How important is it to lock the front knee on the stride?

[lancer360]

She swings at that ball like it insulted her personally!

DD's batting coach, whose opinions on hitting I take as if it came from the Burning Bush, teaches a softer front knee. He was a very good D1 baseball player, has been coaching for two-plus decades, and has long track record of developing some excellent baseball and fastpitch hitters. I've never asked him why, but will when I see him again. I know that you can find many MLB examples of a locked front knee, but I can find plenty of college softball examples, including the above video, of a softer front knee. It certainly doesn't hinder DD's hitting. From a bit of poking around, the most common explanation I've found is that a locked front knee can deliver more power, but it can also cause knee/hip injury, especially in girls. It makes sense if you think about it and go through the motion...with a well executed swing, LOTS of force is going onto the front leg. Locking the knee gives the greatest possible resistance, but also puts tremendous stress on it.

Watching the Astros game tonight and Kyle Tucker just made a pretty solid case for a bent front knee. Longest homerun in the MLB for 2021. 27 degrees, 111 mph & 459 ft. Not sure if this link will work. Kyle's swing works for him pretty well, but it is pretty different from more traditional home run hitter.

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[efastball]

Here she is during the stride


Notice she has gone backwards (bad) vs forward (good), so far that her head is over her back foot.

What happens next is that she must reach with her front leg to finish the stride. Here she is at toe touch.


Notice her head has barely progressed past her back foot (yellow, bad), and her front leg (purple) is mostly straight (bad) vs very bent (good)

Also notice that her back foot is not pointed straight to the plate.

Practice dry strides (no tee,ball):
1. Point the back foot straight to the plate
2. Weight on the back heel and stay on the heel all the way (most people tell you to stay on the ball of your foot)
3. Start with head just past the back foot, pick up the front knee and fall forward and land on a very bent front leg. This will feel very strange at first.
4. At no point, do you go backwards.
5. You should be striding with the back leg, not the front.
6. Mark the position her head should be in (between the feet), and look down after every stride to see where she is.

BTW, the front leg should be very bent at toe touch, then from hip slot (elbow at hip) to contact, begin to fully straighten to contact. This leg straightening finishes the hip rotation, just like in baseball pitching.

 

[Strike2]

I'll do some more research on the front leg, bent vs straight. Other posters pointed out that she was collapsing/dipping a bit. Thinking about pulling the front hip back seems to have helped that. Here is a swing from tonight.

The back side collapse isn't huge, but I think it's a result of her being too wide during the swing. She starts out with feet pretty far apart, and then takes a bit step. That is what stands out the most to me.

 

[_MIA_]

 

[Borrowingminds]

Well, this hits home.

 

[Mike-Coach Q]

you can’t push with a chain

the hitters that turn the barrel in front of the rear hip leverage against the front leg... the hitters that turn the barrel behind the rear hip leverage against the rear hip. This hitter is mismatched , he’s leveraged against the rear hip but swings in front of the hip.

can’t get off the backside

 

[_MIA_]

Well, this hits home.

Some hitters can get out on time fine stacked like that but I think it is hard to do so consistently. There have been times in the past where Marcela was able to get stacked and move out on time but it was always fleeting. I think it gives the brain too much leeway to get in the way e.g. you are able to sit there stacked like that and not move out on time which she tends to do against faster pitching. That said she was never able to move balanced doing so...which may be a strength/body awareness/coordination issue at the younger ages. It is something we are currently working on.

 

[Cornbread]

Some hitters can get out on time fine stacked like that but I think it is hard to do so consistently. There have been times in the past where Marcela was able to get stacked and move out on time but it was always fleeting. I think it gives the brain too much leeway to get in the way e.g. you are able to sit there stacked like that and not move out on time which she tends to do against faster pitching. That said she was never able to move balanced doing so...which may be a strength/body awareness/coordination issue at the younger ages. It is something we are currently working on.

Get stacked and move forward at the same time. Don’t get stacked then move forward. Front foot up and get stacked moving forward

 

[Shawn]

I like what you said here about thinking about pulling back on the front hip versus pushing the back hip forward to generate the rotation. We tried that tonight and it was immediately noticeable in the feel of the rotation. It immediately straightened the front leg and I think it helped with the collapse dip that she had going on. I think when doing tee work and knowing I'm filming causes her to rear back a bit more that she does at the plate. I need to get the wife to film her and let her hit off the pitching machine so I can see how much of this tee work is transferring to hitting a pitch.



I'll do some more research on the front leg, bent vs straight. Other posters pointed out that she was collapsing/dipping a bit. Thinking about pulling the front hip back seems to have helped that. Here is a swing from tonight.

View attachment 22127

This is better than the first swing. The fundamental issue is a lack of coil. The first swing shows a bigger weight shift forward. It’s weight shift happening and not coiling forward. Better said it’s not going back and creating the opposite and equal effect of creating a forward action.

 

[_MIA_]

Get stacked and move forward at the same time. Don’t get stacked then move forward. Front foot up and get stacked moving forward

Yes sir...Should I run laps now?