Softball Instruction you can use Part 3

Fastpitch Softball Hitting Instruction like golf has many opinions....
I'm sure if you're reading this Fastpitch Softball Instruction article you've stumbled upon it by doing a google search, looking for the best information you can find to improve your softball players skills. And with the vast number of softball articles out there you're probably going through some brain lock now trying to decipher it all. I know exactly how you're feeling!
When I put down the bat and glove I decided to get serious about improving my golf game. What the heck I figured, golf would be like Softball without the skinned knees and scabs. I'd simply subscribe to a couple of golf magazines and my game would be on track in no time... Yeah,Right!
There must be 200,000 ways to fix a slice, gain more distance, hit the perfect draw and I'm sure they all work... for somebody, not me. I just became more confused, the more I read the more contorted and tense my swing became. I was a robot with NO rhythm, until I read this book about simplifying the swing, and then it all made sense.
What you're about to read is designed to do the very thing for your softball swing. Make it easy to understand and give immediate feedback. I've seen young girls have there heads filled with so much well intended technical / mechanical jargon that they were in tears trying to figure out why they weren't hitting the ball. There swings looked great, but by the time they locked, loaded , got the knob of the bat headed towards the ball etc, it was past them. Mom's and Dad's became frustrated too, after-all lessons can be expensive.... what you'll find below is Free, give it a try and I'm confident that solid contact will be made very soon....


A good Softball swing starts with your Hands and Eyes..
Okay I told you this would be simple.... the last time I checked no matter how pretty my softball swing looks, if I have my eyes closed or if my head is moving the odds of making solid contact diminish rapidly. Furthermore, unless there is a new technique that I'm unaware of the only part of your body touching the bat are your hands... so this is a good starting point, and what we'll be focusing on below.
I can remember when Pete Rose was on his way to becoming the all time hits leader he was asked by a baseball reporter what he thinks of at the plate, and his response was simply "see ball, hit ball."
This simple advice will go along way when teaching a young hitter, and for some of you older college Softball hitters, even with your better understanding of the swing mechanics, this is always a good mental adjustment when things are going bad. Keep it simple! See Softball.. Hit Softball.

Softball Stance should be comfortable....
I will go into greater depth on the stance in future posts, but for now let's just build a good foundation. Your softball stance should be comfortable, with your hands just inside your back shoulder, and about shoulder height. Your weight should be distributed 75 to 80% on your back leg, again with good balance, not too much on your toes and definitely not on your heels.
You're going to want to feel the weight on your back foot positioned on the inside portion of the ball of the foot. See photo at right of Olympian Jessica Mendoza, who in my opinion has one of the best female softball swings I have ever seen.
From here all I'm going to emphasise is to keep your hands back until your ready to swing.... Remember your hands are what control the bat... see softball, slap softball with your bottom hand... yeah the lesson is beginning to take shape.. like I said this will be very simple, yet very effective...
See Softball.... Slap Softball....
This is where the softball hitting lesson usually gets technical, you'll hear terms like; throw the knob, short to it, long through it, stay inside the softball, don't let your front shoulder fly, etc. and this is all good information, but for a young hitter it's a lot to comprehend.
This simple softball hitting approach that I'm about to show you will accomplish all of the outlined direction above, and in my opinion is much easier for the beginning softball player to understand.
Remember a balanced stance is the foundation to the swing! Get your Softball player in her stance as outlined above then remove the bat. With the bat removed and your hitter in a comfortable stance acting like they're holding a bat, roll up a pair of socks, or a nurf ball works well, toss the socks or nerf ball into the hitting zone. You'll be positioned directly in front of them for this softball drill.
Just like we discussed in lesson 2 when you drop your hand to toss the sock this will be the indicator for them to load (keep their hands back) and stride. As the socks come into the hitting zone have them slap the sock with the back of their bottom hand, just like they would love to do to little brother when he comes into their room.
What we're doing here is getting the hands to the ball, be sure they are not leading with their elbow, as this approach, again, in my opinion slows the process of getting the barrel of the bat into the hitting zone. Simply have them backhand slap the sock with their bottom hand. As the left hand comes to meet the sock encourage them to point their belly button to the sock as well, without pulling their front shoulder out. This will begin to get the legs and hips into the swing. That's it, get in a good comfortable stance, keep your head still, and slap the sock with the back of your bottom hand. Yes, this is safe to do in the house and perfect for those winter nights.
Now I know some of you are thinking this is goofy, particularly if you've discussed it with your paid softball hitting coach, but trust me this will instill the proper approach to the hitting zone with the hands. As I stated at the beginning of this article, like Golf, their are thousands of opinions on teaching the approaching of hitting, and most of them are very good, but for young hitters it's important that we draw it in crayon first before we move to the video and powerpoint slides.
We'll discuss the use of the top hand in the swing in future articles. I hope you've found this information useful.
So until next time remember that Softball is for everyone... Fastpitch Softball is for athletes!