Swing Video

[BamaYankee]

Greetings!

New User here. Thanks to Chris O'Leary for linking to this forum from his website. Enjoyed lurking for a while, and I am looking forward to posting and interacting with you.

I have a video for you to take a look at.

This is my son's first attempts at moving from a linear big stride swing, as I was taught, to a rotational swing. I am working mainly off of information found online. Would appreciate your thoughts and tips for improvement.

I can tell a big improvement in his hitting in just the week or so we have practiced these techniques.

Ethan is 7, turning 8 in May. He has played two years of T-ball and one year of machine-pitch. He will play machine pitch this year.

Ethan is 4' 4", and weighs around 70 lbs.

His bat is TPX, 29in, 19oz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGIGoY0ajII

Thanks everyone.

[Jake Patterson]

Greetings!

New User here. Thanks to Chris O'Leary for linking to this forum from his website. Enjoyed lurking for a while, and I am looking forward to posting and interacting with you.

I have a video for you to take a look at.

This is my son's first attempts at moving from a linear big stride swing, as I was taught, to a rotational swing. I am working mainly off of information found online. Would appreciate your thoughts and tips for improvement.

I can tell a big improvement in his hitting in just the week or so we have practiced these techniques.

Ethan is 7, turning 8 in May. He has played two years of T-ball and one year of machine-pitch. He will play machine pitch this year.

Ethan is 4' 4", and weighs around 70 lbs.

His bat is TPX, 29in, 19oz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGIGoY0ajII

Thanks everyone.

Bama,
I could not help but wonder whether or not he was going to clock one of the dogs LOL.

I think for 7 Ethan has the makings of a good swing. He displays a very typical disconnected swing for his age. I correct this with youngsters this age by teaching PCR. There is plenty of info here I would do a search and read, read, read... Let me know if this helps.
Jake

[jbooth]

Greetings!

New User here. Thanks to Chris O'Leary for linking to this forum from his website. Enjoyed lurking for a while, and I am looking forward to posting and interacting with you.

I have a video for you to take a look at.

This is my son's first attempts at moving from a linear big stride swing, as I was taught, to a rotational swing. I am working mainly off of information found online. Would appreciate your thoughts and tips for improvement.

I can tell a big improvement in his hitting in just the week or so we have practiced these techniques.

Ethan is 7, turning 8 in May. He has played two years of T-ball and one year of machine-pitch. He will play machine pitch this year.

Ethan is 4' 4", and weighs around 70 lbs.

His bat is TPX, 29in, 19oz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGIGoY0ajII

Thanks everyone.

The good:

He keeps his head centered pretty well.
He keeps the hands back and rotating with the upper body.
He lags the bathead and does not cast it, or push the bat at the ball.

The bad:

He does what most kids that age do; he lets the bathead flop down behind him and then swings up at the ball. But he doesn't drop his hands too much to do this, which is good.
He uses all upper body and arms to move the bat. He has zero hip turn in use to make the body rotate.

The swing sequence is Hips, then Handle, then batHead. He has the last two H's, but not the first.

Pretty good swing for an 8 year old. When you throw to him, concentrate on keeping the ball no higher than his waist. He is swinging up because the pitches are up. The sooner that he learns that the pitches to hit are the ones below the armpits, the better his swing path will get.

[Jake Patterson]

The good:

He keeps his head centered pretty well.
He keeps the hands back and rotating with the upper body.
He lags the bathead and does not cast it, or push the bat at the ball.

The bad:

He does what most kids that age do; he lets the bathead flop down behind him and then swings up at the ball. But he doesn't drop his hands too much to do this, which is good.
He uses all upper body and arms to move the bat. He has zero hip turn in use to make the body rotate.

The swing sequence is Hips, then Handle, then batHead. He has the last two H's, but not the first.

Pretty good swing for an 8 year old. When you throw to him, concentrate on keeping the ball no higher than his waist. He is swinging up because the pitches are up. The sooner that he learns that the pitches to hit are the ones below the armpits, the better his swing path will get.

Bama,
Jim has a stick he uses that I find extremely helpful.
Jim, I call it the "Booth Stick" - Should be selling!!

Bama Jim can send you pics.

[BamaYankee]

Bama,
Jim has a stick he uses that I find extremely helpful.
Jim, I call it the "Booth Stick" - Should be selling!!

Bama Jim can send you pics.

Jake: Very interested! Thank you. Searching for PCR right now. PCR stands for?

Thanks all for the comments.

The dogs, BTW are safe--for now.

Jbooth: I know I am throwing too high most of the time. Tips? Underhanded fast pitch softball type? Batting cages? I am using whiffles from about 15-20 feet away.

[Jake Patterson]

Jake: Very interested! Thank you. Searching for PCR right now. PCR stands for?

Thanks all for the comments.

The dogs, BTW are safe--for now.

Jbooth: I know I am throwing too high most of the time. Tips? Underhanded fast pitch softball type? Batting cages? I am using whiffles from about 15-20 feet away.

Posture -connection - rotation

I had an Irish Setter when I was a kid. We trained her to play right field. She could catch everything on a bounce and we trained here to place the ball on second base. She was a great fielder, the downside was she couldn't bat worth a lick so she was an automatic out. It used to be bad for the kids who were picked after the dog.

One note: Keep it fun. Your time with Ethan is moe important whether or not he can swing well. That will definately come.

Jake

[Chris O'Leary]

I know I am throwing too high most of the time. Tips? Underhanded fast pitch softball type?.

Either that or overhand from one knee.

[Chris O'Leary]

I can tell a big improvement in his hitting in just the week or so we have practiced these techniques.

Ethan is 7, turning 8 in May. He has played two years of T-ball and one year of machine-pitch. He will play machine pitch this year.

Ethan is 4' 4", and weighs around 70 lbs.

His bat is TPX, 29in, 19oz

Some comments...

1. This is very common swing for this age.

2. He has lots of bat drag in his swing. In fact, he starts out in the bat drag position (dropped and slotted back elbow) and just goes from there.

3. He has little to no hip rotation. He's pretty much all arms and shoulders.

4. His bat may be a little big for him. That may be one reason why it goes flat so quickly.

5. Thank you for posting this. This is the kind of kid that a lot of people would tell to "Get your back elbow up." While that might work, this video shows exactly what is going on with his swing. Getting the back elbow up won't fully address his bat drag problems.

[jbooth]

Jbooth: I know I am throwing too high most of the time. Tips? Underhanded fast pitch softball type? Batting cages? I am using whiffles from about 15-20 feet away.

Throw from down on one knee, or throw underhand but don't put an arc on it. Throw it on a line at his waist or below.

[BamaYankee]

We're gonna work on it and post another video soon.

What a resource!

Thanks all for your comments.

[Sammy]

The wooden dowel rod drill shown on Steve Englishbey's was extremely useful as a starting point to get my kids to understand how the whole body is used in the swing, especially the concepts of PCR.

Before getting too far ahead, study and learn the mechanics yourself. You know your son better than anybody else, and know how to communicate with him in terms he can understand. I guarantee you'll get a blank stare if you tell him to load his scapula instead of counter-rotating his shoulders!! Once you yourself understand what he's supposed to be doing, you can devise your own "language" to help him understand on his level. I studied several of the more prominent swing guru's materials for quite a while before I tried foisting it onto my kids. I consider myself a rookie, trying to learn something new every day.

As Jake P. said, keep it fun! Try to make learning this stuff a game. Keep a balls and strikes count - use encouragement!! Congratulate him for a good job when he connects well. It sounds like you are a very positive person, so pass that on to him.

Enjoy the trip, because your time with him goes a lot faster than you think!!