Pivot & Stride leg contribution to forward momentum?

[BLB]

Possibly then one could think then of the stride leg being thrust forward as creating a forward momentum from its weight and velocity.

Think of the stride knee thrusting out rather than the leg as a first step in your stride. You should get to and through a tilted "h" position as your arm gets to the 6 o'clock progress point at the end of the backswing and beginning of the upswing for pitchers using that style. Your stride foot should not be ahead of vertical to your knee at this "h" position with the body almost facing the catcher. Similar to the sprinter in the photos on an earlier thread. Then you reach out with your foot which initiates your turning sideways to the target. There is such a thing as reaching out too much with your foot at this point. At foot plant, your knee should be slightly bent and avoid landing heal first. Landing foot can be sideways prior to landing but should be at about 45 deg or so at landing. This is the way I see it.

 

[halskinner]

Possibly then one could think then of the stride leg being thrust forward as creating a forward momentum from its weight and velocity.

Think of the stride knee thrusting out rather than the leg as a first step in your stride. You should get to and through a tilted "h" position as your arm gets to the 6 o'clock progress point at the end of the backswing and beginning of the upswing for pitchers using that style. Your stride foot should not be ahead of vertical to your knee at this "h" position with the body almost facing the catcher. Similar to the sprinter in the photos on an earlier thread. Then you reach out with your foot which initiates your turning sideways to the target. There is such a thing as reaching out too much with your foot at this point. At foot plant, your knee should be slightly bent and avoid landing heal first. Landing foot can be sideways prior to landing but should be at about 45 deg or so at landing. This is the way I see it.

One of the little things I would do for a young beginner when it came to their stride speed and length. If I had a student that seemed to be struggling with the timing and getting a little aggressive with their stride, I would have them start at one end of the pitching lane and sprint for me, just as fast as they could run for 30 feet.

Then, I put them back standing on the rubber and told them "OK. Now, what you have to do is this; You have to go from standing straight up and standing still, to running just as fast as you can AND you only get ONE step to do that". With very few exceptions, they all seemed to catch on to that example and explanation, their push off and stride got more aggressive in almost every case.

Worked for me, almost every time. Hope it works for you too.

 

[BLB]

Hal, I like that idea. Thanks for the suggestion. I will try it with my young pitchers.

 

[halskinner]

Hal, I like that idea. Thanks for the suggestion. I will try it with my young pitchers.

I need to think a little more before I type. Should have mentioned this too.

I would many times explain what a 'Runners starting block' was in track and field and how that was what the pitcher's rubber was, a starting block for a pitcher. Then I would get down in a sprinters position and take off from the pitcher's rubber. Most of them had never seen a track eventor heard of starting blocks, had to go into some detail there.

Now, if the pitcher's rubber is the starting line for the race (That one-step race), you dont start a race standing straight up, you lean forward and get your body weight out in front of your foot (Pivot foot). That way you push off forward and NOT upwards.

You want to push off just like a sprinter does, except, obviously you dont have your weight out THAT far ahead of your foot.

Should have included that before. I'll do better once I get the 2nd cup ofcoffee poured into my eyes.

 

[mikesitt]

BLB, Thanks for your explanation. A light has come on with your description of the stride knee thrusting out. I can now see a way forward to work with my granddaughter on this. Her hip flexor injury is no longer bothering her and she is being careful not to injure it again. I think in the past she was thrusting out her foot past her center of gravity and landing on it too early. I think now that emphasis on the knee going out with the foot under the knee will allow her to refine her timing on landing.

She got this overuse injury at the end of the Summer tournaments and the Summer before had a lesser problem with a shoulder strain that healed right up. I am working with her three times a week on core building and thera band exercises now to prevent other injuries. It looks very obvious to me now that building up and using proper mechanics is a very important part of pitching. I suspect that alot of very aggressive pitchers like my pitcher fall out along the way from injuries. It is fortunate that we are now aware softball pitching is similar to baseball pitching in the danger of overuse injury.

 

[BLB]

mikesitt,

Did you check your private messages from yesterday? I had sent you some info.