by Coach Mike » Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:37 pm
Hi Heather!!!
There are several reasons that could cause you to swing down (chop) at the ball ... and I agree with the previously posted comments, that you can really see the flaws in your swing through video. Additionally, you should have a trained professional BATTING COACH with whom you can work consistently and by whom you can have your swing analyzed.
Now until you can find a batting coach, and without seeing your swing, the best I can tell you is that your should look at your swing from the ground up.
Are you maintaining a firm front side at contact (front leg isn't bending) and are you keeping your weight on the inside of your front knee (left hip inside of your left knee, if you're batting right-handed) while rotating your hips into the swing.
Are you matching your swing-plane into the path of the pitch? (Ask a batting coach to help explain this to you) ... In other words, is the direction of your swing cutting through the middle of the ball? ... or is it cutting down from top to bottom?
Are you forming a good "hitter's frame" (Front elbow-up and back elbow-down) at the point of contact and getting good extension "through" the ball after contact or is your front elbow down, thus causing a "short" and downward extension after contact.
Are you keeping your hands in a good "palm-up/palm-down" position well through contact? Also, are you gripping the bat too tight (into your palm) or are you holding the bat a little more loosely with the "door-knocking knuckles" lined up? Gripping too tightly can also lead you to roll the hands over at contact.
One good "basic" drill that can help you with hitting more "line drives" is called "net bombs" or "long tee". You set up a tee about 3-5 yards from your hitting net. Hit 10 balls into the net ... make sure ball is a true "line drive" into the net. Once you hit at least 7 out of 10 balls as line drives hitting your target net, then you can begin to move the tee back another 3-5 yards and proceed to hit another 10 balls. You should be able to get a good 15+ yards away from your net and still hit hard line drives consistently into your target net.
I've attached photos of the "hitter's frame" that I described above ... (Notice - the Front-elbow stays "above" the hands ... the hands stay "above" the barrel of the bat at contact)!!!
Find a good BATTING COACH in your area!!!!
And keep getting better, young lady!!!
Softball Rocks!!!!
Coach Mike
- Attachments
-
- Hitting Pics 2011 2A.doc
- (202 KiB) Downloaded 1095 times
-
- Hitting Pics 2011 B.doc
- (168.5 KiB) Downloaded 1018 times
Last edited by
Coach Mike on Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:56 pm, edited 4 times in total.