DD still can't get off the rubber before 3 o'clock... We've been digging in working on leg strength and stronger drive leg pushing for a long time, and we just can't move the needle much. Pushback and two step drills are great, but still there is something missing.
(at least outside side of learning to replant like Kelly Barnhill).
not getting your drive foot under your center of mass will result in sideways forces on the upper body is my understanding
Regarding in-fielders. Some get down & ready and can explode immediately into a dive. Others look like they are down and ready, but they have a slow first step and can't dive with full extension.
I just about guarantee that most of those with the slow first step are feeling the weight of that position entirely in their quads.
A lot has to do with the fact that some girls just don't have as many fast twitch fibers as others…they have more slow twitch. Softball requires a lot of explosive movement that uses more fast twitch fibers. Look at a sprinters built compare to a distance runner. They are muscular vs the sprinter who has a leaner, slim body.
People have two general types of skeletal muscle fibers: slow-twitch (type I) and fast-twitch (type II). Slow-twitch muscles help enable long-endurance feats such as distance running, while fast-twitch muscles fatigue faster but are used in powerful bursts of movements like sprinting.
You can also see the difference in running where a sprinter will drive with her legs moving forward(with a forward lean) while a distance runner will try to conserve energy and you see their legs kicking backwards.
I was always more of middle distance runner…someone who had a mixture of slow and fast twitch muscles…When I wanted to work on speed, I had to do explosive moves to teach my body to run different. Even before working on sprints, I spent time on the treadmill doing deadmill sprints so I can learn how to lean forward and create energy by driving my foot. If I didn't do this, the treadmill belt would not move.