Batter Stance

Question
My daughter is 7 years old playing in Little League minors softball. She has been playing for the past 3 years (from T-ball to rookies). I have taught her to stand at the plate with her bat over her shoulder at about a 45 degree angle from vertical. She has had good luck with this.
Now her new coach is teaching her to hold the bat ON her shoulder and to swing with her hands close to her body. He says that this is the "softball way" to swing.
What way do you teach you batters?
Thanks,
Tom


Answer
Hello Tom,

What he is telling you is correct, he should of given some explanation though.

The reason he is telling her to let the bat rest on her shoulder is to keep her from being tense and will promote a more relaxed swing.  The bat only rests on the shoulder while the pitcher is receiving signals and getting ready to deliver.  Once she is in motion, then the bat would return to the position you have taught your daughter to hold her bat.  

The reason for hand being close to the body is because you want her hands to always be inside the path of the ball.  If not, it would be almost impossible to keep from pulling an inside pitch foul unless the ball was hit on the handle, which we all know produces bad results and isn't fun for the hitter.  By always keeping the hands inside of the path of the ball, you will insure more inside pitches are hit back up the middle and it makes timing a little less critical.  If you are slightly late on an inside pitch and you wrists are away from your body, the result is the "handle hits" that I referred to.  An outside pitch would obviously require the hands to be further away from the body to get the "meat" part of the bat on the ball.  Still the front foot should not open up on an outside pitch, so the hands wouldn't travel as far away from the body as you might think.  I hope this was helpful and let me know if I can assist you with anything else.

Coach Mike