Rachel Garcia - Analysis of Right Leg AFTER Push off - Leg Adduction

[corlay]

One important clue may be her lead (left) foot.
Her motion doesnt elevate that lead foot much at all, and she never appears to be “reaching” with her lead leg, like so many pitchers seem to do, presuamably to increase stride length?

I think the more your stride is “reach initiated” by the lead side, the more the back side will get left behind.

In Garcia, i see her powering her stride from the rear (right) side. This “pushes” her rear hip (and subsequently rear leg/knee) INTO a firmed-up from side, instead of “pulling” the back side with a strong front side reach.

does that make sense?

Ive heard respected coaches say: “its not how far you stride out that is important, but how far you drag out from the rubber”

 

[Tango]

I agree about her hips and they do seem quiet. She is one of the pitchers that made me look at "hip torque" a bit differently. She is very linear and not rotational but throws lightning. I still wonder if there isn't something to her leg adduction especially in her HS video above. It is appears very intentional and strong IMO which is what I am trying to understand better.

Our PC teaches DD leg drive and finish very close to Garcia's. He teaches the ankles should come together and not just the knees. When her ankles get really close or touch it adds a 1 or 2 mph for my DD. I'm not saying that more hips wouldn't add more but not what we are taught.

 

[shaker1]

Good look at her "rise", even though it's nose up bullet, very effective. Very good spin rate. Not trying to get off topic, made this looking for a good video of her mechanics.

 

[shaker1]

 

[shaker1]

 

[shaker1]

I would question how much the kick affects the speed, since the ball is already in its way by the time the kick happens. I believe the key is in the stacked posture at time of release.

 

[FastPitchCat]

One important clue may be her lead (left) foot.
Her motion doesnt elevate that lead foot much at all, and she never appears to be “reaching” with her lead leg, like so many pitchers seem to do, presuamably to increase stride length?

I think the more your stride is “reach initiated” by the lead side, the more the back side will get left behind.

In Garcia, i see her powering her stride from the rear (right) side. This “pushes” her rear hip (and subsequently rear leg/knee) INTO a firmed-up from side, instead of “pulling” the back side with a strong front side reach.

does that make sense?

Ive heard respected coaches say: “its not how far you stride out that is important, but how far you drag out from the rubber”

it makes a LOT of sense! DD has been working on fixing her over-striding and leaving that stride leg up and dragging the drive/pivot leg.
Rachel's very low stride leg height actually helps a lot with timing and hence much better landing/posture/ == better pitch.

 

[STRIKE3]

One important clue may be her lead (left) foot.
Her motion doesnt elevate that lead foot much at all, and she never appears to be “reaching” with her lead leg, like so many pitchers seem to do, presuamably to increase stride length?

I think the more your stride is “reach initiated” by the lead side, the more the back side will get left behind.

In Garcia, i see her powering her stride from the rear (right) side. This “pushes” her rear hip (and subsequently rear leg/knee) INTO a firmed-up from side, instead of “pulling” the back side with a strong front side reach.

does that make sense?

Ive heard respected coaches say: “its not how far you stride out that is important, but how far you drag out from the rubber”

Corlay, thanks for the reply and always appreciated! I am doing a quick edit on this post as my initial reply will only cause confusion. I went back and read it and it wasn't what I was trying to say so if it confused me it will confuse others

I like the comments you gave nevertheless!

 

[STRIKE3]

I would question how much the kick affects the speed, since the ball is already in its way by the time the kick happens. I believe the key is in the stacked posture at time of release.

Shaker, thanks and excellent GIF. Really has me thinking like Corlay above and you would think after all these years I would have this figured out....but the left leg to me seems to pull more than the right drives. Thoughts?

 

[shaker1]

Shaker, thanks and excellent GIF. Really has me thinking like Corlay above and you would think after all these years I would have this figured out....but the left leg to me seems to pull more than the right drives. Thoughts?

I see a full extension of the drive leg, definitely not reaching, text book from the drive mech stuff I would say.