Caitlin Benyi Goes Deep

[Ohfor]

Watching UCLA v Michigan on ESPN2.

Specifically paying attention when Benyi comes to bat.

Sure enough......a long dinger.

Here she is......



Look where she starts her bat, Hiddengem.

[hiddengem]

Dangit Richard...I was coming in here to type the same thing. Is it me or do you see alot of weird practice swings with these girls? Seems like they are swinging straight up, and as a result most of them can't hit a fastball up in the zone. All of them are under the ball.

[Ohfor]

As ssarge, Mark H and others will tell you, girls softball has a long way to go.

They will also tell you they've come a long way, too.

Probably 90% have no clue.

But the 10% that do are pretty dang good.

Problem is the coaches don't know what the good ones do..........and in fact try to change the good ones.

[TrojanSkipper]

Are you talking about the thumping of the bat into their backs during warm-up swings???? Where did THAT come from???:noidea

[jsiggy]

I noticed all 3 Benyi home runs that I've seen have been waist high or higher. Would love to see a clip of her hitting something low if anyone has one.

Is it me or do you see alot of weird practice swings with these girls?

Yes the warmup swings are odd. Never fails to get a reaction from my daughter ("what is she doing? why doesn't she take her normal swing?").

And as Richard says, the game swings are improving but still have a ways to go.

Problem is the coaches don't know what the good ones do..........and in fact try to change the good ones.

Don't get me started.


Btw, I loved the announcers call on Benyi's home run - something about getting good extension on the ball. And then my replay shows a nearly perfect no-extension contact point.

[Mark H]

TS,

From people teaching this kind of nonsense.

http://www.quickhands.net/pics.html

Listened a few weeks ago to a highly successful 18Gold coach tell a large group of youth coaches that this kind of hand action is preferred and that the drill where you punch the ball off a tee with the knob of the bat is excellent. Then he had a good hitter come up and demonstrate a swing on the tee, which swing looked exactly nothing like his description of a good swing. Never the less, he complimented the swing. I actually stepped out from the side of the crowd and looked back at their faces to see if ANYONE noticed the contradiction. Not a one. All just sitting their with wise looks on their faces nodding up and down. Go figure.

[Mark H]

I noticed all 3 Benyi home runs that I've seen have been waist high or higher. Would love to see a clip of her hitting something low if anyone has one..

Good point.

Yes the warmup swings are odd. Never fails to get a reaction from my daughter ("what is she doing? why doesn't she take her normal swing?"). .

I see the same thing in MLB. Warm up cuts or cuts wating for the pitcher to get his act together don't look like their game swing. Whatever works I guess in terms of warm up routines.

Btw, I loved the announcers call on Benyi's home run - something about getting good extension on the ball. And then my replay shows a nearly perfect no-extension contact point.

THere's another thing bb and fp have in common, ignorant announcers.

[Mark H]

Problem is the coaches don't know what the good ones do..........and in fact try to change the good ones.

Daughter's old college coach-if a kid was hotter than a firecracker just tearing up the ball, you could be guaranteed he would have that kid on a tee within two days trying to "fix" her swing. Right now, the only kids hitting on his team are the freshman he hasn't had enough time to mess with and the girls who are stubborn and independent enough to ignore him. His confidence in his ability to teach hitting, or perhaps his need for it to all be about him, or both, remain unshaken. I count six hitters on his roster who he has, IMO, destroyed.

[Mark H]

Anyone has this game on tape, I'd appreciate a copy.

[ssarge]

So much to respond to.

Thanks for a clip.

If anyone has the other 6 HRS in this game, I'd love to get copies.

Tonight was just what the doctor ordered for a sport struggling for mainstream acceptance. A 10-inning game prime-time televised w/ 7 HRs including a walk-off. I was on the edge of my seat.

usually, the primetime games are 1-0 snoozefests. because the top half dozen pitchers in the sport really ARE that good. Tonight was an exception, and I thought it was great.


I agree that FP hitting has a ways to go. You have to have lived through the past 5 years to know how good Benyi's swing is compared to the historic standard within the sport.

I agree, that her swing is not as good as Bonds.

Of course, Bonds wasn't as good as Bonds at age 22, either.

Which unfortunately, is pretty much the end of the road for the female hitter. There are less than 100 that make a couple of bucks plus some memorabilia in the National Pro Fastpitch league. But for most, Memorial Day in your Senior Year is pretty much the end of your FP career. Rare to even play Club Ball beyond graducation.


As for clips of HRs off low pitches - rare, in FP. Most of the long balls are from pitches above the waist. I think Mark has a clip of Kristin Rivera hitting a low and very inside pitch out - and it is a textbook swing. The only copy I have of it is an AVI, and the clip is huge. Need to buy Animator. Hopefully, Mark can post it. But truthfully, that kind of mechanics against that kind of pitch is rare.


Mark's horror story about instruction is so very common.

There are exceptions. Any who have spoken w/ Michael Lotief of ULL know what I mean. He could hold his own as an instructor at any level of BB. He is an ansomaly, in the sport however. Although I believe his level of understanding is beyond the norm in BB, too, college or pro. And I'm sorry if I am stepping on toes. Not trying to slam anyone. It just is what I believe.

RVP and Don Slaught have had a HUGE influence in FP. Most of the D1 world is using his software, and his instructional material. For those not familiar, think kind of in the Lau camp. Ok in some ways, definitely some flaws from my perspective. MUCH emphasis on analyzing the positions common to MLB hitters, w/out much understanding of cause and effect. And as we all know, there are MANY ways to get the body into a certain position, and some ways are much more efficient than others.

The college coaches using the RVP material pretty much parrot Slaught's words. With less underlying understanding.

Benyi's coach is Sue Enquist of UCLA. She is the most successful coach in college FP. She is actually one of the narrators on the EVP FP instructional material. I have met her - briefly - and heard her speak on several occasions.

Her understanding of hitting mechanics is reasonable. She might hold her own in discussion on a board like this. She wouldn't blow anyone away with insight. But pretty good, and I think, getting better.

Kind of rare, though I wish I could tell you I was horrified by Mark's story about hitting the ball on the Tee w/ the knob. I don't even think it is noteworthy - it is about what I would expect. Again, this is improving, but with excruciating slowness.



Anyway, the sport is on the ascendancy. And the interest level is keen. Close to half of Epstein's sales are for FP. I think Steve has a similar experience.

One of the great things about working w/ the young female hitter is that they are much more open to instruction. Less ego, less interference from parents. Can still be a problem, but not so much so as in BB.


Another thing that is interesting about the environment, is that from about age 13, the hitters are facing pitching that is pretty darn close to elite pitching. Reaction time windows at elite play for 13-14 YOs are about the same in MLB. I'm not saying the challenge is the same - that would be a ridiculous assertion. But the challenge to a 14 YO hitter is much closer to the ultimate challenge that could be faced by a female hitter than is true in BB. The pitchers just mature MUCH faster.

Which makes female FP a great lab to teach the developmental hitting process and to observe what works for young hitters.


Something unique to the environment that adds to the challenge is the fact that live pitching for BP is rare. No one wants to use their own itchers to throw BP. Absolutely verboten. Sometimes, you get BP off your own pitchers in "game" conditions. Which takes forever, and is usually 1-2 swings per batter, than bring in the next one.

In BB, there are 3-4 jillion dads around who can throw BP. Just not the case in FP.

So you tend to get a lot of machine hitting. Obviously, there are problems w/ this.


Anyay, thanks for the clip, and for tolerating a little bit of discussion about the female swing on a BB site. I DO think it is appropriate, because the growing sentiment in FP is that the swing should be an emulation of MLB mechanics. As Marlk can verify, that acknowlegment is a HUGE step forward in the sport.

It's also appropriate because a lot of us have daughters, and because college is quite expensive (LOL).

Best regards,

Scott

[biocat777]

HR clips "treasure" chest

Given that this game is filled with HR's and televised, I'm hoping that someone will put together a "collage" of the HR's hit and post it somewhere...

Aught to be an excellent "teaching" tool....

Steve (Biocat777)

[biocat777]

Low pitch phenomenon

Here's a thought that I present...

Maybe all the FP instruction to linear mechanics and "quick" hands to the ball is in place because coach's are not willing to teach the players to be mentally prepared to wait for a good pitch (waist or above) to hit for a home-run...

IMO-most pitchers (whether it be softball or baseball) try to keep the ball low in the zone...

Most hitters don't have the skills and or mental make-up to keep waiting for a pitcher to make a mistake and throw it above the waist....

The elite FP pitchers are the one's who make the fewest mistakes....for instance...one of Cat's mistakes (to Danyele Gomez in the 2003 WCWS) was deposited over the left field fence in a hurry....

So....most coach's take the "impatient" approach and teach the hitter to try to hit the pitcher's strength instead of trying to teach them to hit their weakness.....

So the next step for rotational hitting instruction....learning to hit the low pitch.....I bet posture plays a key role....

Just some thoughts on a night I'm finding it tough to get some sleep...

My apologies to BB folks for the SB discussion (But, I do hope that we get some more SB discussion going on this board!)....

Steve (Biocat777)

[CoachZee]

Anyone has this game on tape, I'd appreciate a copy.

I taped the game but seeing it went into 10 innings I don't think I got the whole thing. The game started at 6:06 PM and went for 3 hours and 5 minutes. I taped it for 3 hours. If you want a copy of what I have you are welcome to it.

[Mark H]

That would be appreciated. Let me reiburse you for a tape, postage or whatever. [email protected]

[Mark H]

....learning to hit the low pitch.....I bet posture plays a key role....



Steve (Biocat777)

Exactly. Tilt over and the knee high pitch is now chest high relative to the hitter. Worked with a college hitter on this with side toss last week. Her comment was, the ball looked fat and easy. The ball she referred to was halfway down her shins, but she was REALLY tilted over.