Helping a pitching get stride leg down at the right time

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May 7, 2008
174
18
Hey Gurus
I have been away a while but training young pitchers all the while. I believe I have a working knowledge of IR and front side resistance per Boardmember and Pauley and hillhouse. So here is my request for help

I have a new student 9th grader, who just came to me for help with 5 years of pitching experience -- ie really well developed bad muscle memory!!!
Good news her IR is good. Her strength is good. Her arm speed is good. location control is good. however, Speed is miserable given her body build etc.

on video I see she is getting her stride toe down when her hand is at about 4-5 O'clock ( 12 is straight up, 6 thigh down) so she has nothing to impart all her goods forces against. So I think I know the issue and am looking for some input on how to relearn deeply embedded sequencing issues.

I have her doing tons of reps from ( RHP) of partial pitches weight on right leg, strideleg off the ground unweighted, arm at 12, step and drive the stride foot down before moving the hand at all ( even here her hand starts too soon) and she makes some progress and she is starting to feel when her leg is resisting. But go full motion and back we go. I tell her I would love initial toe contact at 12to 12:30 but willing to work with 1:30 to 2, She understands mentally. ( she was a little heel-toe but we got that fixed 90%)

Her stride is average length ( 6 shoe lengths ). I hate to shorten it but maybe to fix the sequencing? keep working the above drill but start with the hand at 9 ( upswing level) to over exaggerate getting front foot down in time.

Appreciate any ideas you may have.
thanks
 

fanboi22

on the journey
Nov 9, 2015
1,138
83
SE Wisconsin
Not a guru here, but I don't think I understand your clock. If she is a RHP, and you are looking at her from the right hand side. 12 is up, 6 is down, 3 is to the right (straight out in front) and 9 is to the left (towards the backside). I think normal left foot contact would be around 11 o'clock to 10 o'clock. Arm swings from a back 9 down to 6, out to a 3 (where the drive foot should separate from the rubber) up and around past 12 to 11-10 ish as the left foot strikes.

Sorry I am confused by 4 or 5 oclock in this scenario. I can only assume it is a late strike and the pitcher is at 8 or 7 oclock coming back around to 6 for release. Please clarify and more may be able to help.
 
Apr 12, 2015
792
93
The problem isn't her stride length. The problem is her arm is way ahead of her legs. If the arm is ahead of the legs, the legs never catch up. Vice-versa, if the legs are ahead of the arm, the arm will catch up.

Look for signs of overlap in her pre-motion. She should be moving forward while her arm stays back. Use the cue "Slow to load, then explode". Basically, you want to get her legs moving her body forward before her arm starts to come forward.
 
Dec 10, 2015
845
63
Chautauqua County
I had a similar problem with my DD for the longest time. after hearing me say her timing was off, and then Java and Coach James saying the same thing, she finally realized something needed to change. so, step one, activate the 6 inches between the ears. :) step two, we changed her posture at start of her drive to a more upright position.
 

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Jul 22, 2015
851
93
Hey Gurus
I have been away a while but training young pitchers all the while. I believe I have a working knowledge of IR and front side resistance per Boardmember and Pauley and hillhouse. So here is my request for help

I have a new student 9th grader, who just came to me for help with 5 years of pitching experience -- ie really well developed bad muscle memory!!!
Good news her IR is good. Her strength is good. Her arm speed is good. location control is good. however, Speed is miserable given her body build etc.

on video I see she is getting her stride toe down when her hand is at about 4-5 O'clock ( 12 is straight up, 6 thigh down) so she has nothing to impart all her goods forces against. So I think I know the issue and am looking for some input on how to relearn deeply embedded sequencing issues.

I have her doing tons of reps from ( RHP) of partial pitches weight on right leg, strideleg off the ground unweighted, arm at 12, step and drive the stride foot down before moving the hand at all ( even here her hand starts too soon) and she makes some progress and she is starting to feel when her leg is resisting. But go full motion and back we go. I tell her I would love initial toe contact at 12to 12:30 but willing to work with 1:30 to 2, She understands mentally. ( she was a little heel-toe but we got that fixed 90%)

Her stride is average length ( 6 shoe lengths ). I hate to shorten it but maybe to fix the sequencing? keep working the above drill but start with the hand at 9 ( upswing level) to over exaggerate getting front foot down in time.

Appreciate any ideas you may have.
thanks

I would try to make the change to the arms, not the legs. She needs to be able to focus on being explosive and driving with her legs and not working on her timing there. Most likely she doesn't have enough overlap pre-motion or she starts her hands forward before she drives. Post some video and let the experts here give you some feedback.
 
Nov 8, 2018
774
63
Need video. And you will get a ton of help. Right now it’s just speculation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Ditto on the video but my guess is something is off early, where is she at 3 o'clock...should be front leg extending out as arm is out and basically straight out, I would keep back chaining like this until you could find a spot where she is in sequence.

DO NOT shorten her drive... without video can't tell but what does her set up before look like...my guess is not normal...some kind of hitch, weird windup up etc.

Look at pic below it's not perfect and back swing is mostly style but take your video and match up these points and see what she looks like. Pay attention to the double "h" (pic 1 &2) does she have one?
 

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May 15, 2008
1,913
113
Cape Cod Mass.
You need to clarify your clock, are you looking at her from the back or front? I'm guessing that it's from the back.

For me the relationship between touchdown and ball location is not well defined. I feel that the time interval between touchdown and release is an absolute, it might vary a little from pitcher to pitcher but not much. So a pitcher who throws 70mph can have the ball at 12 o'clock at touchdown because the ball travels the circle to release at a high rate of speed. For a pitcher who throws 35 mph the ball is moving through the circle at half the speed so she can't have it anywhere close to 12 o'clock at touchdown or she won't get to release on time. So ball location at touchdown is more of an indicator of how fast the pitcher can move the ball through the circle to release and not necessarily a cause. Encouraging a pitcher to have the ball a little further back in the circle at touchdown might force her to move it faster to get to release on time but I am not convinced that this is so.
 
May 7, 2008
174
18
I had a similar problem with my DD for the longest time. after hearing me say her timing was off, and then Java and Coach James saying the same thing, she finally realized something needed to change. so, step one, activate the 6 inches between the ears. :) step two, we changed her posture at start of her drive to a more upright position.
ill try to get a video loaded. and yes i got my clock screwed up. from open side up is 12, down is 6, arm is at 730 to 8 ( 45 degrees from release) and stride foot is off ground 6# similar to cvsoftball before pic but my students arm is much further along cv is at say at 11ish, my student is often past 9 halfway between 9 and 6( straight down) .

this particular clip she hits foot down at 9, but hits heel first. well the vid did not load so i put in snaps from it. they kind of got jumbled in sequence in the upload
IMG_2483.PNGIMG_2482.PNGIMG_2476.PNGIMG_2475.PNGIMG_2476.PNGIMG_2478.PNGIMG_2479.PNGIMG_2479.PNGIMG_2480.PNG the clip failed to load so i snapped some shots

thanks
 

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