Stance setup

[clemenslee1]

What are some things to consider, when trying different stances. How does it effect upstream stream actions?

 

[Eric F]

One of the thigs we are finding with Maddie is that a wider stance in her setup is making it harder for her to get stacked on top of her rear hip at launch. When she is ahead of her rear hip, it contributes to her falling forward to the front foot, and not being in control of her timing, instead of maintaining control of her forward move with her rear leg. For Maddie, this is a critical issue.

 

[efastball]

The stance makes absolutely no difference, except the 1) rear foot should be pointed at the plate, not backwards, and #2 certain hand grips, if maintained through to toe touch can screw things up.

Having said that, some positions make it harder (but not impossible) to achieve the correct position at toe touch - which is when the swing actually begins.

Ex#1, it is harder to coil inward if your stance is too wide. Plus it's difficult to have both knees slightly bent at toe touch.
Ex#2, it seems hard for most to hold your hands over your head, then pull the back elbow back
Ex#3, if you start with the back elbow at the hip, most kids never pull the elbow back

I can make all of those examples actually work. Most kids don't.

 

[clemenslee1]

The stance makes absolutely no difference, except the 1) rear foot should be pointed at the plate, not backwards, and #2 certain hand grips, if maintained through to toe touch can screw things up.

Having said that, some positions make it harder (but not impossible) to achieve the correct position at toe touch - which is when the swing actually begins.

Ex#1, it is harder to coil inward if your stance is too wide. Plus it's difficult to have both knees slightly bent at toe touch.
Ex#2, it seems hard for most to hold your hands over your head, then pull the back elbow back
Ex#3, if you start with the back elbow at the hip, most kids never pull the elbow back

I can make all of those examples actually work. Most kids don't.

I agree that all can work, but certain setups can cause different things to be more dominate, I would think. Just like Eric F. stated above with his DD. Its been said that stance doesn't matter, I tend to not so much hold to that view anymore. Some of this depends on a persons personal view of the swing and how one think it occurs. For example a open stance, like my DD has causes her to be stacked more on the rear leg and rear hip. There for she is somewhat forced to use the rear leg more to move her out. This would lend itself better to those who like their hitter to move out that way. Granted I'm coming from more of the view of younger ages, with less experience and body awareness. I would think stance doesn't matter as much for older players.

 

[CoachJD]

The stance makes absolutely no difference, except the 1) rear foot should be pointed at the plate, not backwards, and #2 certain hand grips, if maintained through to toe touch can screw things up.

Having said that, some positions make it harder (but not impossible) to achieve the correct position at toe touch - which is when the swing actually begins.

Ex#1, it is harder to coil inward if your stance is too wide. Plus it's difficult to have both knees slightly bent at toe touch.
Ex#2, it seems hard for most to hold your hands over your head, then pull the back elbow back
Ex#3, if you start with the back elbow at the hip, most kids never pull the elbow back

I can make all of those examples actually work. Most kids don't.

I can't exactly back this up, but I agree that stance "makes absolutely no difference" in terms of good swing/bad swing, but I do think different people and different body types could gravitate toward certain stances because they could, in theory, help that particular hitter get into the proper sequence.

Not all bodies are the same, and some of us have different strengths/weaknesses when it comes to strength, flexibility, etc. It seems reasonable to me that even if you want two hitters swinging the same, their optimal stance/set-up could be different.

I think your three examples, and your final statement, speak to this. A lot of stances can be made to work, and what is difficult for some might actually be easier for others.

All that said, I have nowhere near the knowledge to explain why Albert Pujols does so well starting in the crouch, while Ken Griffey Jr did so well standing basically upright. But it wouldn't surprise me if those are, for whatever reasons, near optimal stances for those two guys and if they switched, they wouldn't perform quite as well.

 

[julray]

Stance in style until it impedes the hitter from getting to a good launch position on time.. can your hitter get here on time?



If they can.. who cares what their stance is

JMHO

 

[_MIA_]

I would tell you if Marcela had the same setup two times in a row..

 

[Gags]

Stance in style until it impedes the hitter from getting to a good launch position on time.. can your hitter get here on time?

View attachment 19950

If they can.. who cares what their stance is

JMHO

That’s the caveat I always add when talking about stance:

“I don’t care what you like before you start your swing, so long as you can get yourself in this position at toe touch”.

Of course, some girls never get to that position, regardless of the stance they use.

If your stance is preventing you from getting to that position, then yes, your “style” needs to change.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lhowser]

The super open stance that seems very popular CAN negatively affect players if they don't understand the need to coil into the back hip.

 

[clemenslee1]

The super open stance that seems very popular CAN negatively affect players if they don't understand the need to coil into the back hip.

My daughter uses it, and its not exactly lending itself to the goals trying to achieve. At least not at her age as of yet.

Allie 1st Year 10u - Updated** - 2nd yr 10u

Allie has her last tournament of the year this weekend. Then a long 2 month break! Best of luck, hope she has a good one

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