Posted by: Mike (m.ralph@mchsi.com) on Sat May 14 06:17:56 2005

Your response to Alan who is uncomfortable with fastpitch coaches telling his daughter to move up in the box is interesting. I coach a travelling team and I only move girls up in the box on rise ball pitchers, so please don't lump us all together. I have the girls move back on a pure fastball pitcher. I also have my daughters, both of whom are the top hitters on their teams, snap their wrists as a completion of the swing, AS THEY ROTATE, MAXIMIZING BAT SPEED AT THE POINT OF CONTACT. In fact the action cartoon of the batter on your website shows the exact same thing. If you rotate only from the hips and don't snap your wrists, the bat will drag through the strike zone and you will ground out constantly, typically to the weak side. Batting is complex, and while rotation is the basis of my teaching, snapping the wrists is also included. With young batters, I usually ask them to eliminate the step until they are more comfortable with rotation and timing. I also stress customizing the swing to the girls and her particular body proportions. It's hard to "cookie cut" anything.