Squishing The Bug

[TNSoftballDad]

We have found when working with younger hitters 8/9's, getting them to drop the back knee through can greatly improve thier ability to rotate thier hips.

Can you go into more detail about this? Specifically how you teach this to that age group (I'm working with mostly 9's)? I assume from the previous unquoted paragraph that doing this allows the hitter to more freely rotate the hips?

Thanks!

[wadeintothem]

Actually, you are all wrong.. all one needs to do is magnify the Pujols swing, and you will see that squishing the bug is indeed key to one of the most discussed swings ever ....

[wadeintothem]

ROFLMAO. Can you send that to JoeBadIdea???

I already told him pujols says to himself "remember to squish the bug" before every swing.. he doesnt listen.

In reality, squish the bug is great advice for the novice young rec league girls learning to swing a bat.. it is an "aid" to teaching that swinging a bat is more than just waving your arms with a bat in your hand.. its worked well in teaching that forever... probably every softball player in the world "squished the bug" before advancing on to being pujols'.

You take a group of 10-12 8 year olds and have joe bad start talking about all this linear hip lean back, lean forward, its in the lean, there is no lean, weight forward back, weight shift, dont shift.. stuff.. they'll be more interested in whats on the inside of their nose.

Take em and tell the to squish the bug.. a little less of a boring walkfest night mare, heck they might even hit it.

[TulsaEliteGold]

Here is a drill we use that may help fix the "squish the bug".

Put something heavy (Brick, Wood Block, etc) directly next to the Athlete's back foot to create resistance. Now, teach them to turn their knee down & in, while rolling their back foot up onto their toes and turning their foot to where the bottom is flat against the "brick". This forces them to use the correct form everytime they swing the bat.

[dittoz]

BTW: for the pinky droppers - try grip-n-rips or knob cuffs or build up hockey tape to taper the handle near the knob. It is WAYYYYY more comfortable. I like grip-n-rips.

Are you talking about taping the knob so that it is a flair? If I'm not mistaken, that is illegal in ASA, at least for FP. They want a distinct edge btwn the knob and the handle. My son tapes his bats for BB like that and loves it, my daughter wanted to but then a rule was pointed out that said no-can-do.

Can one legally do anything to modify that grip area in the way of cuffs, knobs, etc?

[jofus]

I guess I'm used to regular bats, I don't like bats with a flare at the knob, personally.

If squishing the bug is all it takes, my 2 year old is almost ready for travel ball. She loves to squish bugs, but sometimes it takes her 3 or 4 stomps to get her aim down

[Rotatorcuff]

BTW: for the pinky droppers - try grip-n-rips or knob cuffs or build up hockey tape to taper the handle near the knob. It is WAYYYYY more comfortable. I like grip-n-rips.

Are you talking about taping the knob so that it is a flair? If I'm not mistaken, that is illegal in ASA, at least for FP. They want a distinct edge btwn the knob and the handle. My son tapes his bats for BB like that and loves it, my daughter wanted to but then a rule was pointed out that said no-can-do.

Can one legally do anything to modify that grip area in the way of cuffs, knobs, etc?

Dittoz,
You are correct. It is illegal to taper the knob in ASA. Only ASA as far as I know. I'm not recommending this for FP; I brought it up b/c it was mentioned earlier in the thread. For SP ASA, leagues and local tourneys, most umps do not say anything. An advantage of the grip-n-rip or knobcuff, is that it could be removed very easily if it were an issue, and you'd still be able to use your bat. Retaping before a game might be a hassle. I believe ASA rule says only two layers of tape.

Buy Rockettechs; samll knob; no taper required

Rules aside, the taper or a samll knob does make the pinky drop more comfortable.

Rotatorcuff

[RayR]

First post here, I have been lurking for a while. I coach a HS team in the New England (I know, we are second rate to the travel coaches...) and have a daughter playing LL so I have seen a lot of bug squishing...

Scott will appreciate the reference to the 800 lb gorilla that no one talks about that is non existent in bug squishers.

I have found that if you can get a player into an athletic position , IE POSTURE, and swing from that position, bug squishing is greatly diminished. Why? IMO, the hitters weight is more balanced as opposed to being rearward. I am not saying this is a panacea, but improving a hitter's posture will garner some immediate improvements. And of course, the disclaimer is that you will have questionable luck getting players to embrace good posture.

BTW, I highly recommend Englishbey as well. Much of what I know and teach is rooted in his material.

Ray

[Cannonball]

BTW, I highly recommend Englishbey as well. Much of what I know and teach is rooted in his material.

Ray

Count me in as well!

Regarding the tape, we had a young lady step on my dd's bat handle with her cleat and cut the leather grip right at the base. The bat was still new. We took athletic tape and made a pass or tw (Maybe 3 or 4) around that area. In an ASA Tournament, the bat was removed. Why? "Building a grip" was the explaination. We used that bat in all other sanctioned tournaments and it was never questioned. When we finally were ready to go to ASA Nationals, we removed the tape and put one layer of electrical tape on. The bat was passed.

[dittoz]

Now my daughter swings an RT and we re-wrapped the grip. Peeled off the original rubber grip and put on a tennis racket grip that has a 1/16" padding built into it. Looks just like a regular bat grip, but more than anything it stops some of the buzz on a mis-hit ball. It wears out and becomes shiny much faster, but she really likes that softer grip.

I suspect that if anyone looked really closely in an ASA toruney, it may be removed, but according to specific written rules, unless they figure out the tennis part, it complies with everything I can find.

Sorry, I guess we're re-routing the OP, aren't we?