Daughter Steps Out

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Dec 19, 2008
164
0
My 12 year old daughter (righty) steps her left foot back and toward the pitcher, instead of straight towards the pitcher.

She usually hits, but not strong. Her coaches have changed her stance with her left foot in, so when she swings, she still steps back, but out and lines up with pitcher.

This has worked, as she got 2 hits to the fence last weekend, which has never happened before. We have been hitting the cage with a much higher pitch speed as well.

My question is.....is this a "fix", or is this a "band-aid"?
If it is a band-aid, should we work on it now (and possibly affect her hitting), or do we wait until the off season?
 

redhotcoach

Out on good behavior
May 8, 2009
4,706
38
So her stride is "opening up"? If that is the case, personally I did that a little in baseball. It does help you see the ball better and in my opionion falls under style not absolute. As long as it isn't a big stride and she can get good plate coverage it shouldn't be a problem. Though what I like now is no step, just a little wider stance and toe touch.
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
I'd say bandaid. When she was stepping in the bucket, her momentum is moving away from the plate toward the SS area or worse. Probably still is but at least she is in position to reach the ball. Course it's always a guess without video.
 

DB1

Apr 23, 2009
66
0
Metro East StL
Best way to attack this problem? I have a 9 year old that sounds very similar to Izzy's daughter. I haven't done much, because I'm a little concerned about how much to throw at her at this age. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for the help and insight that you can gain from this site!
 
Jan 14, 2009
1,591
0
Atlanta, Georgia
I'd say it is a bandaid for a mechanical flaw. It's always better to fix the flaw instead of covering it up.

IMO the best way to fix mechanical issues is through mindless repetition with a Swift-Stik or similar tool. I've found that a young hitter can change almost anything by doing approximately 1500 repetitions of a movement over a ten day period, with no skipped days.

It's not fun, but it works.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
I would wait.

I have seen some coaches place something behind the foot, so that she can't step back and then work off the tee, swift stick, soft toss, etc.

In my opinion, working off the machine is not going to help (too much going on.)
 
Aug 4, 2008
2,364
0
Lexington,Ohio
I agree with Mark. We call it attack mode and take her feet out of the swing. This will hurt her down the road if you don't fix it. We step to the bucket, or block. When hitting in practice. We put a concrete block or bucket filled with sand, so she must step to it.
 
Our coaches put a bat (a big one) behind the feet of the batters who tend to step while in the box. With our girls, it hasn't taken but maybe twice of falling on their haunches to learn to stay put! :)
 
Jul 29, 2008
49
0
I corrected mine backwards I guess.

She starts with her stride foot close to the outside batters box line to force her to step "into" the ball or towards the pitcher.
 

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