Stride foot ?

[Playaction]

A local coach insist that stride foot should be closed because if open it causes the hips to open early. I disagree. I am not really seeing it on any videos either.
Epstein and a few other sources want foot open to allow hips to open. Whatcha think?

 

[James Smith]

He wants the stride foot to be at a 180 degree angle to the plate?

I disagree, she can get away with that but it is way too much stress on her body.

 

[bamajeff]

A local coach insist that stride foot should be closed because if open it causes the hips to open early. I disagree. I am not really seeing it on any videos either.
Epstein and a few other sources want foot open to allow hips to open. Whatcha think?

I like a approx 45 degree angle, but it's not an absolute. You see all sorts of angles(closed, 45, greater than 45) in high level swings.

It's a no-teach, IMO, "If" the lower half is working correctly. If the player's hips seem to be locked, opening up the stride foot can help along with other things. If the players is leaking forward(knee bending over foot) after foot plant, closing it off can help them firm up.

 

[Playaction]

He wants the stride foot to be at a 180 degree angle to the plate?

I disagree, she can get away with that but it is way too much stress on her body.

180 ? I was thinking toes straight toward the opposite batters box (closed) would be 0 degrees and all the way toward the pitcher would be 90. I dunno. It seems like a lot of stress.

 

[Sweet Lou]

I'm not sure there is an absolute but I think somewhere between 0 - 45 degrees at toe touch and somewhere around 30 - 45 degrees at heel plant is what I'd like to see.

 

[bamajeff]

Another reason I like a slightly open front foot is that if a player stride to closed, and has forceful rotation, the front foot will twist open in the dirt. This can produce a lot of wear and tear on that front knee and ankle.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

This is an easy question for me, because I teach the stride foot to remain the same, whether you are hitting, throwing or pitching. I teach 45 degree angle.

 

[bamajeff]

This is an easy question for me, because I teach the stride foot to remain the same, whether you are hitting, throwing or pitching. I teach 45 degree angle.

I don't know anything about softball pitching, but I teach 90 degree foot(toes pointed directly at the plate) in baseball pitching and throwing. If you look at MLB pitchers pretty much all of them are at 90.

Here's some good clips of Ichiro throwing between innings.

 

[Sweet Lou]

This is an easy question for me, because I teach the stride foot to remain the same, whether you are hitting, throwing or pitching. I teach 45 degree angle.

Pitching I agree with you 45 degrees
Throwing I agree with bamajeff 90 degrees

 

[CoogansBluff]

You can probably find hitters who stride from 0 to 90. It's largely a style issue, with most around 45 degrees.

Watch how open Ryan Braun gets here -