Where do you start in teaching the swing?

[Drill]

Imaginary player asking for advice, who is comparing himself to a vid of a pro player side by side frame by frame.

My advice>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Your chin is down to much, not getting that full coil thingy because your chin is blocking your turn. Pick you head up and be proud of your swing. The pro guy looks stronger. Other than that you may want to adjust your cup, just as a precursor to set up for your swing and to impress that looker in the stands.

After reading threads on swing advice I am all mixed up what is right and what is wrong to teach. Drills that I thought were good are bad. I guess I have been giving faulty advice for years. I always tried to keep it easy. One swing key at a time, build the swing I aways thought was the way.

If I had to think about all of the swing keys advice i would still be standing there when the snow was falling. Of course that is just me and I am getting long in the tooth and no I am not aiming this at any one directly.

How in the end do you communicate the swing key to a good player or even the little leaguer who you have to start from the bottom up . Especially if you are changing more than one aspect of the swing.

Do you have to make a DVD for the player to understand and pick out his own swing key? Than I am sure it will be contradicted and criticized for how it is taught or what is said.

So
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My challenge if you are willing>>>>>>>>


My question to all of you who know how to teach the swing. Teach the swing to an imaginary 10 year old who knows nothing about the swing, but is gifted with good hand eye, body coordination and normal build for his age.

thanks,

drill

[MSandman]

My first suggestion would be to try to film as much of your training sessions as possible so that you (not "you" personally, but collectively anyone who is reading this) do not fall into the trap of confusing a solidly hit ball with properly performing the movements you taught.

I know that I've been guilty at times too of thinking I see something live that Kevin politely debates w/ me "No Dad, I did x, not y"... then later, when I review the video, the little stinker was right! ;)

My point is, coaches who stand near cages and tell their players to "do this, do that", then praise the hitter for a well-hit ball are often just stroking their own egos (i.e. I told him to do x, he hit the ball well, he must've done what I said). Watch the video to see if our instruction was any more useful than if we were to just stand/sit there, shut our yaps, and pitch them BP over and over. :crazy

[swingbuster]

Put a ball on a tee two balls above his knee and watch him swing as you ask him to hit line drives back through the box.

When he fails 10 times in a row you will have his attention and he will quit thinking so much about his ability and start thinking about his inability and listen maybe

Work off of that first

[MSandman]

Why are there 2 versions of this same thread? Jake, can you please combine?

[Drill]

My first suggestion would be to try to film as much of your training sessions as possible so that you (not "you" personally, but collectively anyone who is reading this) do not fall into the trap of confusing a solidly hit ball with properly performing the movements you taught.

I know that I've been guilty at times too of thinking I see something live that Kevin politely debates w/ me "No Dad, I did x, not y"... then later, when I review the video, the little stinker was right! ;)

My point is, coaches who stand near cages and tell their players to "do this, do that", then praise the hitter for a well-hit ball are often just stroking their own egos (i.e. I told him to do x, he hit the ball well, he must've done what I said). Watch the video to see if our instruction was any more useful than if we were to just stand/sit there, shut our yaps, and pitch them BP over and over. :crazy



LOL i know what you mean and want to comment on this but I am taking my 12 year old son over to the High School for a indoor clinic in a few minutes. I taught him everything he knows.(not really). My wife will not let me teach him the nuances of adjusting cup and smiling at the pretty girls. Oh well I have failed as a teacher and a father. So I am now letting the ex-players and coaches teach him swing technique. Baseball swing. I know I am kidding around here in my post and hope no one takes offense. But I really would like some more comments if possible.

I want to improve my teaching if possible


thanks,

drill

[Drill]

sorry it double posted when i edited post


please continue

drill

[Ursa Major]

Drill asked: Teach the swing to an imaginary 10 year old who knows nothing about the swing, but is gifted with good hand eye, body coordination and normal build for his age.I'm glad you posed your question in the context of a specific type of hitter, as too many posters here are absolutists with little regard to the level of hitter to whom their ideas might be taught. Even so, you still need to see what the kid thinks a swing should be like, because once he does start swinging, that ingrained memory will find it's way in there and must be addressed.

But, if I had such a kid (and, come to think of it, I worked with exactly that kind of kid a couple weeks ago with good results), I'd tell him to stand next to the plate without a bat. Have him get into his "athletic stance": whatever he uses in guarding players in sports like basketball or football. Make sure his knees are bent a little, he's pitched forward slightly, and his feet are square relative to the pitcher. Tell him that's his stance -- at least for now -- so he can move on to the next point.

Put a wiffle ball on a tee about waist high maybe a foot in front of the center of the plate. With his hands on his hips, have him rotate his hips and upper body so that his back shoulder rotates toward the ball, making sure his head stays centered between his feet and that his back foot turns. Have him do that tell he's comfortable with it, then have him trying turning faster.

Now, as you're about to lose his attention, give him a bat (maybe a little smaller than he's used to) and have him grip it with only his bottom hand; his top hand can rest face up supporting the bottom wrist. Let the barrel rest on his rear upper arm parallel to the upper arm of his bottom arm, with his bottom hand within a couple inches of his back shoulder. Now, have him do that same rotation drill and tell him to let his rotation bring the bathead around to hit the ball. Do that until he can hit the ball consistently. The point is to develop his trust in his body as the engine that starts the swing.

Try it again with the ball on the tee at armpit level, then at knee level. Add a slight forward step either before or after the next drill, as you see fit.

Finally, let him grip the bat with both hands while keeping the hands near that back shoulder, and have him do the drill. If he starts disconnecting (the hands leave the shoulder too early (which you can tell because the barrel droops before it gets to the ball), have him retreat to the previous levels for a few swings.

That's my basic recipe. Add rear elbow lift, scap loading, hip loading, and "intent to hit" to taste.

[Jake Patterson]

I think that P-C-R may be applicable here. Start with posture.

[TG Coach]

My challenge if you are willing>>>>>>>> My question to all of you who know how to teach the swing. Teach the swing to an imaginary 10 year old who knows nothing about the swing, but is gifted with good hand eye, body coordination and normal build for his age.

The first thing I would do is watch him swing. There may be a lot right even if there are some things wrong. I don't want to reinvent the kid. I want to improve him.

If I'm starting from scratch the first lesson would be all about stance, balance, footwork and stride. If the footwork is wrong, everything else no matter how perfect, will be off.

[callyjr]

agree with TG, teach him balance first. hitting rocks is a good way to learn as well. No one teaching him to hit down.

[swingbuster]

Agree

Start with what he has now

Give him specific task off the tee that allow you and him to measure his progress, and create a feedback system that he can SEE

They cannot make adjustments to what they cannot see.

They believe what they see happening as they are doing the task better

Never set up unmeasurable drills with no visual feedback

Never set up drills that allow pull hitting ; that is like starting a young golfer in a drill to teach the slice