Soft Toss & Batting Technique
Recommended Skill Analysis Tasks
Written Analysis: Analyze the following
- Stage: Identify the stage of the skill that is exhibited (e.g. beginner, intermediate, expert).
- Stage Characteristics: Describe 2-3 features of the movement on the video that is characteristic of the stage identified.
- What to Change: Identify and describe the most important aspect of the skill that will need to be changed for the subject to improve.
- Cue: Write the single most important verbal instructional cue to help the performer improve.
Video Annotations
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Comments
Batting Technique
Stage: Expert
Stage Characteristics: The batter in this video does a great job in his overall swinging motion. He keeps his weight to his back foot and good control of his front foot, giving him good power in his swing. He also stays very balanced throughout his swinging motion, which gives him good control over his swing. The batter keeps his eye on the ball until the point of contact from bat to ball. He also keeps his arms and hands out infront of him insuring a level and accurate swing. He also has a good two handed follow through.
What to Change: I recognize that the batter in this video understands how to swing a baseball bat, in fact by watching him I would guess he has played the game for sometime. Though I can not point out any major flaws in his swing by wathing him in this video, it is important that he takes allot of batting practice to insure he keeps his swing sharp and a good feeling for hitting the baseball. Hitting a baseball correctly is one of the hardest things in sports to do well, it takes constant work to stay really good at this skill.
Cue: Practice, Consentration, Repitition!
Batting Technique
Stage: Expert
Characteristics: You can tell this batter has had a lot of practice with his swing. Starting from his stance, he is very balanced. As he detects the ball his weight transfers from front to back, which engages the hips and hands as they start to come forward to connect with the ball. At the point of contact, his arms make a "V" and his vision is clearly down the V and to the ball hitting the barrel. His swing is level and follow through is complete as he "Squishes the Bug" with his back foot as he turns his knee in, using his hips for power. Although his swing is longer, his mechanics allow him to have a longer swing.
What to Change: His stance is wide, and his step takes his hips towards the plate instead of forward. Granted the toss is coming from the right so a little instep is natural. I would suggest shortening up his swing.
Cue: Be critical of every swing, make every swing the same. Focus on your mechanics.