Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Sun Dec 26 11:06:21 1999

Tim-

I am still not exactly sure about any teaching cues for hand movement at the initiation of the swing(launch) or just prior to this(pre-launch).However,I used to teach my daughters(fastpitch) the old knob to the ball+arm extension after rotation with pretty mediocre results.Now that we emphasize rotation and keeping the hands in and elbow in the slot and hitting the inside of the ball and keeping the shoulders rotating through contact around a vertical axis with a slight backward lean,results are much better.With these big muscles the girls can swing fast without loss of form.The hands usually stay back with the back shoulder,but if they start coming forward early,the cue of leading with the bottom hand seems to help.Another nice thing that Jack has pointed out is that if you get things started right the rest of the swing takes care of itself.Other important hand cues seem to make sure the preswing/loading motion is a coil that gets the hands up high,not a movement of the hands further behind the shoulder or leaving them low.

I'm now starting to work on location with tee work where they hit the inside of the ball and hit it back where it came from,assumung that

they will next learn to initiate the swing later for the more outside position.For high/low we are working on getting the front arm on the right plane.I don't yet know how this translates to live pitching.



In my own hitting I'm still working on different ways of trying out torque initiation/elbow position and feeling torque throughout the swing.It seems like not only is a circular handpath important,but one that arcs in a tighter curve as the swing progresses.

I would be interested in other preliminary experiences others are having and the cues they are trying for teaching.