Need advice on hitting

[$$behindthegame]

Hello, I can really use some advice in regards to my dd batting.... At the cages and whenever i soft toss to her she crushes the ball yet at games she has trouble getting any power into her hits. She seems to be able to put her bat to the ball but, most are slow rollers to the infield. She also seems very nerves when she's in the on deck circle. Thanks for any advice. btw she is first year 12u.

[jonriv]

Hard to give advice without seeing her in action. My first guess from your description would be to check-out her footwork. many younger players get "happy feet"- meaning they are not they are not planting their feet and setting up a good base. You should video her in the cage and at the game- look for differences

[GIMNEPIWO]

Has she been HBP's ? ... If not, she may need to be ... ( not being a wise as* ) ... If she is not very experienced in game situations, she may just be nervous against live pitching ... And, in my experience, once she gets drilled she will realize it's not so bad ... It's best to set it up in a practice situation with someone not throwing smoke ... Even softies out of a pitching machine could help ...

She could also be too close or too far from the plate ...

If you are unable to see it with the naked eye, as JR says, go to the video ...

[Sam]

Hello, I can really use some advice in regards to my dd batting.... At the cages and whenever i soft toss to her she crushes the ball yet at games she has trouble getting any power into her hits. She seems to be able to put her bat to the ball but, most are slow rollers to the infield. She also seems very nerves when she's in the on deck circle. Thanks for any advice. btw she is first year 12u.

Where are you when she is hitting during a game?

[smash]

She is probably nervous in games and is worried about making contact, so she is slowing her batt speed trying to just make contact rather than driving the ball.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Hello, I can really use some advice in regards to my dd batting.... At the cages and whenever i soft toss to her she crushes the ball yet at games she has trouble getting any power into her hits. She seems to be able to put her bat to the ball but, most are slow rollers to the infield. She also seems very nerves when she's in the on deck circle. Thanks for any advice. btw she is first year 12u.

Where are you when she is hitting during a game?

Are you guessing a little closer than the left field bleachers ?

[artomatic]

The reason Sam and G man ask where are you when your kid is hitting is because many newer parents go camp out behind the backstop when their kid is hitting to give them "advice".

Watch this scene, and think of your kid as Paul Giamatti's character, and you (parent) as Thomas Hayden Church's character.
The sound isn't too good, and there is some language, but basically, this is what a player is feeling when their parent is behind the backstop while they bat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUrsX9O7Y2c

Ok, so you will so much advice for your question that your head might explode.
I think you have to keep is simple, she needs to be balanced and in rhythm.
After the obvious fact that she needs good fundamentals, it's alot of calmness, confidence, and making adjustments.
Try to get her a good instructor that will keep things simple, and your job is to enjoy watching her compete and building her confidence.

[ontheblack]

"slow rollers to th infield"

Sounds like she is rolling over with her hands.

[gottano44]

There is so much involved in hitting a ball, every post here could have something to do with her not hitting in a game situation or its just nerves. A good hitting coach could do her good, my DD could smash the ball every 10th hit, then a travel ball coach asked me to take her to a hitting instructor which I did. Within the first 15 minutes of listening to him explain the mechanics and showing her the basics I sat back and started wondering how many rec ball kids had I doomed to failure.
I had no idea how technical hitting is, I had coached several rec ball teams, I spewed forth everything I had been told by all the coaches that had told me how to hit a ball. I realized then that all my coaches were and had been dad's just like me, just putting a bunch of kids together to play ball.
This all happened when my DD was 10 yrs old, she just turned 16 yrs and is back with her original hitting coach, she still has issues she can hit a 300' foul ball more consistently than a 200' shot to center field, we need to get that fixed...... hits can get harder to come by as they face better pitching, so get her to a coach and let her have fun.....

[AlwaysImprove]

Lot's of solid advice so far. So we have: 1) Parent white knuckling the backstop has the kid amped up and overswinging, and feeling like a major fail unless she for sure contacts the ball. So instead of taking a bit of risk and getting after a pitch she chooses to make sure she contacts the ball at all costs, even if the result is an easy grounder. Make sure she is ok with a K, as long as she is swinging solid and picking good pitches. 2) Rolling over early, you do see this a lot at this age. 3) Either a recent HBP or an older HBP she has not gotten quite over, both of these you just have to take a deep breath and get off the back of the fence and let her come to terms. Any push on this and you just make the process longer.

One other thing to look at, is premature launch. This is similar, and sometimes results in the hands rolling over. In the pressure of a game situation (and having her parents white knuckling the fence), she is swinging way early. She has learned to swing early, and then slow the bat head in the zone. So you actually see the bat head decelerating into contact. That always ends in a weak grounder. Hands rolling over is the extreme of this, they fighting so hard to maintain the bat head in the zone, that their mechanics fully break down. You can also see them do strange things with their shoulders like shrug them up, or legs, like pop up in their stance.

Any fix starts and ends with relaxing and getting off the back of the fence. You would be amazed at the value of taking a bit of break in these times (Thanks Sam). Counter intuitive but it works awesome. You can also work on timing drills. One I have found works is dropping balls from a height. It is like soft toss but you drop the ball from a certain height. Stand on a chair, drop from about 8 inches above their head. Once they get that timed go up about 20 more inches and drop, you should see exactly what you are seeing in the game. Work with having her not cheating, her swing should look the same, just start later depending on height of the drop of the ball.