{"id":343,"date":"2016-04-13T10:59:02","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T17:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/?p=343"},"modified":"2016-04-13T10:59:02","modified_gmt":"2016-04-13T17:59:02","slug":"swing-batter-swing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/?p=343","title":{"rendered":"Swing, Batter, Swing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently came across a forum debating the \u201cright hitting instruction for softball players\u201d and was overwhelmed by the conflicting ideas presented from coaches, parents, and athletes across the nation.\u00a0 As I read the confident responses including, \u201ca baseball swing is a softball swing\u201d, \u201cthere\u2019s no such thing as a softball swing\u201d, and my favorite, \u201cthere\u2019s a good swing and a bad swing\u201d, I realized how difficult it really is for parents to pick the best instructors for their daughters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The age-old debate of softball mechanics versus baseball mechanics is as easily solved as the question of the chicken and the egg.\u00a0 People will forever have differing opinions on what they think is correct and deny the opposite.\u00a0 As a coach, we may form opinions of mechanics based on playing experience, past instruction, or even online videos\/self-help products.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The reality of the situation is that coaches tend to teach what they know, regardless if it works.\u00a0 Putting aside the difference in mechanical beliefs, the focus should go to the individual athlete.\u00a0 What works best for one athlete, might not work for the next one.\u00a0 If there is a 6\u20190, 200lb athlete on your team, she may be able to stick her bat out and hit it over, whereas a 5\u20192\u201d, 115lb athlete simply won\u2019t have that success.\u00a0 With the difference, who\u2019s to say that the same swing mechanics will prove successful in both athletes?\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Regardless of coaching beliefs, the same swing rarely works for every single athlete on the team.\u00a0 As coaches, recognizing the difference and adapting to the athletes\u2019 individual strengths will aid in their success more sufficiently than preaching the same swing for the team as a whole.\u00a0 Timeless experience coaching against teams where each athlete mimicked the same swing has made pitch-calling a breeze; it\u2019s easy to find holes based on a coaching staff\u2019s mechanical preference, whether it be generically defined as rotational, linear, or a combination of both.\u00a0 The most difficult athletes to work the strike zone against are those who have zoned in their strongest swing and compensated for their weaknesses.\u00a0 The best teams I have ever faced, both as a player and a coach, consisted of athletes that swung to their body type and their strength.<\/span><\/p>\n

Needless to say, preaching the same idea is key.\u00a0 Hands to the ball, drive the back side is a common interest for contact and power.\u00a0 The difference is the thought process to get to this core idea comes in many different forms.\u00a0 Some coaches will say, \u201cknob to the ball\u201d, others say \u201chands to the ball\u201d; the language may be different, but the idea of getting the hands through the zone to contact is the basic, \u201cGuide To Hitting For Dummies\u201d.\u00a0 Again with different thought processes: \u00a0some coaches feel the backside needs to hitch before contact, others believe driving the backside after contact is stronger.\u00a0 Whether you agree with one technique or another, the idea that a 200lb athlete will hit with exact same mechanics as a 115lb is fairly farfetched.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My best advice, as supported by many collegiate coaches, is NOT to define a specific swing, but rather build on your athlete\u2019s foundation.\u00a0 For example, if you have an athlete who naturally swings rotationally, work with her to gain power and cover the flaws within that style, i.e. hitting the outside pitch.\u00a0 If your athlete prefers a linear swing, maintain her leg drive after contact and work to continuous generate bat speed.\u00a0 Every swing has a flaw; no swing is the absolute, almighty solution to hitting.\u00a0 A good coach will recognize that one swing may not work for an entire team and will develop the individual athlete\u2019s swing to its fullest potential.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently came across a forum debating the \u201cright hitting instruction for softball players\u201d and was overwhelmed by the conflicting ideas presented from coaches, parents, and athletes across the nation.\u00a0 As I read the confident responses including, \u201ca baseball swing is a softball swing\u201d, \u201cthere\u2019s no such thing as a softball swing\u201d, and my favorite, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[183,181,186,36,185,84,14,34,188,184,182,187],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.coachingafemaleathlete.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}