- May 13, 2008
- 825
- 16
Well heel plant would be more significant to me in terms of timing related to the swing but you have certainly chosen good models. Anyone have clips showing their swing with the pitcher in view? As far as a tenth of a second, momentum can disappear in much less time than that. Having said that, I agree a stride is not necessary for momentum development. The swing from heel plant to contact should be about a tenth and a half so a tenth of a second is significant.
Heel plant is more significant, this is why we term it "toe touch" as we don't want them to stride flat footed. I don't get too hung up with when they get to toe touch as long as it isn't too late (or extremely early). I might tell them to use "12 o'clock" as a cue, but the reality is that they get to toe touch much later. If I tell them to wait until the ball is 1/3 to 1/2 of the way to home they'll never get there in time.