Posted by: bob (bob@bobburnett.com) on Wed Apr 26 08:03:33 2006

My daughter (11) plays Little League softball. She has somewhat consistent mechanics, usually pretty good. Whenever she gets a good piece of a ball and hits it long, she experiences something I would call bat recoil. I've never hit with an aluminum bat, so I don't have experience to relate to.

She says the bat "does like a check swing" so she a) doesn't feel like she hit it hard and b) is surprised to see the ball go long. There is nothing observably different in her swing when this happens, in other words everything looks right (follow thru, etc), but she feels the bat hesitate upon impact (my words). She normally doesn't experience this, it's only when she really cranks one.

My question: Is this normal or is this indicative of a weakness in her swing? Should she be swinging faster? Perhaps she is not keeping the top hand elbow tight and is extending her arms too much- not getting enough body into it?

The mass of a lightweight aluminum bat meeting the mass of a softball in opposite directions would involve some significant energy transfer. Maybe that recoil is just what happens when a small girl hits a big ball hard?