Front Side Resistance

[Wellphyt]

I've noticed that a lot of the videos that get posted on here show hitters that open up their front foot as they stride. My DD use to do the same thing. In my DD's case, we did thousands of reps where she would stride to toe touch and pause with her front foot open at about 45 degrees. This conditioned her to open up her front foot as soon as she began to stride.

When I compared her swing to slow motion video of the best I noticed that many of the better hitters keep their front side closed as they stride. I consider this to be an absolute to a good swing. We've since gone about trying to fix it and IMO it's made a positive difference in her dynamic balance and weight shift. If you're working with your DD on her hitting, it may be something you want to look at. I actually believe that a lot of kids keep the front side closed naturally, and in some cases, parents, instructors and coaches like myself accidentally coach it out of kids through bad drills.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Wellphyt ... not to be a smart-rear, but isn't the fix as simple as forward-by-coiling?

p.s.
Agree with teaching the front knee cocking action that Williams' advocated.

 

[Wellphyt]

Wellphyt ... not to be a smart-rear, but isn't the fix as simple as forward-by-coiling?

p.s.
Agree with teaching the front knee cocking action that Williams' advocated.

Yes, I would say the fix is as simple as forward-by-coiling. I just wanted to highlight a check point that parents may want to consider. Bringing it up in a separate thread like this removes the possibility of me offending anyone. It hopefully keeps the discussion on the merits of the action being illustrated.

 

[RichK]

Wellphyt, wouldn't what you are describing be the opposite of this:

Everything Hitting: Get Open!

>> Each and every one of these guys (along with many other great hitters) is creating an orientation with their bodies during their pre-swing movements (emphasis mine), that although may seem different in style, is accomplishing the same goal of getting their hips, and more importantly, their pelvis bone - OPEN - almost to the point where it is completely facing the pitcher. >>

And BTW, I could care less about "camp" wars....

 

[andyh64000]

So ideally the stride foot would be closed (or very slightly open) when it lands and then naturally open up during the swing?

By forward-by-coiling you mean stride foot lands while completing coil which would naturally hold the foot closed?

 

[RayR]

Why are the toes of the rear foot pointing at the catcher? I compare my hitters to the college players I have on video...I never see this orientation that the hitter on the right is in....

I see most hitters with back foot turned in....

I've noticed that a lot of the videos that get posted on here show hitters that open up their front foot as they stride. My DD use to do the same thing. In my DD's case, we did thousands of reps where she would stride to toe touch and pause with her front foot open at about 45 degrees. This conditioned her to open up her front foot as soon as she began to stride.

When I compared her swing to slow motion video of the best I noticed that many of the better hitters keep their front side closed as they stride. I consider this to be an absolute to a good swing. We've since gone about trying to fix it and IMO it's made a positive difference in her dynamic balance and weight shift. If you're working with your DD on her hitting, it may be something you want to look at. I actually believe that a lot of kids keep the front side closed naturally, and in some cases, parents, instructors and coaches like myself accidentally coach it out of kids through bad drills.

View attachment 1767

 

[softballphreak]

Why are the toes of the rear foot pointing at the catcher? I compare my hitters to the college players I have on video...I never see this orientation that the hitter on the right is in....

I see most hitters with back foot turned in....

The player on the right does have her rear foot turned too far back. I would want it straight at least and preferably turned in slightly. The Bambi look, in other words.

But I believe the thread is about keeping the front foot more closed. If a player is instructed to lead slightly with their heel they will be able to maintain the coil. The front foot doesn't need to stay closed during the swing, though. As long as it doesn't open to the point the hips are opened before the swing.

 

[Wellphyt]

The player on the right does have her rear foot turned too far back. I would want it straight at least and preferably turned in slightly. The Bambi look, in other words.

But I believe the thread is about keeping the front foot more closed. If a player is instructed to lead slightly with their heel they will be able to maintain the coil. The front foot doesn't need to stay closed during the swing, though. As long as it doesn't open to the point the hips are opened before the swing.

Agree about the back foot. I'm not sure if it's fixable because of her rear knee to hip alignment issue she was born with:


Her back foot is square when she starts. It did slip back some in these swings because of "The Move", but I don't think that accounts for all of the backward turn. The only way I think it could be fixed is to have her do no dynamic loading and keep her legs to where she has almost no knee bend. Because when she bends her back leg with the way her back knee and hip are aligned, it accentuates the turn-in of the back knee and never looks right to me. You should see her run LOL. It's something I've had to learn to teach around. Next time we're at the cages, on concrete in her running shoes I'll video it to see what it looks like with zero slippage. Probably not much better.

Yes, this is about the front side, but hey, people need to get in their shots when they can. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. I've never one time claimed that my DD's swing was perfect. The reason we work on it is because we're always trying to improve it.

 

[softballphreak]

Agree about the back foot. I'm not sure if it's fixable because of her rear knee to hip alignment issue she was born with:
View attachment 1768

Her back foot is square when she starts. It did slip back some in these swings because of "The Move", but I don't think that accounts for all of the backward turn. The only way I think it could be fixed is to have her do no dynamic loading and keep her legs to where she has almost no knee bend. Because when she bends her back leg with the way her back knee and hip are aligned, it accentuates the turn-in of the back knee and never looks right to me. You should see her run LOL. It's something I've had to learn to teach around. Next time we're at the cages, on concrete in her running shoes I'll video it to see what it looks like with zero slippage. Probably not much better.

Yes, this is about the front side, but hey, people need to get in their shots when they can. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. I've never one time claimed that my DD's swing was perfect. The reason we work on it is because we're always trying to improve it.

And that's what it's all about!

 

[whatsup]

While I also tend to encourage girls to get to toe touch without opening up too much, it's one of the few things I teach that isn't easily supported by video:

ted williams swing in slo motion with breakdown of rotational mechanics - YouTube

MICKEY MANTLE [url]www.batlikeapro.com - YouTube[/url]

Willie Mays Homerun - YouTube

Alex Rodriguez - Hitting Mechanics Video Analysis.wmv - YouTube

Ken Griffey Jr swing - YouTube