Step 13

K With a Bat

Start with feet at a 45, feet together with toes on the power line as in Step 11. Extend the right hand straight up and slightly flex the elbow. The tip of the bat should be pointing towards home, parallel to the ground. Stride and whip the bat across the toes.

As in step 12, watch for signs of pulling the bat as opposed to whipping it. As in step 10 make sure that the amount of flex in the elbow increases with the downward rotation of the upper arm.

One thing to watch is that the tip of the bat should remain on the power line all the way through the finish. If the hip is closing early, the tip of the bat will go off to the side.

The finish should have the elbow pointing to the catcher, the forearm straight up and down and the bat horozontal along the power line. Note that the position of the hand is rotated 90 degrees from the finish position in step 11. The purpose of this step is to feel the whipping motion and also to see that the arm and hand are traveling on the power line. This can best be seen if the bat ends up pointing straight back., not to the side. Plus the mass of the bat will pull it to that finish position and like all aspects of pitching, she should never fight her body.

If the player is not strong enough to hold the bat in the proper starting form, you may Help her by holding the end of the bat then stepping away as she starts to swing.

If you practice this step ahead of your pitcher (presumably you have been practicing the other before presenting them) use a bat that is much heavier than a T-Ball bat so you can get a better feel for what the player is experiencing.

If you are doing this in a safe area outdoors you could have the pitcher let go of the bat to see how far she can throw it. Make sure she knows to throw it forward, not straight up.

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