Softball Hitting Drill Presented by Carie Dever-Boaz

Hi. I'm Carie Dever-Boaz with JustBats.com. I've coached at every level there is. I started in high school, travel ball, college, and the Pro League. And now I'm back at travel and high school. I want to talk to you about a common mistake that I see a lot of hitters, whether they're young or old, and that's this front shoulder yanking out and kind of dragging that bat. If we drag that bat through the zone, the ball exit speed is not going to be very good. And what we're trying to do is increase the ball exit speed. Not so much bat speed 'cause I can have a slower bat speed with a greater ball exit speed if I have an efficient... Read More of this video transcript swing. So one of the efficiencies we need to work on is that front shoulder not yanking out or our hands working together to stay on an efficient pathway through that ball. So what we're gonna do is I would normally use a heavier bat, maybe a drop twelve –drop ten, excuse me, and I'm gonna drop to a smaller, shorter bat so that I can really work on that bat control through it. Because the more bat control I have to that ball, the more efficient I am. So what I'm gonna work on is I'm gonna take this front arm. It's gonna stand literally right over that ball. Okay? I'm gonna get myself set. And I'm gonna try to make sure that that front shoulder doesn't pull out. I'm gonna get myself set. I'm choked up. I'm looking out. I'm gonna separate. And I want that front arm to stay still as much as possible. Working on it right here. Looking out. Picking it up. Separate. Hand straight through. My hand rolled over a little in that drill, and we really want to see it stay palm up 'cause at contact, we should be palm up, palm down. Once again, hand straight out. Coming –separate. Looking out, separating. Hand straight through. All right. Let's take this drill just a little bit lower. Or even for someone who really yanks that front shoulder out. And we're gonna bring in an assistant, and she's gonna actually hold my hand. Once again, we're focusing on that front shoulder staying tight as I go through that pathway of the ball. Remember, I'm choked up on that ball. I'm looking out. And I'm going straight through. Notice how I rolled my hand over a little bit. So I want to make sure I get palm up as I'm going through. I'm out. Separate. Straight through. So that you see that shoulder coming in. And it's gonna stay in as I hit. And it only rotates after that ball's already done the damage. Thanks a lot. And good luck.