halskinner
Banned
- May 7, 2008
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THE FALL FORWARD DRILL
This is one of the drills I used to convert a step style pitcher to leap and drag mechanics and to develop stronger push offs.
Have the pitcher stand on the rubber in the pitching position, ball of the pivot foot over the top front edge of the rubber, glove on but no softball.
Now you stand in front of her. Have her extend her arms straight out and place her hands on your chest.
Maintaining that contact, slowly back away from her keeping one of your feet ahead of the other for balance. Slowly back away to the point the pitcher’s body weight is pushing against your chest, good amount of pressure.
Now the pitcher will be on a fairly good lean towards you. Have her lift her stride foot just off the ground and do not let it back down, she is now leaning forward and standing on her pivot foot only.
Now, have her try and push you backwards using ONLY her pivot leg, not the arms, have her do this for three or four seconds. Then have her bring her stride foot back down and slowly back away from her.
This is the angle she wants to be at AND how hard she wants to push off from the rubber.
Now have her pick the ball up and assume the pitching position. Now, with a slight bend in the pivot knee, have her fall forward without moving her feet, to the point that if she does not bring that stride foot forward she will fall on her face. When she comes forward and gets that ‘I’m gonna fall on my face’ feeling, THEN push off as hard as she was pushing against you, she will be on that steep angle just like when she was pushing on you.
Push off just as hard as when she was pushing on you. Push off on that forward lean and when the stride foot touches down, be on a slight backwards lean with a slight bend in the stride knee.
Use this drill along with ‘Coach Hal’s Foundation Method’from my book. If her stride is now a little bit longer than that, go with the longer distance and note where the stride foot comes down
Start off doing a few slowly. It will only take a handful of tries before she can do this quickly and she will start to get that 'Explosive aggressive' speed in her drive forward..
This is one of the drills I used to convert a step style pitcher to leap and drag mechanics and to develop stronger push offs.
Have the pitcher stand on the rubber in the pitching position, ball of the pivot foot over the top front edge of the rubber, glove on but no softball.
Now you stand in front of her. Have her extend her arms straight out and place her hands on your chest.
Maintaining that contact, slowly back away from her keeping one of your feet ahead of the other for balance. Slowly back away to the point the pitcher’s body weight is pushing against your chest, good amount of pressure.
Now the pitcher will be on a fairly good lean towards you. Have her lift her stride foot just off the ground and do not let it back down, she is now leaning forward and standing on her pivot foot only.
Now, have her try and push you backwards using ONLY her pivot leg, not the arms, have her do this for three or four seconds. Then have her bring her stride foot back down and slowly back away from her.
This is the angle she wants to be at AND how hard she wants to push off from the rubber.
Now have her pick the ball up and assume the pitching position. Now, with a slight bend in the pivot knee, have her fall forward without moving her feet, to the point that if she does not bring that stride foot forward she will fall on her face. When she comes forward and gets that ‘I’m gonna fall on my face’ feeling, THEN push off as hard as she was pushing against you, she will be on that steep angle just like when she was pushing on you.
Push off just as hard as when she was pushing on you. Push off on that forward lean and when the stride foot touches down, be on a slight backwards lean with a slight bend in the stride knee.
Use this drill along with ‘Coach Hal’s Foundation Method’from my book. If her stride is now a little bit longer than that, go with the longer distance and note where the stride foot comes down
Start off doing a few slowly. It will only take a handful of tries before she can do this quickly and she will start to get that 'Explosive aggressive' speed in her drive forward..
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