The Leap

[Sponge]

I understand that the leap is both arms and front leg all go at the same time.
With the glove hand it seems there is some debate on if it swings up or launches straight out...

I also have heard the leap should be about the height of the pitcher plus another foot.

So if my daughter is leaping....to that extent...and still isnt using her legs to
drive her....when she does use her legs more..will she leap further? With the additional momentum will she just plant around the same location and provide more resistance...

Hope that makes sense...

We are about to address her lack of movement on her glove hand and bringing her legs into the leap.

Again...appreciated as always...

Oh...any drills that will help will be appreciated..

 

[Sponge]

A swing and a miss....so far.

 

[Sponge]

Strike 2...

 

[calgofo]

I understand that the leap is both arms and front leg all go at the same time.
With the glove hand it seems there is some debate on if it swings up or launches straight out...

I also have heard the leap should be about the height of the pitcher plus another foot.

So if my daughter is leaping....to that extent...and still isnt using her legs to
drive her....when she does use her legs more..will she leap further? With the additional momentum will she just plant around the same location and provide more resistance...

Hope that makes sense...

We are about to address her lack of movement on her glove hand and bringing her legs into the leap.

Again...appreciated as always...

Oh...any drills that will help will be appreciated..

IMO, wehter she leaps 6 feet or 60 feet is less important than the primary DIRECTION in which the momentum Is directed. I have seen several pitchers over the years who could cover a great distance but were still inneffective. The principle tenant IMO, is that as pitchers initiate their push, which direction do they travel. Is it up towards the sky or is it in the direction of their target. Move towards the target.

 

[Darrick Brown]

Good advice! Its not about how high or far you go, its about momentum. There is no perfect stride length. Push straight, hit the brakes and allow the arm to whip max.

 

[mrslug01]

The jump, IMO, is like punting a football (or pitching a softball underhand). You can't punt a football straight up as it will come straight down. You can't bunt it out 90 degress because gravity is pulling it down too quickly. That's why we punt at an angle of about 45%. Your DD needs to jump both up and out to maximize how far she goes.

 

[sluggers]

The problem, of course, is that the rules require the push off foot to drag the ground. This limits how far a player can leap.

 

[Dave D]

I've seen and heard a lot of instructors and coaches talk about how important it is to get great extension toward the plate, and that's something I can get behind. Unfortunately, I've seen quite a few who make the DISTANCE TRAVELED the most important judge, to the point where kids get up too high, double plant--in short, do anything they can to get out to 6 feet, or whatever--all of the things that get opposition coaches and parents screaming "Illegal pitch." When I'm talking to my pitchers, the thing I emphasize is generating as much forward momentum (speed) as possible, as that's what is going to add to the chain of speed events (arm whip, wrist movement, finger. . .what do you call it? whip? finger whip, I like that) that add speed to the pitched ball. Of course, the more powerfully you push off the rubber, the further you will travel, so distance is a good way to judge how hard someone is pushing off to leap. I just hate to see kids sacrifice solid mechanics to satisfy the demand that they travel farther toward the plate without a real understanding of what that movement is doing for their pitches. Since I posted a clip of DD and got feedback that helped me to see how much "up" there was in her push phase, we've been working to get her moving more toward the plate on a flatter plane with some nice results. She "gets" why she needs to push off stronger, because she's transferring a lot more of that push off energy to her arm and body speed at release. (now if I could get her to drop her shoulder down at release, we'd be making some real progress)