Step or no step ?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
Style verses absolute. To step/stride or not to step/stride is a style choice and not an absolute(meaning not found in every hitter).
 
Feb 17, 2014
551
28
My DD hit with no stride/step for a looooong time. She hit just fine, high average, HRs, etc. This winter she added a small step/toe tap to give herself rhythm against faster pitchers.

Ask Albert Pujols if you need to step/stride. :D
 
Apr 6, 2017
328
28
10yr feels like a yo-yo. Guess I'll have to be the mediator. Seems like she hit more consistent not stepping. She has better luck standing and turning. Tight V to drive the ball. She might get more power but idk. She's got bunts and left hand slaps in her head. I'll take the stepping out for now.
Thanks guys.
 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
Need more info, b/c it's a big 'ol "it depends".

The younger they are, and the less athletic the player, the more I start them with a wider, no-stride swing. In my limited experience, I've found the wider stance encourages better hip rotation during the swing (narrow stances seem to lend themselves to an "armsy" swing).

Some players step naturally - I rarely change that. If they're really lunging (like stepping and spinning onto their FRONT foot), then I may also move them to a wide stance, as a way to calm their feet and keep the back foot from moving too much.

This year I'm also coaching 5th graders (10U) - if they're not stepping already with their swing (as several are still new to softball), then I'll have them try a wider stance (b/c I don't see how effective a swing would be with a narrow stance and no stride involved).

But really - it's almost a case-by-case basis. You want to help them be successful, but you don't want to coach out of them any athletic movement. At the same time, you can also use the no-stride approach to show them how they can still generate power with simple moves such as "showing the pitcher your [front] heel". Sometimes simplifying the swing for a few pitches helps them "feel" different parts of their swing.

Oh - to your original point - both coaches are wrong if they're taking the position that one way or the other is best.
 
Oct 19, 2009
1,827
0
As rdbass advised it is more style and either way is acceptable, what it comes down to IMO is which way the hitter is more comfortable with.

When I was a player as a young man I used both, the stride for the first 2 strikes and then no stride for the third strike approach or against a pitcher who I had trouble making contact with I would use the no stride. I felt like the stride would give me a little more power in the swing while the no stride would give more contact with the ball.

Why no stride would give me more contact you ask. Well trial and error and I felt like the no stride gave me a better look at the pitch, as the head did not move as much, a quicker approach to the ball and the body did not move as much.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,468
Members
21,443
Latest member
sstop28
Top