Swing Help

[jdsebastian85]

I think I may have posted this in the wrong place yesterday. Any advice would be appreciated. I can place the ball well, and I can hit line drives very well. I want to step my game up a notch and be able to mash one out if needed. Any advice on more power?

Bp: [ame]http://youtu.be/RTea8LxZ94U[/ame]

 

[Softball101tc]

This has great potential.

 

[lx_2nv]

You posted it in the right place yesterday.

 

[blldwg23]

Is that a ball on a string?

 

[pudds]

You've got no weight transfer, all your weight is staying on your back foot. No weight transfer, no power.

 

[jdsebastian85]

Yes. We drilled a hole through an old ball and ran some rope through it. We tie the rope to a big paver brick. It works well as far as repetition. The balls don't last very long though.

 

[lx_2nv]

is someone pitching them to you? Guess Im picturing tetherball

 

[jdsebastian85]

Yes. My friend is at the correct distance for the mound, everything is game like, less the ball actually flying past the pitcher. It works very well in a smaller yard, and allows us to get a ton of swings in.

 

[zuke 37]

i spotted 2 flaws. #1, you are standing on one leg, all of your weight is on your back foot. as pudds observed earlier.

try: jump into the box, now you should be balanced, the center of your weight should be your belly button, equal on both legs.
don't stand up straight, bend your knees a little, kinda sit in the box, you have your legs locked up, that takes them out of your swing. with your balance centered, when you lift your front leg you should notice that you are falling forward. at that point push off with your back leg into the ball, stay with the fall into the ball, you already have a good follow thru.

notice i said lift your leg & not your foot, when you do, you will feel what i mean.

suguestion # 2: i notice that the top of your bat lays back tward the catcher and then you sweep thru the ball.

make the top of your bat move forward over your head and then swing ...everything is forward

pratcice to get your timing mechanichs it will all come to you

i hope i could help, i think all you need now is a better camera try these and let us know what happened

 

[MichelleG]

Number one, you're swinging at crappy pitches. Number two, you're all arms and off balance. It's almost like you're swinging at a pinata. Take a look at the swing mechanics videos. They take you step by step through stance, weight shift, leading with the head of the bat, hip rotation, wrist snap, etc. Power is generated from your core.

Just Google swing mechanics or rotational hitting and you'll get all the help you need.

 

[jdsebastian85]

Thanks fellas/lady. I'm gonna do some bp tomorrow to get ready for a tournament Saturday so I will try to implement these suggestions. When I started playing 2 years ago I had the balanced "baseball" stance that you guys are talking about. I struggled my first season, and looking for any help took suggestions from all over the place coming to this stance. As said I am making good contact now, with good placement. I think I tried to change my stance to help with my timing, because I always played baseball. I am going to go back to the drawing board and reform my swing. I will post a new video soon. Thanks again.

 

[MichelleG]

Thanks fellas/lady. I'm gonna do some bp tomorrow to get ready for a tournament Saturday so I will try to implement these suggestions. When I started playing 2 years ago I had the balanced "baseball" stance that you guys are talking about. I struggled my first season, and looking for any help took suggestions from all over the place coming to this stance. As said I am making good contact now, with good placement. I think I tried to change my stance to help with my timing, because I always played baseball. I am going to go back to the drawing board and reform my swing. I will post a new video soon. Thanks again.

A baseball stance and a softball stance are two different animals. In softball you have to generate your own power because the ball is moving so slowly. That's where rotational hitting comes in. Start with your weight on your back leg then transfer forward and open your hips on the swing. Keep your hands back, extend your arms and snap the wrists on the follow through. I said lead with the head of the bat before and what I meant was the knob of the bat. That keeps your hands back until you extend.

Don't copy a baseball swing. You'll see a lot of high pop ups that way. You want to swing level and drive through the ball.

 

[PCMAY]

Softball Swing Makeover

I found these videos to be very helpful. All are fairly short.

I'm soon to be 63 and I can still hit as well as most of the guys on my E league team. I was struggling about a year ago using all arms to control my bat
and then I watched the "Softball Swing Makeover" series on youtube. They greatly improved my overall swing and technique.

Softball Swing Makeover Series

Episode 1 -

Episode 2 -

Episode 3 -

Episode 4 -

Episode 5 -

Episode 6 -

Episode 7 -

Episode 8 -

Episode 9 -

Episode 10 -

 

[Triple7]

Yeah there is too much wrong with your swing right now to worry about "mashing". Just work on getting a good solid swing together first

 

[jdsebastian85]

I've checked a couple of those videos out. Guess I should start at the beginning and just work hard to ft it where it needs to be. Appreciate the help. My defense has always been there, I just want my hitting to be up to par as well.

 

[zuke 37]

look a episode #4 the still photo, notice the top of the bat is over his head. on your video your bat was laying behind you.
power hitters start their swing with that top-bat forward

it's not how far you hit the ball...it's how many infielders you kill!!!

 

[Foul tip]

Learn the swing and understand weight transfer and you'll be all good.

 

[lx_2nv]

pitch selection!! If you swing at anything then you'll never be able to get your swing mechanics right. Not a knock on your buddy but those pitches were horrible and theres no way youre going to get a good swing. You'd be better off with a soft toss machine or something like that. I hate a tee but even a tee for mechanics.

 

[Softball101tc]

The only thing I've learned from this thread is to not trust a single thing that zuke says.

 

[Hambo]

Watch and re-watch the Swing Makeover series... and then watch it again.

Get a buddy to study up too and observe each other's swings. Give each other feedback. I did this with a teammate of mine and we seriously upped our hitting game.

Forget about hitting home runs and don't bother focusing on the upper body portion of your swing until you get your footwork down. After watching your video, you definitely need to focus on your lower half. You are ending your swings all twisted around and off balance.

Once I started working on my footwork and lower body mechanics I made some serious advances in my hitting. I see too many guys that think they can muscle a ball using all upper body strength. It just doesn't work.