Breaking Down the Slow Pitch Softball Swing

The mechanics of a good slow pitch softball swing are very similar to the mechanics of a baseball swing. They key difference is timing - quick and short in baseball, long and loaded in slow pitch softball. In this post, I'll describe the fundamentals of Stance, Stride, Rotation, Hands, and Follow-Through in whole - as you would execute them during an at-bat. We'll address each fundamental in detail in future posts.

1. Stance - In order to develop a swing that is fundamentally sound and repeatable, the batting stance must build the proper foundation for the swing. The correct stance should stabilize the entire body and enable perfect balance during the swing. I coach a wide, slightly open stance: feet just oustside shoulder width with the toes of the front foot aligned with the ankle of the back foot. Think of your lower half as a pyramid with the base at your feet and coming to a point at your navel. Starting in a wider stance gives you a more stable base. Opening the hips just a bit makes it easier to repeat the rotational part of the swing, AND it helps you get both eyes on the softball.
2. Stride - An often overlooked but critical component of the swing. Stride is the linear movement towards the pitcher - the step and weight transfer prior to rotation - followed by the separation of the hands from the body. I see many players struggle with proper stride - stepping too long, opening the hips during the stride, transferring too much or not enough weight to the front, etc. A perfect stride is a small step directly towards the pitcher and a transfer of weight from back foot to front foot until distributed evenly across both feet. After the stride, your pyramid should be at it's strongest. You should be in a perfect athletic position - balanced, knees slightly bent - and poised for rotation.
3. Rotation - Rotation begins the movement of the bat to the ball and is one core element of generating batspeed. During our Stance and Stride, we've "loaded" our body to whip the bat through the hitting zone. Think of it as torquing a spring around the top of our pyramid. The release of this energy flows from the feet to the bat by rotating the back foot ("squash the bug" or "heels to heaven"), collapsing the back knee, and rotating the hips square to the ball ("slamming the door") while keeping the front shoulder inside the ball ("staying inside the door jamb").
4. Hands - We've uncorked a massive amount of rotational force, but improper wrist/hand technique will drain all that power prior to bat contact. After hip rotation is complete, the first motion of the hands is to bring the knob of the bat directly towards the ball, essentially pulling the bat to the hitting zone. The second motion is to "throw the hands at the ball" keeping the wrists cocked until the last possible instant before breaking the wrists at contact for maximum batspeed.
5. Follow Through - OK we've done it. Squared the ball on the sweet spot and we've transferred the rotational force directly to the ball. When you make contact with the ball, you lose a ton of batspeed, and batspeed determines how hard the ball is hit. If you stop or slow your swing after contact, you will not transfer all the energy you've generated to the ball. Instead, swing through the ball and finish the swing until your back shoulder rests on your chin. You may even see the bat head in your peripheral vision.

Think of each element and how it applies to your swing and let me know what challenges you find. Stay tuned, as we'll break each of these steps down in detail over the next week.

Play Hard!

Coach Brian