STEP ONE: FIND THE RIGHT BAT. We want to keep it tucked behind our head at about a 45-degree angle and maybe even brought in slightly toward the head. We’re going to start off with our batter’s stance in the order of the steps we go through. Throw No. Sometimes we use the focus of a window; they have a square or rectangle right at the hip. The ball is probably the most important thing. Besides hitting the ball to the fence, there is no greater offensive weapon than a robust bunting strategy. The Wrist Flick will cause the athlete to push the ball and have an “out in front” feeling. Your child's throwing mechanics could be to blame for their erratic ways. When we finish, we want to try to get her hands up just a little bit higher so we create a downward angle to the ball and then a high finish when we swing. Coach Candrea also covers many of the new training tools on the market today. This video takes you through drills to develop proper mechanics using tees, soft-toss trainers and both live and machine drills. Bunting takes precision and practice, and a bunting drill offers just that. Note: This drill is best performed at short distances. This is not surprising given the fact that slap-hitting is a major change from what they have been taught with traditional hitting. We want to use our body to move our hands. Batter’s Mental Approach. Posted at 10:17h in Stance, Load, ... Game Day Hitting, Load, Load from your core, Multi-Swing Method, stride, Teaching Kids To Hit, Timing. We’re using our legs, our big muscles in our legs, to push that bat forward through a swing to hit that ball hard. We’re going to get in our stance and we’re going to load our body back in a good position, then we’re going to stride. The next step in our process is probably the most important one in hitting. When we hit, we want to keep that stride as small as possible. Improve their skills. And we want to try to watch it as it comes through. Now we’re in a position to where we can just rotate and hit it. Some hitters curl the index finge… We’re going to swing too early or we’re going to take our hands off the path of the ball. The first motion when we make the hit is to bring that elbow into our side, and the higher that thing goes, the more we have kind of a collapsing motion back here. As I’ve grown to learn through teaching and playing myself, your thoughts control your actions. By going over these six softball hitting fundamentals with your team, you can ensure that they’ll be able to approach hitting during practice with a renewed attitude and understanding of technique and fundamentals. Automatically Places the Player's Hand and Arm in the Correct Position Throughout the Throwing Motion Red = STOP Yellow = CAUTION Green = THROW Provides Direct and Immediate Visual Feedback Simplifies the Process of Teaching Correct Throwing Mechanics It’s what’s going on in your brain when you walk into the batter’s box. Try Two Weeks of Premium Risk Free Never Stop Learning Now from here we have three parts of our body that are going to rotate. The mental approach or the mind is what’s going to control the hitter’s body to be able to take that swing and have success. Remember, for young players there’s no substitute for regular one-on-one practice. Then the player will begin the push, moving the drive from the ball of the foot up the leg through the hip. This is not a rotation or a squish, but a drive. Sometimes it’s okay to step that front foot open just a little bit, where she takes and points it toward first base just a little bit. The Wrist Flick will cause the athlete to push the ball and have an “out in front” feeling. Where we come set here and we load back and we take our hands behind our body, which is going to make our swing longer, or we load down with our hands. What we’re going to do today is focus on softball hitting techniques and the various states of hitting–your stance, your approach, etc. I have identified your hitting trainer as the best for proper upper-body swing mechanics. Or, if you’re ready for something more advanced, check out our drills for high school softball. We will never share your information. May 1, 2011. So our hitter’s going to get in her stance, and after she loads her body back, she’s going to see that ball come in and she’s going to take a small step. Our back foot’s going to turn, our hips are going to come around with it, and then our bat is going to swing while our shoulders rotate. It’s still taking a good, powerful, aggressive swing, trying to hit the ball as hard as you can, whether it’s baseball or softball. Have the players start approximately 10-12 yards from their partners, sitting "Indian … All of our toes should be pointed toward home plate. This is true for all age groups in softball. Softball Throwing Mechanics 101 It doesn't matter how well you field the ball if your squad can't make strong, accurate throws. An Innovative, Yet Simple Way to Teach Correct Throwing Mechanics! The hand position. Proper Hitting Mechanics: The Swing. Here are some tips to build your team's arm strength, improve their throwing mechanics and ramp up your squad's overall defense. Keep it nice and small. We want to try to avoid stepping out. We’re going to make sure that our hips and our shoulders also stay on a straight line. It’s packed with fun ideas to help teach your girls swing mechanics, increase their bat speed and improve their power. Baseball vs. Softball Swing Reaction Time. Here are the various things for your hitters to keep in mind when it comes to batter’s stance: Here are some common flaws to keep an eye out for in your batter’s stances: Once the pitcher starts his pitching process to throw, your hitter’s been taught to load to start her swing to get her hands into a hitting position. I recently came across an article called The Three Little Pigs and Softball Pitching and it got me thinking about how fastpitch softball pitching mechanics have advanced over the past couple of decades. Do This: For most players, it’s best to teach them to point their glove arm toward their target Coach Candrea also covers many of the new training tools on the market today. At The Hitting Vault, we break down the softball and baseball swing exactly the same. The baseball swing plane trainer visually demonstrates hard-to-explain fundamentals so hitters of all ages and skill levels can learn how to eliminate common swing flaws and focus on building proper baseball swing mechanics. The higher you finish, the more opportunity you have for a lift to hit the ball and get it up in the air and hit line drives. © 2021 Softball-Spot.com. When gripping the bat, the hitter applies pressure with the fingers, not the palms. Once we get loaded up, we step back, then we’re going to swing all the way around and use the good rotation of our body. Some of the things to look for, troubleshooting items in the load, is a wrapping. The loading process is going to start when the pitcher goes to throw and goes to separate to the apex before coming forward to throw. When we finish with our hands down low, it keeps that hand over the top of the ball to where we hit top spin on the ball and hit more balls into the ground. In this article, we are going to keep it simple and break down the mechanics of a good softball hit into three easy to nibble steps, then work our way from there. We want to make sure that our hands start above our shoulders and no higher than our ears. Again, we want to use this whole body to stay in one motion, fade back and stop, and then we continue on from there. Combine your understanding of the principles with your practice and your hitting will improve faster than you would expect! Over time, your child’s swing will improve and their confidence will grow, helping to ensure they’ll enjoy playing for years to come. It’s really important, especially on a pitch like in softball, the rise ball or a high pitch, that we stay above it and swing down to it and then finish. After we get through our stance, seeing the ball, our load, and our step, what we want to do is the swing portion. Another good rule of thumb is that if I’m a pitcher, I should be able to see my player’s hands out in front of her body. I recently came across an article called The Three Little Pigs and Softball Pitching and it got me thinking about how fastpitch softball pitching mechanics have advanced over the past couple of decades. Teach your squad the proper way to throw a softball with this series of pre-game isolation drills. The Setup – The setup is a pre-pitch routine that you perform consistently the same way every time you come to the... 2. The key to being a good bunter is to keep the elbows bent when you are bunting. A good swing is a good swing. That’s one we talked about in our stance. Now when we step, we want to lead the way with our ankle bone straight toward our target. Then the player will begin the push, moving the drive from the ball of the foot up the leg through the hip. Since the first Olympics in 1996, the sport of softball has truly grown. If you want to change a player’s mechanics, the tee is the best place to do it. Teaching Good Glove Arm Mechanics. Bunting is an important part of softball. I’ll open with this: what we don’t teach is just as important as what we do. We should be standing about 12 inches or about one of your player’s shoes away from home plate. Our feet should be a little bit wider than shoulder-width apart to give ourselves a good solid balanced base. The last one is the mental approach. Once we get into our good stance, the hitter’s going to be watching that pitcher’s body, and from the softball position we’re going to find that release from the hip and we’re going to try to pick that ball up as it comes through. When we start getting off line and stepping over here, that’s when we have a problem. #12 – What a 12 year old can teach you about Baseball Hitting Mechanics Big Frank led his league in home runs and batting average by working on some of the things mentioned in videos 1-6. You aren’t going to chase the ball, but instead let the ball come into that hand area and don’t ever extend your elbows. Hear from Jen McFalls about how to teach proper grip and ball spin by watching this video and hearing her tips on keeping it simple and consistent. Since the first Olympics in 1996, the sport of softball has truly grown. The first step is cleaning up your batting mechanics–work on your swing with a hitting instructor, read up on the internet about good hitting mechanics, and watch YouTube videos. Toes, hips, shoulders should all be pointing to the pitcher. Softball Fundamentals: Hitting Drills (video) by Mike Candrea. A good way of remembering this is to teach young hitters to point the tip of the bat or the cap of the bat down at the catcher’s shoes. If we stay a little wider to help us take a smaller stride, that doesn’t affect our swing as much. 3. … For young players, I recommend teaching them to point their glove arm, as shown below. the baseball swing), angular momentum (L) is equal to the product of mass (m), velocity (V) and the radius (r) of the orbit (r), stated as: L = mvr. Put them on the path to success with these simple steps to perfect the proper throwing motion. Well, our approach is different, I suppose, but likely much simpler than you’d expect. Cocking Phase The cocking phase of the softball throwing motion lengthens the muscles that inwardly rotate your upper arm and extend your elbow, preparing them to contract powerfully during the acceleration phase. Step toward the ball and use your front foot as a brace. The bottom hand (left hand for a right handed batter) controls the bat, and the top hand supports the bat loosely. Introduction to Baseball and Softball Hitting Mechanics There are probably as many mental images of the baseball and softball swing as there are coaches who teach hitting mechanics. O ftentimes players that are new to softball slapping have a difficult time with certain components of the upper-body during their swing.. Unlock over 100 Hitting Drills Instantly At the end of the day, our philosophy is that if you can put the ball in play at the right launch angle with high exit velocity, then you are going to not only climb in the order but also elevate your game. This video takes you through drills to develop proper mechanics using tees, soft-toss trainers and both live and machine drills. Those six steps are: 1. But, this isn’t the only thing the glove arm can do to be “correct.” Softball throwing mechanics are not an exact science. © 2021 Softball-Spot.com. Unfortunately, these drills are often done incorrectly. 85 min. The big thing when we teach is I feel there’s not a great deal of difference anymore between baseball and softball. The BRAIN is being taught to position their arm out in front of their body to release the ball, instead of releasing the ball in-line with their body. In the softball swing, … Demonstrate the proper grip when teaching proper throwing technique. We don’t want to get too high when we do this and over-exaggerate it, but we want to stay down to the ball and finish. The bottom hand grips the bat as a person would grip a hammer or a golf club. #12 – What a 12 year old can teach you about Baseball Hitting Mechanics Big Frank led his league in home runs and batting average by working on some of the things mentioned in videos 1-6. Proper Hitting Mechanics: The Swing As the baseball player begins the swing and moves forward, the weight should land softly on the front leg. This is not a rotation or a squish, but a drive. But let that ball dictate whether we’re going to swing at it and trust our body to take a good swing at it. Print page. Take a look at Big Franks hitting mechanics and be jealous. Which has created a ton of hitters at all softball levels who have very restricted movement and not a lot of power or consistent contact. Softball 101: How to Teach Your Child to Swing a Softball Bat ... To teach your child the fundamentals of hitting a softball here is a step-by-step guide. So this step is the most important one: seeing the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand. It’s the rotation of our body. By going over these six softball hitting fundamentals with your team, you can ensure that they’ll be able to approach hitting during practice with a renewed attitude and understanding of technique and fundamentals. Drills Reinforcing BAD Throwing Mechanics. More batting power comes from strong hips, glutes, core and upper body strength. And for teaching young athletes to hit, it’s probably the one where you see a lot of focus go into that between stepping out, maybe being afraid of the ball. One of the things we want to teach is trying to pick that ball up and let the rest of our body take a good natural swing. The mental approach is probably one of the biggest ones. Try to hit the ball about a foot in front of the plate. Keep in mind that smaller players need smaller bats. A good rule of thumb is no more than 12 inches or about one of your player’s shoes away from home plate–this will allow you to hit any pitch. Another one that you hear a lot is back elbow up or we started getting into a position where both elbows were up. FIVE KEY SECRETS TO BETTER HITTING. 6 Softball Hitting Fundamentals to Teach Your Team. It’s the swinging of our bat. So if a hitter goes up in the batter’s box saying, “Oh, my, it’s 0 and 2; I’m going to strike out,” she’s not going to produce a good swing. One thing that separates high-level softball players from everyone else is the ability to use their hips and core in the proper sequence. So we’re watching the ball to determine whether it’s a ball or a strike, whether it’s fast or slow, and whether we’re going to swing or not. If we start going too far, and that’s not going to do us any good either, that’s going to make our bat a little bit too long in her swing. In a baseball swing, mass (m) is the weight of the bat, velocity (v) is the speed of the bat head, and radius (r) is the distance of the bat away from the center of the body. By Art Eversole What makes the game of slow-pitch softball so much fun for all ages and skill level is that nearly anyone can swing a softball bat at a slow pitch and get a base hit regardless of how poor the batting technique. 1: Indian Style Have the players start approximately 10-12 … Steps 1. As you step into the box, make sure that your feet are shoulder width apart or possibly more if that feels more... 2. The top hand is placed against the bottom hand with a straight line. ... Again, early batting practices are a great time to learn about a proper batting stance and swing. Tired of chasing the softball down the street after an errant throw? So your hitter is going to get in her stance, she’s going to get her body in a good, comfortable, balanced position, and she’s going to shift her weight back and stop. Place your fingers across the laces of the softball and place your thumb directly on the bottom of the ball. Our elbows should be in a nice, relaxed position here where these muscles are nice and loose, with the hands up high. When you are holding the bat in the proper bunt position, pretend that you are catching the ball with the top hand. Here’s a quick summary of how she teaches it: If you enjoyed this video, make sure you check out our complete collection of hitting drills for youth softball. As the baseball player begins the swing and moves forward, the weight should land softly on the front leg. There are some slight differences between different pitches, between high pitches and rise balls in softball and more off speed differences in baseball. 85 min. Changing a player’s Keep it going straight. Keep the hands inside the path of the ball with the wrists cocked Before I go into our approach, I want to talk about an important aspect of the hitting … If she goes up with a good clear goal or an idea of what she’s trying to do at each at-bat–this is really important, especially in the younger hitters. When she loads, she’s going to use her body to move her hands back and not move her hands. Our feet should always be in a straight line, toe to toe. Snap your wrists and elbows at the same time to create full-arm extension. Last but not the least, the type of the bat too plays an important role in slow-pitch softball. Softball Hitting Mechanics – Developing A Short, Compact Swing [VIDEO], Maintain a slight bend in the elbow and a bend in the wrist, Sequentially unlock front shoulder, elbow and wrist, Keep the hands inside the path of the ball with the wrists cocked, Place the barrel of the bat on the path of the ball as soon as possible, Upon contact, open up the hips, extend the arms, and snap the wrists, Upon follow through, open the front toe slightly, Keep the head still throughout the entire swing. All Rights Reserved. Begin with the lightest youth softball bat you can find that meets your local league guidelines, and work your way up from there. This type of grip will allow the individual throwing the softball to throw with velocity and accuracy if the other aspects of the throwing technique are correct. We rotate on our back foot, hips, hands all the way around. We also want to make sure that our bat is in a good position of torque, which means we don’t want our bat standing straight up, we don’t want it falling behind. Once they get back into what we call our hitting position, then we’re done and we would continue on from there. Fastpitch softball batting tee drills are essential for hitting improvement, whether you are coaching a 10U team or the varsity high school. The bat is gripped loosely - no white knucles here - and the wrists have flexibility. Engage your kids in practice. The mental approach or the mind is what’s going to control the hitter’s body to be able to take that swing and have success. That’s not as big of a problem. Watching the ball all the way into contact, keeping our head still through a swing. Softball Fundamentals: Hitting Drills (video) by Mike Candrea. All explained with step by step instructions, illustrations, diagrams, and coaching tips. The Bat. All Rights Reserved. "At this point, you're getting down into your legs... 3. And we’re going to finish that swing all the way around to the hitter’s opposite shoulder. Swing your glove arm in the opposite direction at the same time so it points directly at your target. The last one is the mental approach. 100% Privacy Guaranteed. It’s not a step or a rotation, but it’s a thought process. Next, make sure your shoulders are squared towards the plate and turn your head so that your eyes are on the pitcher. The arms are not crossed. Our stride is one of those things where it’s not quite as important as keeping our eye on the ball. Here’s a great video clip from 11-time NCAA champion Sue Enquist. The BRAIN is being taught to position their arm out in front of their body to release the ball, instead of releasing the ball in-line with their body. What you’re thinking about in your mind is what’s going to happen when you’re in the batter’s box. Our front side going that way, and our hands are usually going to follow it. So when we hit, we’ll start over again, and we want to really work on load back, step straight. Home » Softball Drills » Softball Hitting Drills » 6 Softball Hitting Fundamentals to Teach Your Team. That’s where we want to pick that ball up. She grips the bat where the calluses are. But for the most part, the basics, the mechanics of the process are pretty much going to be the same. Drills Reinforcing BAD Throwing Mechanics. In a circular orbit (i.e. The stride is used as a timing device. Many teachers of a “softball swing” use reaction time as a reason to have a shorter more compact swing in softball than you do in baseball.