Fast Pitch Hitting - Why Girls Hit Like Girls

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttt a minute!!!!

Before you jump to the "hater" conclusion, please understand that I am one of the biggest fast pitch softball fans on the planet! So much so that half of our hitting camps annually are for the young ladies! We work with thousands of fast pitch softball hitters each year. I am a season ticket holder at the PAC 12 school near my hometown.

After I did my first study on fast pitch hitting and 8 years on the road teaching clinics,  there seemed to be some answers on why girls hit like girls. Another disclaimer-Sometimes telling the truth hurts some feelings.

1. The actual fast pitch softball swing is no different from an elite baseball swing.
SO WHY DO WE TEACH IT DIFFERENTLY? I have dozens of stories of showing baseball and softball swings side by side on video with virtually ZERO difference and the fast pitch softball coaches will swear it is different? We can't help people that think the earth is square.
Elite swing mechanics are the same in baseball and softball...period.
The girls can handle it! Learn and teach them proper, elite swing mechanics and watch them improve.

2. The average girl is not as strong as the average boy... I know, shocking nugget of information!
This is no reason to teach them anything but elite swing mechanics. True, depending on age and absolute strength, they may not execute each swing mechanic perfectly, but it is the best way.
This fact also emphasizes the need for athletic performance training. Create the strongest, fittest, most injury resistant athlete as possible through age appropriate athletic development training.
Simply stated, the stronger and more fit the hitter is, the easier the game becomes.


3. These girls are smart!! While starting to work with the girls in mass numbers in 2007, I couldn't help but notice, the girls as a group, could handle challenges both mentally and physically that ( I may get persecuted for this statement) maybe the boys as group, could not... in general.
My point... I know they like flowers and smell good BUT THEY ARE ATHLETES!!! When they are training or practicing, challenge them and watch them respond! No taking it easy because "they are girls". No need, they are athletes, period!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fishing made me do it

Image
Driving on I-25 towards Denver in the early summer of 2004, I was on top of the world! I was to test my new found "Facts of Hitting" teaching program on one of the best American Legion Teams in the country and do some fly fishing! Heaven!!! With the 107 degree Arizona heat in my rear view mirror, so was my inferior, theory-based coaching style!  But I was nervous as a fish out of water! How was it going to work? How would the kids and coaches receive the information that was so foreign to me, a baseball lifer, just a few months earlier? Am I walking into a perpetual mine field called baseball tradition? Would they like me as a coach? Would they respect me? But most important of all... would it truly make each one of them better?!? And would there be an explosive hatch while I was their so my fish stories wouldn't be fish stories. The whole trip, I had fished thoroughly through my mind for answers to try and be prepared for any and all questions. Arriving ea...
Read more

Swing Mechanics - Front leg mechanics

Image
Front Leg Position WHAT:   The front foot should end up flat after stride. The foot should be somewhat closed (pointing at base coach) until after contact. The foot is the anchor to the ground during the athletic striking phase of the swing.  The front leg lands bent and athletic and stays bent until contact or right after contact. The front leg angle is a key factor in solid hitting mechanics. The front leg angle is generally at 55 to 75 degrees at contact point. This angle (combined with a proper base width) allows backside release to occur without drifting over the front leg. This angle allows the hitter to hit AGAINST the front leg, rather than allowing the body to drift over the front leg. This also keeps the hitter back or behind the ball with limited head movement.                KEYS: ·           The base (distance between feet after the stride) is a...
Read more

The 4 Absolutes of Being a Good Parent of a Young Athlete

Image
I would venture to say that just about all parents of young athletes want the absolute best for their kids. That is not something I believe could become a legitimate debate. The debate begins when the subject of how to be a good parent gets mentioned. There are an almost infinite number of scenarios and angles to look at this topic... but just like in Hitting Mechanics, there are absolutes in being good parents of young athletes. Smiling Young Athletes 1. Remembering that it is their life, their likes, their "want to's" , their time, their dreams... not your life, your likes, your "want to's", your time or your dreams. We all want our kids to be good at what they do, enjoy what they do, learn from what they do and have and chase dreams. But here is the hard truth from 40 years deeply entrenched in youth athletics.Too many parents are living their own dreams through there kid. I'm not going to write a report on the psychology of this but by observation, i...
Read more