lots of factors...Seeing a quality instructor would be the first step as they will be able to address the following.

Equipment: Is she swinging the correct size/weight bat.
Eye Sight: Does she need corrective eye wear? what eye is she tracking with.
Foundation: Is her lower base correct.
Movement: Is she hard negative upper/lower body prior to the swing?
Trigger: What/when is she triggering/loading
Swing path: Tee drills can help this. Some ladies tend to have a bad hand path and swing around the ball pulling hard or pushing off the ball.
Strength: What is she doing to get stronger: squeeze ball, wrist rolls, light weight, stretch tubes, jump rope, plyo. drills etc.
Mental Approach: Does she step in expecting a hit or looking for a walk.

BAD HABITS: A lot of ladies are trained in bad habits or are using drills that contribute to bad habits. Hitting tires, basket balls, knob to ball etc.

 

[FastBat]

UberSense Inc, Hudl Technique, this is a great slow mo app. My dd always swings late. Then someone told her to swing as hard as she does in practice, in the game, that little change helped her.

I would invest in a tee, bow net, and this Hudl app. Set it up in your basement or garage and practice 10-30 minutes everyday from now until next May. Chances are she will see some positive results. Don't let others discourage you or her, just tell her to put her blinders on and keep working! Good luck!