Front leg at impact...

[FIRE SOFTBALL]

With hitting is the front leg suppose to be bent or straight when you are making contact with the ball.I always thought the front leg should be straight at the point of contact so you are not leaning into the pitch.

 

[Mark H]

The front leg should be firm at heel plant for stability. As the pelvis rotates, it will straighten mostly or all depending on the hitter.

 

[FIRE SOFTBALL]

Thank You Mark. Any other replys would be appreciated.

 

[TNSoftballDad]

What Mark said. Hard to explain it more concisely and accurately than that.

 

[Shawn]

The front leg will do different things depending on the hitter and swing.

Most of the time it happens really quickly, straightens, and then flexes again.

The front leg does not do what many believe.

And if you can understand this concept, you will have a better understanding of the role of the front leg.

"You can't shoot a cannon from a canoe"

If you have a good swing, the front leg action happens naturally. There is no real thought process into it's action.

It is very easy to see someone who is creating the front leg action, or forcing it to happen.

In a simple explanation, as the backside leg/hips begin to unload as the front foot plants. It begins a sequence in which energy is transferred upwards, and as this sequence unfolds the swing starts forward.

The swing itself, or the energy built up in the lower to upper torso, forces the leg to firm up and straightened rather quickly. When the front leg is straightening the hips are actually slowing down and transferring energy upwards.

Any thoughts of the front leg creating "hip rotation", or thinking that it speeds up hip rotation, isn't a very productive thought process, IMO. If it does or doesn't really doesn't not matter, and if you have seen any newer data you will see that max hip speed happens very early in the baseball or golf swing.

I don't know if you will understand this post or not, since your question was if the front leg straightens, and all you said was that you believed it did. And the answers is of course it does, and it is directly related to the statement I said will help you understand the role of the front leg, "You can't shoot a cannon from a canoe".

 

[Mark H]

Any thoughts of the front leg creating "hip rotation", or thinking that it speeds up hip rotation, isn't a very productive thought process, IMO. ".

I agree.




.

 

[Fastpitch Trainer]

Shawn, I saw this piece in your post.

"The swing itself, or the energy built up in the lower to upper torso, forces the leg to firm up and straightened rather quickly. When the front leg is straightening the hips are actually slowing down and transferring energy upwards."

I am curious why you feel the energy stored in the torso, has any effect on the front leg in the kinetic sequence? If energy travels from the ground up, then how would something happening in the middle of the body be a force to cause anything to happen in the lower body?

The front leg becoming straight is a simple answer. It is a response to a knee extensor becoming stretched and then contracting. The long bones of the front leg respond to what the muscles of the front leg are doing. You have 1 knee extensor that goes through the quad and attaches at the hip. When the front foot opens, the front knee opens. When the front knee opens, the knee extensor stretches, which causes a contraction, which stiffens the front leg (or as us hitting coaches say "firms up the front leg"), and the leg locks if the stretch/contraction are strong enough.

If the initial horizontal force created off the back side isn't strong, then the front sides reaction won't be enough to have a contraction capable of taking the bend out of the front leg.

 

[SBFAMILY]

When going to toe touch make sure the lead foot knee stays flexed so the hips can keep moving linear. When you step with a rigid lead foot knee the hips stop and your center of gravity shifts forward and can usually be seen as the head moves forward with your body and your weight is over the front leg. When the weight goes up against the front leg you will see the front leg angled backwards a little indicating you are rotating around the front hip. Think when you do this that you can feel the weight with your knees inside your feet and the legs are flexed and the back leg is pinching in and moving forward which causes your back hip to tilt and go forward against the front leg.

 

[Bucketpapi]

a thousand words

With hitting is the front leg suppose to be bent or straight when you are making contact with the ball.I always thought the front leg should be straight at the point of contact so you are not leaning into the pitch.

Here's a video that shows what you are looking for.
And remember, you rotate against a firm front leg, not over it.

 

[Shawn]

Fastpitch trainer,

The lower body begins as the front heel plants, the hips reach their maximum speed before the front knee and leg is fully extended or before the leg extends (the hips continue to turn). The force of the swing which includes momentum being multiplied from segment to segment, forces the lead leg to extend.

If one end started, the lower body, and it creates a little torsion at the other end, then the slight twist and untwist action that is created through the body, will force the front leg to extend.

The deceleration, of the hips, shoulder, and lead arm/shoulders, all have an affect IMO, on the front leg straightening. And the timing can be changed by the slightest adjustments.

In the simplest explanation, it's similar to a sling shot action, a very tight sequence. The front leg reacts to the forces created by the back leg/hips, lower and upper torso. The front leg is similar to the handle of the sling shot. As in, "You can't shoot a cannon from a canoe".

The mass of the back leg, hips, torso, arms, bat, are all working against the front leg. Why wouldn't it straighten under this condition?

I like to explain it in this manner (Sling Shot action), as to not confuse the hitter with X factors, serape effects, kinetic link, kinematic sequence, winding the rubber band, etc., (although we do spend time on kinematic sequence doing tempo swings, experimenting with effort levels).

In a way everything unwinds against the front leg, at the front hip.

I do not think about the front leg, nor do I teach hitters to think about the front leg, when it comes to extension. It is only an issue, if a hitter has an issue of getting to (on) the front leg before starting the swing. And there is usually a huge sequence issue with hitters who have to get to the front leg before starting the swing.

Another issue might be forcing it to extend, such as when a hitter accelerates everything together, a very forced swing from start to finish.

If you are watching the College World Series, you will see many, many, hitters cut the lower body short and transfer everything to the upper body. Even when this happens the front knee and leg will firm up somewhat.

I remember when I first started coaching and everyone said Girls used the lower body and guys used the hands and upper body. That turned out to be completely false.

Hopefully you understand me, as in it's so easy to show in person.