Drag Foot Drag; A rudder or an anchor?

Pivot Foot Drag; A rudder or an anchor?

Hope this old file answers some of the e-mails I have gotten recently.

Hal

I was hoping someone might have some drills that my daughter can work on to correct this problem. Her drag foot as you will see is currently used as a rudder and we really need to correct it. Here is a video of her in slow mo (stop at 21/22 seconds in) and you will see her problem...sorry about the quality: Jordan Adams - YouTube

Thanks in advance!

Hi cola,

Dont see where the video link is. Assuming she is dragging the entire side of the foot insted of just the side of the big toe???

OK, now I found the link. She is not pushing off the rubber. Her ankle would be extended, like doing a jump shot in basketball but driving forward and not up.

Make sure she has her body on a good forward lean when she pushes of. Keep the ankle extended until the stride foot touches down.

I might also suggest she not bring the ball up in front, at least nowhere near that much.

Sorry about that...hopefully you can see it now (sorry, new to posting. Been a lurker however!)

Jordan - YouTube

This might be a bit simplistic, but try taking the ball out of the picture and have her practice the motion and feel her toe drag. Some suggest an effort to point the pivot knee at the catcher throughout the drag. Ask her to prcatice this around the house or wherever. Socks on carpet might help her feel it.

For me, the bigger issue is that it appears she is bowling, rather than whipping. Down the backside of the swing and to just before release, the elbow should lead the hand, which will face the sky at 9 o'clock (the back of the hand should lead the ball throughout the cirlce.) In the video, it appears she is pushing the ball down with her palm and through release. In the long term, she cannot progress if she doesn't start to whip the ball. Go here for more info on this: http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/10321-i-r-classroom.html


Here's couple videos that show whip very clearly:

女å*￾ソフト上野投手ã￾®æŠ•ç￾ƒãƒ•ã‚©ãƒ¼ãƒ*　2009.10.10-01 - YouTube and
Softball Power Drive - mechanics in slow motion 1000 frame per second - YouTube

I think the drag issue is an easy fix, but a low prioirty as she can progress to a high level if she continues to keep it up. However, without a good whip she's not going to go far.

Best wishes,
Ken

I don't know about her not doing IR- (sorry cola3812 but I looked at the other videos of your DD )- I agree that, in the one he posted at best the ball is at 3B down the backside of the circle and maybe rotates too early, but the other video, with her pitching thru the net looks very good to me, although maybe a slow mo of that one would show more. She has good speed.

Anyway- with regard to OP- her drag on side of her foot is one issue, but I think worse is she is on her heel - I think that must put tremendous stress on her knee. What has helped my DD is using a hitting pod. She has broken the habit with this but I also have heard of another technique that sounds weird but apparently works well - this from my DD's pitching coach who attended a coaching clinic. That is (don't laugh) to duct tape a tennis ball to the inside of your DD's push foot. This will not only prevent her from dragging on her heel, but will right away give her feedback as to the better position for her foot to be in. You can try this in conjunction with having her try to direct her knee to the catcher. Anyway, link to the hitting pod (a $10 tool) along with an article from Cindy Bristow about its use can be found at : Coaches CornerMaster the Push Foot to Increase Your Pitching Speed « Softball Excellence
and the hitting pod at: Softball Excellence

Good luck!

There has to be a leap before there is a drag. The pitcher in the video is just taking a long step.

Weight transfer is the big issue here. She does not load. She leans forward while sticking her backside out, the end result being an equalization of forces and no load. The hips need to come forward over the ball of the foot during the load. This will put pressure on the pitchers quad. The pitcher will then explode forward releasing this pressure. This is the leap.

Most foot drag issues can actually be solved by forcing a strong stride. Sometimes even making the pitcher overstride to "feel it" helps. If the stride or leap is fast and powerful, the body will have to react and adjust the drag to keep from toppling over. At this point, you can work on fixing the drag, if any fix is still needed. You can't fix the drag before you fix the leap.

This pitcher is used to pitching off her back/pivot leg. Does she do a lot of "K" drills? When pitching, the pitcher pitches off their stride foot. Doing too many K drills can really mess them up. Notice how she pulls her stride foot back into her rear foot as she releases the pitch. This is how one "pitches" from a K position, but not how one pitches during real motion.

-W

I don't know how to do gifs, yet. If anyone has the time, could you do a side-by-side with these two?
finch-side.wmv - YouTube or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoYUsDK4zTw and this one
Jordan - YouTube

Thanks ahead,
Ken

Thank you everyone for your input...I appreciate it. Starsnuffer...by loading, do you mean using the legs? Sorry...I am just the "mom" and trying to decipher the language. Also, by the leap, do you mean the stride? She actually has a pretty long stride (compared to others I have seen). I have even gone as far as trying to have her crow hop (just to get the feel of the weight being forward and the resistance off the drag foot) but she can't do it. She has a hard time.

I noticed the same thing Hal did. She's not pushing off very hard. She needs to use her arms and legs and ankles as if she were jumping. Point the pivot toe downward, rather than dragging the inside of her foot. The toe should have a light drag as to not slow her momentum down.

One great example that was given to my DD a few years back was to have her jump up in the air. Then the PC pointed out the use of her arms in her jump and to try and jump without using her arms, then leap forward using both her arms. Then translate that over to her leap in her pitching. By leap, we are not talking about the pivot/drag foot coming off of the ground, but rather the leap forward.

Now my DD uses the style like K. Fowler shown below (Teresa Wilson influence), while her hand is in the glove she uses both arms to thrust herself forward.