Hips turning gradually or snapping

[liviking]

When you are teaching your students to open their hips , do you teach them to open the hips as the the lead foot extends forward gradually or dose it ''snaps'' open as the ball of the lead foot lands ? My DD is being taught to snap her her hips as she lands .Thanks in advance !

 

[halskinner]

When you are teaching your students to open their hips , do you teach them to open the hips as the the lead foot extends forward gradually or dose it ''snaps'' open as the ball of the lead foot lands ? My DD is being taught to snap her her hips as she lands .Thanks in advance !

Not good advice. They should start opening AS you start the push off. The shoulders and hips should be at around 45-degrees at landing foot touch down, NOT at ZERO degrees. Change that mechanics or she will hurt her shoulder. This has been common knowledge for many years.

sneakysoftballpitching.com

 

[Coach Stan]

Ditto Hal.

 

[Sparky Guy]

What I do with the girls I work with is to tell them not swing on their right hip(RHP) like a gate. That takes too long to get fully open. What I tell them is to imagine their spine is attached to a post and they are spinning around the post. It helps them visualize the need to get fully open as fast as possible while giving their arm circle enough room to get through the release area for the pitch and keeping the arm circle tight to the body.

 

[bobbyb]

When you are teaching your students to open their hips , do you teach them to open the hips as the the lead foot extends forward gradually or dose it ''snaps'' open as the ball of the lead foot lands ? My DD is being taught to snap her her hips as she lands .Thanks in advance !

I can't even visualize this. Does he say who does that? I would like to see a video of someone trying to snap their hips open on foot landing. Sounds painful and dangerous.

 

[liviking]

She shows it as she is moving forward but not full speed . She emphasizes keeping your weight on the back leg and your body on a angle from from the lead planting leg . I do like her and she has help my daughter quite a bit . She was a d1 pitcher but I do not agree with everything she teaches . When I watch the videos of the top pitchers ,I do not see anyone snapping their hips . If you watch any of the videos in slow motion you can not determine if the hips are snapping . I have yet to see anyone snapping their hips . Thank you for your kind comments . Hal on a side note , I just received your book and I am enjoying it quite a bit . Thanks

 

[chinamigarden]

When we say open the hips, we mean on a right handed pitcher her belly button is facing towards third. When we say closing the hips, the belly button is facing home plate.

Are you confusing open and closed? Because I can't see this any other way.

BTW if you do mean snapping the hips closed, thats not good either. Its the old slam the gate method. Which is no longer considered the proper way to pitch

 

[halskinner]

How open do they need to get??/

OK folks. I am going to add a little more to this that some will agree with and some will not.

I am aware of the Steadman - Hawkins report and what it says in regards to hip / shoulder angle at stride foot touchdown. I believe that 52-degrees is what they recommended for the safest shoulder mechanics.

One poster in this thread said the pitcher must get 'fully open' during the course of her pitch.

I have never read any report by a medical professional that said that a female MUST get fully open. They must be at around halfway open at landing foot touchdown, again per the Steadman - Hawkins report.

As long as a student of mine was at around that 52-degree mark at LFT, that was all I worried about. EXACTLY how much they got open during their stride, was totally up to them. As far as I am concerned, they DO NOT NEED to get fully open unless they are comfortable with that. As long as they came back to that "around 45-degree" angle at landing foot touchdown, that was my only concern.

MANY pitchers have gone to have tremendous careers staying fully open AND I have never heard of any comparison of pitching related injuries of open vs closed style pitchers. All I know is from my own experiece as an instructor. I am proud say that I NEVER had a student come to me and say they got injured from pitching. I had some get inured playing their "other" position, (sprained ankles / wrist and other injuries mostly from collisions).

Again, I dont think it is medically necessary to get the hips fully opened. It IS necessary to get at least halfway. This is why I always had my students start off with the pivot foot at 45 - degrees. Doing that pretty much compels the pitcher to get at least somewhat open.

sneakysoftballpitching.com

 

[LeftiesDad]

... This is why I always had my students start off with the pivot foot at 45 - degrees. Doing that pretty much compels the pitcher to get at least somewhat open.

I find this statement to be of great interest. Many (ALL) of the PCs we have ever seen have worked to straighten out DDs pivot foot. her first motion is to set that at about 45 degrees. They all say she is losing power/speed by doing so. However, looking at the videos in this forum I notice many of the pitchers turning their pivot foot at the start of their stride. So, I am most curious to read other's thoughts on this. Is it important? How important?

Thanks

 

[liviking]

When we say open the hips, we mean on a right handed pitcher her belly button is facing towards third. When we say closing the hips, the belly button is facing home plate.

Are you confusing open and closed? Because I can't see this any other way.

BTW if you do mean snapping the hips closed, thats not good either. Its the old slam the gate method. Which is no longer considered the proper way to pitch

Hey chinamigarden , open on a right handed pitcher the belly button is facing 3rd base , close would be facing home plate . My DD also turns her pivot or trailing foot at a 45 degree angle when she pushes off . When she dose that she sometimes has a tendency to bow towards 3rd base as she is throwing . I would buy anyone here a beer if you could give me a drill or suggestion to help me correct her from bowing . When she dose that she is throwing high left . She is afraid to throw at lefty hitters because she dose not want to hit them in the head . Enjoy the rest of Memorial Day weekend and for those who served THANK YOU !