Softball Hitting Q&A with Crystl Bustos

Compiled by Stacie Mahoe

After having Crystl Bustos in Hawaii and getting to see her work with young softball players, I thought she'd be a good person to ask about softball hitting and hitting instruction. Crystl graciously took some time to answer 10 softball hitting instruction questions for us!

1. What's your favorite thing about working with young hitters?
My favorite thing about working with young hitters is to watch them grow and get better

2. What are some of the common myths or misconceptions hitters come to you with? (things they've been told by other coaches that isn't really helpful)
Squish the bug. That this is softball not baseball so the swing is way different. That they can't hit homeruns.

3. What is the hardest part of teaching hitters to improve their swing?
Getting them to practice at home!

4. When a hitter comes to you and has multiple areas of her swing to work on, how do you know where to start?
I start from the ground up and age sometimes plays a role.

5. What are some of the most common problems you see in hitters that come to you for help?
They don't know why they should do what we are telling them to do.

6. What are some of the things you feel you do differently from other hitting coaches?
I get them to understand why we do what we do and how to fix it themselves.

7. When a parent is looking for a hitting instructor to send their daughter to, what should they look for? What kinds of questions should they ask?
Why do you do that? Why is that wrong? Why is that way right? A good hitting coach should know "why" and it when they tell you "why" it should make sense.

8. Is there anything you can tell a parent as far as something they may see or hear from a hitting coach where you would tell the parent they should run in the opposite direction as fast as they can?
When you ask them why they do something or teach something a certain way and they say, "Because that is what I was taught."

9. One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, "What bat should my daughter use?" What tips to you have for parents on this subject?
Length is determined by measuring the width of the upper body. Bat should be 2x that length. Weight will depend on what the player can handle (try having them hold the bat out in front of them with one hand, if they can't hold it very long without their hand shaking or dropping that bat is probably too heavy).

10. Is there anything that hitters can do (other than hit/swing) to improve their hitting performance?
Get with a good strength and conditioning coach!