Correcting stride foot angle.

[knightsb]

DDs foot work in her pitching motion needs fixed.

We have finally broken her habit of twisting her pivot foot immediately prior to her leap. It took DD reviewing video to convince her she was doing it. She said she couldn’t feel she was turning it. We used Starsnuffer’s suggestion of placing a ball next to her pivot foot for instant feedback so she would know if she wasn’t coming off straight.

We have also been trying to break her habit of landing with her stride foot at 90 degrees. I think both of these habits were developed because she was trying to make sure her hips were getting open. We have been using the one foot drill ("Single Leg Push Off" Post #4 in model pitchers) The stride foot angle habit is proving to be a little harder to correct. Does anyone have any drills or suggestions for things to work on in order to get DD to land at a 45 degree angle? I have also read on other DFP posts landing on the ball of the foot, then heal plant… is this still the consensus? Thanks.

 

[lhowser]

Welcome to my world knightsb. Dealing with exact same issue. Starting to lose pitches inside because hips and shoulders actually over rotate.

 

[Screwball]

Tell her that if she lands correctly, she'll pitch harder.

 

[abbygale]

Mine suffered the same. Any motion whether stepping, leaping or even throwing overhand now requires her to take that foot to her target and land at the correct angle. Like I tell her, open is open. 2 months later, it is pretty ingrained. She had to run around the block many times during that time frame while learning to be aware of her body and motions. Big believer in consequences. Nowadays, she say's that it feels weird for her to land otherwise but it still happens. Life as a pitchers parent gets so much easier when they learn how to correct themselves and why it matters. Thanks to all those who have gone before me and shared your knowledge.

 

[starsnuffer]

Knightsb,

Glad the trick with the ball worked out for you. The pivoting before pitching is the more difficult issue to correct, so I think you'll be fine.

First, you don't want her landing on the ball of the foot, you want her landing on her whole foot, and some emphasis on the heel is fine. We call pitchers that land on their balls or their toes "ballerinas", and if the pitcher also dances it's difficult to get them to switch. In most other athletic activities, when you're jumping you're landing on the ball of the foot, with pitching, however, it's more of a brake or a "pole vault" so that front foot has to be solid, with very slight flex in the knee as to not cause joint damage.

One thing you can try is to focus on one pitch, such as the fastball. Figure out where she is landing with her stride foot. Mark this spot with a 18 inch long line 45 degrees to the power line. If you're on dirt, you may want to put a cone at either end of this line, or you can use softballs as well. What you want is visual markers to where her toe should be pointed and where her heel should be pointed. Have her pitch with these markers several dozen pitches at a time and she will be able to self correct, so long as she looks down at her foot each pitch.

You can also have her "spot" her landing. Have her focus her vision beyond the catcher, take her sign, then begin her pitch, her focus now shifts to her landing spot (in this case the line or cones) and then shift her focus to her target. This will help her in spotting her landing, and in most cases actually increases pitch accuracy because our brains are designed in a way that we aim much better if we "fire" immediately after target acquisition rather then lingering or dwelling on our target.

With the visual aid you will not need to correct her foot angle but can instead work on making sure she's landing with her entire foot rather then the ball or toes.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

-W

 

[halskinner]

You want the stride foot to land at a 45-degree angle. You want to touchdown on the ball of the foot and with a slight bend in the stride knee. That is the 'shock absorber' when you run or pitch.

The pivot foot should push off at a 45 - degree angle also. Starting off with the pivot foot pointing straight ahead ( 0 degrees) makes it very difficult to open the hips, a 45-degree angle will almost certainly cause the pitcher to open up the hips at least somewhat in the motions.

Coach Hal's Foundation Method

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I don't teach the stride foot starting straight forward, either.

The land foot, is as Hal describes it. I can almost mark it. Go out out 5/6 steps heel to toe, of the pitcher's foot. Draw a long line in front of the toe. Then, go back to the rubber and draw the power line straight out (note - that does not have to be from the center of the plate.) Where the 2 lines cross, is where the toe should be, approximately.

 

[knightsb]

Knightsb,
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
-W

Background:
DD is a 12U pitcher. We have been transitioning our pitching mechanics, over the winter, from a Step to a Leap and Drag with IR. We started with Hillhouse’s DVD, and have relied heavily on the DFP pitching forums and its contributors for guidance. DDs pitching looks very similar to Ade’s Dad DD video (link below) but with a few more issues.

Comparing video of DD to those in the Model Pitchers thread DD had several things to work on, the first four we started with were:
1. Straighten pivot foot at push off.
2. Better torso position during stride/leap.
3. Landing with stride foot at 45 vs 90.
4. Bettor torso position at release.

To fix the pivot foot, we used Starsnuffer’s suggestion of placing a ball next to her foot for instant feedback. Video review also helped.

To fix the torso position we worked using the “stork drill”posted in Ade’s Dad DD video. We wanted DD to get the feeling of how it feels to stay back and keep weight back during the pitch.

To fix the landing with the stride foot at 45 vs 90, we had to go back to the video to see why she was landing at 90. Ihowser mentioned a similar problem in which they were dealing with hips and shoulders over rotating. The video revealed just that, she was almost turning her left butt cheek to the catcher. DD was not understanding the feeling or meaning of pitching against resistance. We watched this Rita Lynn video on youtube (link below) and this helped DD to understand more the concept. We also had her think of striding with her glove, stride foot, and hip bone toward her target. You can see by the images a her stride leg and foot are in a much better position.

links:
Ade's DD Video: http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/5821-dd-video.html Improving Arm Whip: YouTube - Clicker: How to Improve Arm Whip

This is obviously a work in progress. We want to improve the torso more and the leap and drag. We also need to improve the spin she is getting on the ball.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Knightsb, very nice.

 

[GatorGirl]

Can anyone post a pic of what the feet should look like to begin with? I feel like I just can't visualize it with all this talk of degrees and different name for the front and back foot. Thanks in advance.

GG