Evaluate 12 yr old swing please

[BigCoachChris]

Hey Guy"s, We have been working on hitting in my friends greenhouse this winter. My son turned 12 on Feb 14th and is starting to show some decent power and balance in his swing. Please give any feedback on what you see, good or bad as we are working hard to improve, Thanks, Chris PS: Please ignore my friends comments, during the hitting, they can be quite loud. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61FFUr_L1Wk

[Mark H]

I like hearing how positive and fired up the adults are. Kid seems focused too. Hard to tell with the backlighting and maybe someone will pick out a swing and put it in a form we can frame by frame but to start with, I'm seeing bat drag though I've certainly seen worse. Good looking athlete who just needs to be shown how to be more efficient. I'm sure he hits average pitching very well. http://imageevent.com/siggy/hitting/analysis;jsessionid=8fllcp2i01.lion_s

[bbjunkie]

I can't view the vids right now because my employer blocks them. But, I can't help asking: You practiced hitting in a greenhouse???:dance:rofl:

[TG Coach]

There are too many voices. When a kid is hitting he should be allowed to swing and not have to listen to voices. If there's something to say it should be one coach during a break in BP. When the kid is hitting, let him hit.

[TL_Dad]

There are too many voices. When a kid is hitting he should be allowed to swing and not have to listen to voices. If there's something to say it should be one coach during a break in BP. When the kid is hitting, let him hit.

I agree too much going on.

[PhilliesPhan22]

I think yous guys should let the kid hit. Kind of reminded me of "American Pie". You know the scene with the lacrosse coach and the assistant who just repeated what he said.

I digress, with a little work he could hit. Bunting like that is not advised.

[BigCoachChris]

I agree way to much talking. All four boys were fooling around, not paying attention etc., so I had just given them a big lecture about not wasting my time or theirs and then it was my sons turn to hit. That is the reason for all the cheerleading. I will make sure to keep it quiet from now on. What else do you guy"s see. So far we need to work on Bat drag. Here is a clip with the normal noise level, although it is from behind. I can film more this weekend. How do you film frame by frame? Thanks for any comments, My son loves baseball and so do I. Chrishttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCT3Tl4-ud0

[BigCoachChris]

Try again, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCT3Tl4-ud0

[Erik]

Try again, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCT3Tl4-ud0


BigCoachChris,


is the tee to keep the barrell from dropping below the hands? Is this a drill to keep the barrel above the hands approaching the ball?




EL,

[Swing Coach]

I see no bat drag in this swing. It is a nice swing...now just add some weight shift. He has no linear movement toward the pitcher into toe touch, which high level swings have. When he gets this linear movement, he will power more force into his blocked front leg. A popular teach is to "get the stride out of the way" early, which he does. That's not so good if he wants a high level swing. Overall, nice swing...but he is just spinning on his back side. Remember, the vast majority of great hitters stride to balance. He does not do this. Try the walk-up drill or try hitting soft toss on the downward side of a pitchers mound so he can feel some movement forward to balance with his stride. Good luck!

SC

[Mark H]

Quiet? You guys ever been to a ball game?

[Mark H]

I see no bat drag in this swing. It is a nice swing...now just add some weight shift. He has no linear movement toward the pitcher into toe touch, which high level swings have. When he gets this linear movement, he will power more force into his blocked front leg. A popular teach is to "get the stride out of the way" early, which he does. That's not so good if he wants a high level swing. Overall, nice swing...but he is just spinning on his back side. Remember, the vast majority of great hitters stride to balance. He does not do this. Try the walk-up drill or try hitting soft toss on the downward side of a pitchers mound so he can feel some movement forward to balance with his stride. Good luck!

SC

Better lighting but I'd still like to view this frame by frame. Some good comments in terms of drills by Swing Coach and some good ideas though I might quibble some with a term or two but good stuff overall. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say nice swing but it wouldn't take that long to get to "nice swing" because some of the usual uglies aren't apparently present in the swing.

I hope this is some kind of teaching progression by the instructor in the video otherwise why the heck is he having him stride and then stop before rotation? A question relating to SC's points. And of course I want to yell at the computer screen and ask the instructor why he doesn't put this kid in a loaded athletic position similar to EVERY elite hitter in the freakin world? Great! He's teaching a swing from a position not seen in elite hitters. That's just wonderful. There's a reason the P comes first in PCR/adding the W in deference to Paul. OK, I feel better now. Seriously, get in a basic butt out tilted over athletic position seen in just about any explosive athletic sport skill including hitting. If the guy instructing is a dad, God bless him and let's get him some more knowledge. If he's getting paid for this he didn't do his homework before he hung out his shingle and started taking money IMO. Yeah I get a little annoyed when I see someone I take to be a paid instructor teaching or omitting stuff a cursory examination of video of elite hitters would disprove or reveal. If the guy tossing is not a paid instructor never mind. In that case, I'm on his side and want to point him to better information.

[BigCoachChris]

Thanks for the great input, We will work on the athletic stance as well as weight transfer. The soft toss is a two stage, not really a live swing. The tee is there to prevent an uppercut swing. That is my friend Dave, doing the soft toss, just a fantastic ballplayer who"s career was cut short with an eye injury. He is only 25 yrs old.I think we have a good base to start and with the help of you great guy"s from Baseball Fever we can take it to a higher level. Please keep the comments coming and I will film again this weekend.How do you film frame by frame? Thanks Chris

[Chris O'Leary]

The tee is there to prevent an uppercut swing.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with an uppercut swing. That is often part of how tilt is accomplished.

The tee where it is, and as high as it is, can force swinging down on the ball, which isn't what the best hitters do.

I also don't spend any time worrying about what the top hand does.

[BigCoachChris]

Thanks Chris,we will get that tee out of there, I never really liked it and my son hates it. Did you get a chance to look at the first video of live hitting? Thanks Again, Chris

[dbacksfan95]

Hey Guy"s, We have been working on hitting in my friends greenhouse this winter. My son turned 12 on Feb 14th and is starting to show some decent power and balance in his swing. Please give any feedback on what you see, good or bad as we are working hard to improve, Thanks, Chris PS: Please ignore my friends comments, during the hitting, they can be quite loud. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61FFUr_L1Wk

That kid doesn't need to know how to bunt--All he has to do is it homeruns!

[jbooth]

Thanks Chris,we will get that tee out of there, I never really liked it and my son hates it. Did you get a chance to look at the first video of live hitting? Thanks Again, Chris

Do you think any of these swings would avoid that tee positioned in the drill? I understand what the coach was trying to prevent; dropping the hands, and/or dropping the bathead in a looping swing, but I don't like that drill. It prevents looping, but may create the wrong barrel and hand path, ie taking the hands on a downward path too long, and taking the barrel on a downward chopping type of path.

http://firstpickclub.com/images/soriano2.jpg

http://firstpickclub.com/images/griffypathsmarked.jpg

http://firstpickclub.com/images/bonds_approach.jpg

http://firstpickclub.com/video/jmauer2.gif http://firstpickclub.com/video/MRamirez_Side.gif

[BigCoachChris]

Great info Guy"s, We will be hitting in the greenhouse again tomorrow so I will post some new film. We will be working on athletic stance and weight transfer. I hope to fine tune with one or two adjustments at a time. The power is there now, 7 homeruns at practice yesterday ranging from 200' to a long of 280'. I beleive there is more power in his swing, just dont want to make any drastic changes and have a setback. Thanks, Chris

[BigCoachChris]

We hit again today, but I forgot the camera!!!! Too many margaritas last night. I am going to film at the ballpark thursday. What I found out today is there are no easy adjustments to someones swing once muscle memory has taken over. My son wants to make the changes but his body his fighting him. He his hitting very well just not at his full potential, hitting is definately a work in progress. Chris

[jbooth]

We hit again today, but I forgot the camera!!!! Too many margaritas last night. I am going to film at the ballpark thursday. What I found out today is there are no easy adjustments to someones swing once muscle memory has taken over. My son wants to make the changes but his body his fighting him. He his hitting very well just not at his full potential, hitting is definately a work in progress. Chris

Depending on which study you read, it has been studied and shown that to change a complex motion (like the baseball swing), it takes a minimum of 1,000 repetitions of the new movement done correctly, before the brain will execute the move without having to concsiously think about it. Some studies say it takes 5,000 reps or more.

Bottom line is; you can't make a change to your swing and take 50 or 100 swings and then go into a game situation and expect to execute the new swing. When making changes you need to do it until the coach sees it done correctly, and the student feels what a correct swing feels like. Then you need to do a bunch of dry swings, then progress to a bunch of swings at balls on a tee, then to a bunch of short front toss, then a bunch of BP. THEN, you may expect it to work in a game.

[Mark H]

Yeah and then your team coach makes everyone do stupid drills that work against what you're trying to accomplish.