Posted by: Larry () on Thu Sep 14 12:01:36 2000

Crazy-
> I would echo what Jack says with regard to the way hitting is often taught in fastpitch softball.Girls are often instructed in the 1-2-3 method or the "two-piece swing" and unless they interpret these instructions in a very unusual way,the result is not top hand torque at initiation.In fact,this is usually a recipe for assuring that the swing is NOT started on plane and therefore is a suboptimal swing.
>
> The typical teaching is to 1- stride to a balanced position-that's OK

I still don't see it. Do I pull back with the top hand as part of the
load up, and then release it as I swing. or do I pull back throughout to contact. What?



>
> 2- rotate/squish the bug without lunging,sometimes an OK way to describe the lower body rotation around a stationary axis(usually not).
>
> 3- then launch the bat("second piece" after rotation as the "first piece")-this is where everything gets really messed up.Instead of initiating the swing with top hand torque and shoulder rotation,the usual way this is taught/interpreted is to rotate the body(hips and shoulders) while keeping the arms quiet until the knob of the bat is approaching the plane of contact,then swing the arms.The result is that the arms are not connected to the body,and when they swing,they swing in a downward plane that is fighting the plane the shoulder turn wants to establish(perpendicular to torso/spine).This creates the downward vertical force Jack talks about that breaks down the backside,chicken wings the front arm and loops(uppercuts)the swing.Then ineffective compensations are encouraged that further degrade the swing such as the "golf grip", standing more upright,swinging down, and keeping the palms forward/back(like a tennis forehand/backhand) through contact.
>
> If you just keep the hands back and rotate,the top hand will usually tend to push forward and ruin the initiation of the swing(delay it and get it out of plane/lengthening and slowing swing) unless you have stressed the right launch position(hands in line behind head) and motion(bat turn initiated backward toward catcher by pulling top hand back).This will usually require a grip change as well to succeed.