Swing Attractors
SWALLOW YOUR SPIT: TOUGHNESS IS PURPOSE IN THE FACE OF STRUGGLES
My next most favorite Biblical story after the GOOD SAMARITAN is DAVID versus GOLIATH. The act of facing overwhelming odds can produce greatness and beauty. The powerful and strong are not always what they seem - sometimes just BIG BULLIES dressed up...
SHOULDER DOMINANCE RUINS THE SWING
I think of the ”shoulders” as a separate anatomical unit for hitting purposes from the ”torso”. For the necessary early bat speed, quickness and adjustability, there must be separate movements of the shoulders from the movements of the torso. The SHOULDERS ACTIVELY...
TROUBLE KEEPING THE INSIDE PITCH FAIR?
When watching Super Regionals (Texas vs Arkansas, game 2), there was a 21 pitch at bat - 15 foul balls. FIFTEEN! Mostly on inside pitches. On one of the pitches, the batter swung and missed — the ball actually hit her after she missed (hit her in her back shoulder)....
VLAD’S SWING SEQUENCE ILLUSTRATED
HINGE HINGE (PELVIS LOAD) AT PITCHER’S HAND BREAK. Each side by side frame is synched up to each other- one view from CF behind the pitcher (on the left) and the other from the open view. Vlad starts his “pelvis loading”/hinging as soon as the pitcher lifts his stride...
HOW TO FIGURE OUT WHAT A “GOOD PITCH IS” FOR YOU
YOU ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PITCH YOU SWING AT. KNOW YOUR HOT ZONES AND SWING THERE MORE OFTEN. DON’T CHASE NOR EXPAND THE ZONE ESPECIALLY ON PITCHES YOU STRUGGLE WITH ANYWAY. Generally hitters hit better towards the middle of the zone. So it is no coincidence that...
BREGMAN ON HITTING ”VERTICAL HOP”
Verlander has the best 4-seam fastball with vertical ”hop” according to the hitting charts Alex Bregman reviewed. What is Bregman’s approach to hit the “vertical hop”? Swing down? NO. He tried that and it resulted in him slicing the ball/cutting it by pulling across...
THE GAME WITHIN THE GAME: TX vs. OU
Texas pitcher, Hailey Dolcini allowed just two (2) hits Saturday when facing OU, the undefeated, #1 team in college softball. The right hander only struck out three (3) Sooners, hit two batters AND DID NOT ISSUE ANY WALKS. Her effort came two days after she gave up...
ONE SWING RHYTHM CANNOT MATCH MULTIPLE PITCH TYPES
VISUAL PROCESSING Let’s look at timing from a visual processing perspective: There is the hitter’s perception of speed or the “effective velocity” of the pitch;There is the timing of the hitter’s visual processing and window of when he/she must subconsciously...
TRUST THE PROCESS: FROM “SLOW” PITCH TO NFCA “FAST” PITCH ALL-AMERICANS
Nerissa Myers and Brianna Cherry are the same age & first cousins who grew up right next to each other in Petal, Mississippi. They both grew up playing basketball, volleyball, and slow pitch softball; in fact, in Mississippi, the high schools play slow pitch in...
CLIQUES & BAD APPLES CREATE HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENTS
Part of the challenge of building team chemistry is getting rid of the pettiness and gossiping and cliques and replacing it with a culture of inclusion and collaboration where everybody selflessly recognizes and appreciates the value and contributions of all. BAD...