Stride or no stride

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Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
Yes initial movement starts at or before pitcher movement, but the full stride doesn't occur until the ball speed is determined.

Go to YouTube and search ULL (Lafayette) or Lotief or Elkins

The forward movement better start at, or before, the release of the pitch ... otherwise the hitter will have the game sped up on them and will be rushed.

This isn't a small thing. It's the holy grail of hitting.
 
Oct 2, 2015
615
18
The forward movement better start at, or before, the release of the pitch ... otherwise the hitter will have the game sped up on them and will be rushed.

This isn't a small thing. It's the holy grail of hitting.

Yup...at the pitch...correct

anyways...julray...just have your DD go watch a Miggy GIF, and have your DD copy that
 
Last edited:
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
OK, your not going to get the biomechincally technical terms from me like so of these guys can give you...I'll try not to make a fool of myself...

I'll break it down in upper/lower body.

Lower body, I only teach a striding swing. More of a striding swing than most. Probably almost as much as what Lotief teaches since that's what I model alot of what I teach after.

For me, a striding swing means the body isn't just striding forward...it means the back leg is actually PUSHING the body forward.
Lexie Elkins is probably one of the best examples of this...she has a very vertical starting stance. And as the pitcher was releasing the ball she would flamingo on her back leg and use that movement as a timing gauge.
Change-up she would "flamingo longer" and then drive her back leg, on a fast ball she would drive her back leg instantly.
Now, when I mean drive with the back leg...I literally mean drive with the back leg.
DJ Sanders is very similar...

The next thing that is almost a requirement when you drive with the back leg is this..."pointing" or rotating the front foot.
When you drive with the back leg and begin the rear leg collapse, the hips twist so much faster than with a Non-striding swing.
If that front foot isn't pointed at least 45* degrees away from the plate and towards the pitcher, when it lands (parallel to the front of the plate) that front foot will cause a braking effect on increased power/speed gained by the twisting effect.
You can see this in alot of the GIFs that people post here.
If the front foot is not twisted at least 45*, and is landing parallel to the front of the plate, it not only creates a braking effect on the knee which slows down the stride/twist, but it also cause the hands to cast or fan outward.

Mid Section:
What can I say a strong mid-section (lats/abs) is probably one of the most neglected body parts with girls.
That's the link between the legs and upper body
Lat pull downs will help tie the mid-section and the upper body together.

Upper body:
Your DD's upper body looks like a golf swing. How do I know?... My DD3 had the same style swing up until this summer....I could NOT get her fix it! Until...( I'll post later)
To me it looks like her lead shoulder is pulling her arm and bat at an upward angle, and it's causing her lead arm to flatten against her chest.
This type of swing can be caused by several things,
1) one of them is purposeful coaching, teaching them to be ultra linear with the hands, and to not have any rotation in the hips and shoulders.
2) the legs/hips are twisting too soon, and are causing the arms to collapse, OR the arms can't keep up because the legs are too strong
3) she's firing her front shoulder and arm too late
4) she's not strong enough to keep her front arm up with her legs, or the bat is too heavy.

OK, so how did I fix my DD3's exact same problem this summer? ...with the help of the DFP board of course... ( and a little crazy idea or two).

1) Strength DD3 is 16 now and is fairly strong, but 3 years ago...not so much...she couldn't do a single push-up... so work on strength..weights, or what ever you can do...push-ups wil do
2) DD3 relies too much on her leg strength
3) I had her hit tennis balls off of a tee with a wiffle ball bat, with only her front arm... several thousand times.. with the same motion she would when swinging a bat. Keep the front arm off of her chest/ribcage several inches.
4) then I had her hit tennis balls off of the tee with only her back arm. To learn how to coordinate her front and back arms.
5) Watch hitting GIFs over and over and over...if they can learn a dance move by watching others they can learn how to swing a bat by watching Miggy GIFs on YouTube

So to sum it up...
1) Literally drive with the back leg, don't just fall forward, and don't just lift the front foot and call it a striding swing
2) Front foot needs to rotate at least 45* degrees, to gain the benefits of the driving rear leg and the increased twist it allows/creates
3) When the rotated front foot lands it has to brace/stop the front leg, causing a "stopping" shock wave, that causes the mid section and upper body to whip forward...(this is one of the many areas where the Minn-Dak Armsy Swunt and the Minn-Dak Inside Out swing fail miserably)
4) The front shoulder needs to be bringing the arm and bat around in a rotational manner and NOT upward like in a golf swing
5) Keep the front arm off of the chest/ribcage...practice, practice, practice
6) Drive the bat through the ball, don't just leave the wrists limp
7) Measure the ball hit distance right now....seriously...go out, hit 24-36 balls and have one kid in the outfield marking each one...measure all of them...but this is the most important part, remember what your DD did on the farthest/hardest hit balls!!!
Don't throw that one out a a fluke, try to mimic and replicate that swing every time! And keep working on that
We use a storage shed/concessions building and some trees behind the left field fence as a gauge now. With known measured distances to the trees/building, we know how far the ball is hit.
8) Measure exit speed now...and continually
9) Have her watch lots of Miggy GIFs, and other hitting GIFs that fit you liking... and copy cat them...

Good Luck!

Wow, thanks for the time you took to respond to me and try to help my DD. I really appreciate it!
 

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