stride or no stride

Newbie question-
Am I correct that to stride, or not to stride is just a preference, and as long as everything else is correct, they are both good approaches? I'm just curious as my DD's new batting instructor wants her to go wider stance with no stride, and TB Coach would like more of a stride. Everything else seems virtually identical. Her batting instructor actually went through the same Travel program and recently played for a D1 program. We joked when we met her that she and my daughter looked like twins. So...up to the batter to decide?

Just my 2 cents there are too many coaches out there trying to turn too many hitters into Albert Pujols. There are many different styles before toe touch. Why demand uniformity when we have over 100 years of examples of the many styles that can work?

Agree with Mr. T. I have seen successful hitters take no stride, take small stride, and take huge strides. What they all have in common is that the front foot is down before the bat starts coming forward and that they don't get too open. If you start wide and take a huge stride your entire upper body (including head) moves downward as you swing making it very difficult to connect solidly.

This is just my opinion, If you are a no stride hitter your weight does not get the chance to properly transfer into the ball at contact. If you are a 200 lb man and your strength comes from your upper body you can get by with this. If you are a 12 year old girl not so much. A females power comes from her hips Rotation in behind the ball without forward momentum will garnish you a ton of pulled balls missing balls on the outside corner of the plate and squishing the bug.

Tim

I believe the problem many girls have with a good stride is their stance is too wide. If they would have a narrow stance it would be easier for them to stride. The narrow stance could also help with coil, IMO.

I also believe most should stride.

I see many players that have had their stride taken away....for the wrong reason...the instructor or coach is trying to fix either stepping out or a lunge....

Many players with no stride exhibit the same tendencies just on a smaller scale...they still open up too early or swing from the top and still lunge.....

The reason I take a stride away initially is that I want the player to learn how to get the front foot down with the shoulder still closed and learn to walk off the back heel to turn the hips and drive the swing....I let them stride early to get the front heel down so they are ready to just unload the swing....once they grasp that we build in an on time stride back into the swing....

Learning to walk off the back heel is very foreign to most hitters so it takes time....it is about learning how to transfer their weight using their legs and hips...not using their upper torso/shoulders to power the swing....

A stride is supposed to build momentum to make the weight transfer easier and set up the throw of the barrel....most stride but don't transfer their weight so the stride is basically movement forward as the hands drop....swinging with front foot still in the air and weight sitting on the back foot...

Each of these hitter below have reached front foot plant (or just about to be planted)...don't all look like they are ready to attack the ball?

In the Benji and Williams clips you can see the front hip is slightly shifted forward....

DD is a no stride hitter. She points her heel towards the SS, drops her heel to start her swing. The no stride was meant for a quick fix to stop her from picking her leg up too much and striding too far. She is arguably the best hitter in our League, video game numbers batting. I think she hits so well because of her hand eye coordination and despite my bad hitting advice. The no stride takes some of her body out of the mix and lets her hands do the work.

She is trying to switch to batting lefty this year and the no stride has been eliminated. She takes a small step to start her swing. I think she swings better with a small stride, opposed to dropping her heel. You can see her entire body working better with the small step.

no stride

The instructor said she personally does the "no stride" approach. She said going to no stride for my daughter (who is pretty big for her age) will allow her to focus better on using the bottom half instead of her relying on her upper body strength so much. She was originally taught no stride, then to stride more recently. Now just as she was getting to feel more comfortable with the stride....well you know

IMO, a no stride approach still allows one to capture the full sequence.



Your typical golfer doesn't stride ... and the best contain what resembles a forward-by-coiling type movement ... something that is stressed at "Secret In The Dirt".

FFS think this thru and give me your answer. A golfer hits a ball that has a weight of about 1.6 oz. the ball has a latex center wrapped by rubberbands and encased in a dimpled cover. The things are made to jump off a solid surface. If anyone dosent believe me hit one with a base ball bat and watch what happens, It almost reaches escape velocity of gravity lol.

One the flip side a softball weighs 6 1/4 oz and is made of either cork or yarn and wrapped in leather. It is not aerodynamic per se and has to be launched with a ton more effort to get it where it needs to go. Comparing golf and softball are like the apples and orange thing.

Look at the MLB and tell me the difference in the amount of players that use stride vs non stride hitting. The vast majority are of the stride type. If players in the mlb use the stride in the majority that would leave me to believe that it is probably the more correct way to get momentum into the rotation behind the ball.

Some players do not have to use the stride this is true. If few men can hit a ball this way and their strength is more upper dominate than females. How can we expect females to reach the levels of success we wish them to by being that way.

If we are going to tout MLB swings here then it seems to me that the stride is the dominant and correct method to achieve the goal of total sequence........... your thoughts please? thanks in advance.


Tim