Thoughts on "Staying Back"

[Tewks]

Just curious what people teach and/or use for cues when they tell a hitter to "stay back." The phrase "stay back" is something you regularly hear at a games or practices, but it is something that I don't think I've ever heard somebody actually describe how to do. More importantly, I never hear a coach tell the play how to stay back.

There is an issue of staying back and an issue of weight shift... I'm curious what people think and what they teach or have been taught.... specifically... about how to do this.

 

[livingontheroad]

No idea what stay back would mean. You hit from a balanced position into a firm front leg.

Unless you are being taught to squish the bug? Or correct a lunging girl with a collapsing front leg.

You do however stay loaded until you have decided to swing or not at a pitch, that could be construed as "back" .

 

[lhowser]

To me stay back means not over commiting at toe touch and especially not reaching or lunging for the ball. Staying back is the position at separation before you drop the front heel. What would I teach? I would demonstrate using video of successful hitters in games that hitting is a flow, rhythm, dance with the pitcher. That dance is occuring during the load as you read the pitch. You stay back until you commit to swing or at least start to swing (check swing). To me ironically the "stay back" phase is actually the liniar part of the swing as you stride forward but load or coil the upper toro and hands move back. A player that stays back is able to move into rotation once they decide to swing by dropping the from heel and rotating the hip and hands towards contact. During this phase in most of the good swings I see in softball there is no further forward movement, once again staying back. Just rotation and then arm extension. This is a player that does an excellent job staying back -
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No idea what stay back would mean. You hit from a balanced position into a firm front leg.

this I do not agree with. I see the front leg as landing with a flexed knee and only appearing straight or firm as a result of hip rotation.

There you are Tewks...that would be my idea to at least get the topic started.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

If taken literally “stay back” … as in ‘remain’ back … it is not a good description of reality. You don’t ‘start’ with your weight back and you don’t finish with your weight back.

If taken within the context of a weight shift, in terms of synchronization & timing, such as with the old cue of “the hands are the last to go”, then it has more significance.

Personally … I translate the “stay back” cue to “stretch” within the sequence of Coil-Stretch-Swing.

 

[lhowser]

Personally … I translate the “stay back” cue to “stretch” within the sequence of Coil-Stretch-Swing.

That's pretty much what I was saying...

 

[ifubuildit]

Different take.

I have had some discussions where the meaning of this was wait until the ball gets deeper in the zone. In other words staying back or wait on the ball.

The use of this cue has had more than one young player shifting their weight onto their back leg way too much. They push back with the front leg and slide their hips over the back leg. This is their interpretation of what the coach is telling them about "Staying Back"

 

[Shawn]

Twecks,

To touch on coaches telling hitters during an at bat. Usually it happens after a poor swing where they lead with the upperbody, regardless if they are early. It might be after a hitter tries to hit a low pitch where their flat swing plane or arm swing can't adjust to a pitch that isn't a "fatty" high in the zone.

If you watch the next swing after this cue is used, often the hitter will just stand like a statue and at best foul off the next pitch or it goes right by them.

It's better to help the hitter understand why they are early or what happened. And if they are early that this is just part of hitting and it will happen many, many more times. As Ted Williams said never swing at a pitch that has fooled you. The hitter has to learn the feeling of being fooled, being early, a sequence break down,. etc., and that it is part of hitting. Coaches often make it worst by giving instructions during the at bat. Instead of using common sense and walking through the at bat later so the hitter can learn the feelings that come with certain swings.