Stride drill needed

Does anyone have any suggestions on drills to increase stride and power for leg drive? I have a pitcher that is pitching all arm and I'm trying to get her legs involved and increase her stride length.

starting blocks-have her put her back foot farther back off the rubber and ball/glove almost on the ground push off and pitch. similar to a sprinter in the starting blocks.

also, walk-ups-have her take 3 steps before starting the pitching motion.

The leg drive is over rated.... We focus on un-springing coil, like the BigBoyz...

Stand like you are on the rubber. Swing the stride leg forward and back 3 times and spring forward on the last swing. So, it's forward, back, forward, back, and spring forward.

I'm working on the same issue with my 11 y/o DD. She's very strong in the upper body but has not developed leg strength yet. I have her coil/uncoil while moving forward until the instant where her toes give her the feeling like she's going to fall on her face. She uses that as a cue to leap out as far as she can. I also think it's important to try to synchronize the top/bottom as you focus on the legs. It's easy for girls to screw up their timing if the leg work is not done in conjunction with adjustments to the circle. To accomplish this, I've been having her focus on staying firm and tall on her plant and loose in her downswing to generate as much whip as possible. I can't stress enough how having her focus on the feeling of being "loose" at 12 o'clock through release seemed to help her timing, almost like a self-correction. Prior to that, the additional concentration on using her leg muscles seemed to cause her to get tight in the circle and lose velocity. It was counter-productive. Be ready for some lost control when she first really starts using her legs, but if she stays loose and retrains her muscle memory, it will come back soon enough. Best of luck!

What is this coil-uncoil in pitching that is being mentioned here?

StingRay said:

starting blocks-have her put her back foot farther back off the rubber and ball/glove almost on the ground push off and pitch. similar to a sprinter in the starting blocks.

also, walk-ups-have her take 3 steps before starting the pitching motion.

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DD pitches so much faster when she does the walk-up drill. All of us know it is because she is getting her lower body more involved, this off season we are going to try and translate this into pushing off the plate.

For DD we put 2 marks on the field were her stride foot should land between, she actually did it during games. She would go out there and start drawing lines with her heal. If she thought she did something wrong she would look down, she didn’t check herself ever pitch.

Hips foward over the balls of the feet, not butt out. Positive shin angle, knee over toes, fall forward before you push.

Basically teach her how to do a standing long jump.

-W

ArkFastpitch said:

Does anyone have any suggestions on drills to increase stride and power for leg drive? I have a pitcher that is pitching all arm and I'm trying to get her legs involved and increase her stride length.

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The walk-throughs are good for this, as mentioned. I've found it more helpful to have pitchers NOT measure their stride foot plant distance, but instead have them measure their drive foot "drag" distance (pitching side leg). Some pitchers increase stride length by over-stepping (like a forward split) which can in turn lead to a difficult time involving the rear leg contribution to the pitch. Try it... take a huge step forward, and then try to bring you rear leg forward. Most younger pitchers do not have the lower body and core strength to bring the drive leg forward if they overstep, and the result is magnified with too much upper body movement. So... having them focus on rear leg drive distance will prevent that problem before it begins.

Amy's swinging crane movements emphasize the importance of having 100% of their weight on their drive leg at push-off - which IMO is crucial to a good drive/push. Transference of weight from stride to drive leg during the wind up is uber-important.

Also, try the slide-across the plate method. Starting with a wider stance, have the pitcher slide their drive-foot inwards just prior to the backswing. As they reach the top (backswing), have them transfer weight on to the stride foot, and explode off the plate. Google Monica Abbott pitching if you want to see it in motion. I always teach this method, as it helps maximize weight transfer and forward momentum, leading to great leg drive.

As far as timing... the key is to have the arm reaching the 6 o'clock position while the drive leg knee is out in front, ahead of the pitching arm. The arm will, in turn play catch-up, and the pitch timing will greatly improve. Some teach the pitching arm and stride leg being in sync (coming out together)... and I would advise against it. The pitching arm lagging behind at the beginning of the circle greatly improves timing.

I'll add a vid clip or two for you when I get home...

javasource said:

The walk-throughs are good for this...

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javasource said:

...instead have them measure their drive foot "drag" distance...

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javasource said:

...try the slide-across the plate method.

Click to expand...

javasource said:

As far as timing... the key is to have the arm reaching the 6 o'clock position while the drive leg knee is out in front, ahead of the pitching arm.

Click to expand...