Everyone has a "location" they want their pitch to be at. I like high outside pitches because it is easy for me to get my hands to the pitch. There are MANY different types of pitches. 

1. fastball *goes straight*changeup (circle change, horseshoe, backhand) *a slowed down pitch that can take many different directions*
2. dropball (peel drop) *drops*
3. curveball *curves*
4. screwball *curves inside and drops a little*
5. roll *a faster fastball*
   
6. riseball *rises*

    With every pitch your hands will move in different directions whether you have to pull them in or keep them out, they will be moving. Gripping the bat the right way is very important as to where your ball will go.    When gripping the bat, the hitter needs to apply pressure with the fingers, not the palms. She grips the bat where the calluses are. The bottom hand which would be the left hand for a right-handed batter controls the bat, and the top hand supports the bat loosely. The bottom hand grips the bat just like a person would grip a hammer or a golf club.
   The top hand is placed against the bottom hand with the door-knocking knuckles (middle knuckles) of both hands in a straight line. The arms are not crossed. The bat is gripped loosely and the wrists have some flexibility.

Some hitters curl the index finger of the top hand so that it only lightly touches the bat. For better bat control the player may choke up on the bat by moving both hands several inches up from the knob. A choke grip means a shorter bat and less power.

This is probably the most wrong way to hold a bat I have seen in softball for the ten almost eleven years I have played. This could not only result in a bad hit but also a broken hand, wrist or even arm. 

In this picture he is making sure his knuckles are lined up like they should be, this will give you good results in hitting. 

I know most of you out there have NO idea what "leaning" means while you are hitting. No it does not mean that the ball comes in leaning.. I have actually got asked that question even with softball players. There was a girl on my team who was hitting (at practice) and my coach kept yelling at her to "not lean" but she kept doing it. While I was in the dug out she came up to me and asked me why coach was yelling at her. I told her that it was because she kept leaning with every hit. she just looked at me confused. So I sat there with full catchers gear on and explained to her what she was doing. With full visuals and everything! 

The problem I see a lot with hitters is a need to lean into pitches. This tends to happen on low or outside pitches. Instead of simply moving their hands down or out toward the ball hitters will feel the need to tilt their chest toward the ball. Hitters should keep their body and leg posture the same for all pitch locations and simply make adjustments with their hands. This helps them stay as strong and balanced as possible and gives them the greatest chance of hitting every pitch location as hard as they can.

        There are many different types of tee work to do in practice or even at home. Now you obviously can't do this in a game unless you are in tee ball. I've always said that there was no point in putting us in Tee ball , no one wins , you cant steal, it's just hitting a non-moving ball. Who in there right mind wants to spend all summer doing that?! Well I got over that very quickly. I now spend most of my practices and even my free time hitting off of a tee. Do I think it's fun? NO! Do I think it helps hitters? Absolutely. 
         Hitting off of a tee is not meant to help your timing while hitting, it is meant to help you on keeping your eye on the ball, staying straight through the ball, and it helps with your inside and outside pitches (depending what kind of drill you are doing). I have been to many professional softball games and all I see them do for hitting in their pre-game warm ups is hitting off of a tee. So for those of you who resent hitting off a tee, learn to love it because it will always be there in your softball career. 

I haven't really gotten much more on my topic this week. I've started hitting a little better more line drives than anything. My last blog post really helped me with my loading! I have been reading  few other softball players blogs too! There are really talented players out there! I will try to sneak another post in before sunday.

This week I have, met with my trainer/mentor, Jordan, I have spent hours on the computer searching up weight transfer and I have even talked to coaches and players about their opinion on weight transfer. 

When asked the questions 'Is weight transfer easy to do? Can you control it?' My friend and fellow team mate Maddie G. told me " Weight transfer is easy to do when you are taking it step by step or even when you are in practice swinging, but in the game when in the 'heat of the moment' it is harder to control and harder to think about because you have so many other things to think about. 


Now everyone has their different softball stances when going up to bat, doesn't mean they are all right.  Some of us lean more on our back foot than our front, some stand straight up, some don't bend their knees, some don't load their weight. Loading your weight is when you get up to bat and you push your weight to your back to get all the power you have into that hit. 

Can you tell which hitter is loading the right way in this picture ? If you said hitter B you are wrong. Hitter B looks good in the arms, her bat is tilted the right amount, her arms are up at the right point, she is doing it all good, right? Wrong! If you look closer at her legs, her right knee is to turned inwards and her left leg is COMPLETELY turned and her heel on her foot is facing the field. If she tried to swing like that she could break her ankle. Now hitter A is doing alright, she looks a little off doesn't she? Her at is turned outwards, her elbows are pushed together tightly, but that's the only thing you can point out right? Her legs are in the perfect position for a strong hit, her right knee is almost at a 90 degree angle which is where it is supposed to be, and she has a very good loading stance, all her weight is on her back leg , as long as she has good weight transfer that hit will be gone!!!

Hey! It has been awhile since my last blog post but i have been doing some research! Over the very long weekend I had a tournament in a dome. It was a weird and new experience, but it was a good one! Although I did not hit my homerun that I wanted, I had a fun weekend. After I got home and even in the car I was in the car researching weight transfer, that will be my first "order of business" because throughout my years playing softball I have always been told that i have bad weight transfer (I like to drag my back foot.) I have been working on it with my hitting coach, Jordan. She has also played softball since she was a little girl, she is one of the people I look up to in softball. She now currently coaches a college team where I live, she went to school at the school she coaches for so she has been there a good 6-7 years I know Jordan loves what she does. She will be my mentor for this blog. 

The first time my English teacher talked about twenty time I couldn't really figure out what I wanted to do for it. I have plenty of hobbies and things I already know how to do so I just kept thinking, "what is the point of me doing this project?" Then i started thinking and I still couldn't figure out what to do so I went to practice and talked to my team mates about it and they couldn't think of anything either. When i woke up the next morning I knew what I wanted to do. I have been a softball player for eleven years of my life, in those years i have never hit a homerun. Keeping in mind that I have a lot of power in my arms and legs, so why have i not hit one? Was it the pitches? The pitcher? I couldn't think of the problem. For my 20 time project i want to research and succeed at hitting a homerun whether it be in practice or in a game.

My blog is for everyone but is aimed towards softball players, coaches, parents, and even trainers!!