Pitching and Hitting are the Same: The Baseball Stride
The fundamentals of the stride in baseball pitching and hitting are the same. The only difference in pitching and hitting strides is the length.
Consequences of understriding and overstriding
The pitching delivery and swing are initiated by striding with the front foot. If the stride is too short, baseball pitchers and hitters will rotate their hips and shoulders too quickly. Pitchers will spin out and yank their pitches. Hitters will pull off pitches early causing poor or no contact.
If baseball pitchers overstride, they will be late releasing the ball to the target, will have insufficient hip and shoulder rotation, and will have too much head movement. This results in poor command, ball action, and velocity.
If baseball hitters overstride, their swings will be late and rushed, causing a poor bat plane, excessive head movement, and reduced bat speed. They will miss or not center pitches or have no authority behind their contact because of poor hip and shoulder rotation.
The correct baseball stride
For a baseball pitcher the stride’s length should depend on where he can best execute his hip and shoulder rotation. This will improve his command of the baseball and maximize the ball action and velocity. The stride is usually 75-100% of player’s height.
Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants goes beyond that length because he kicks off the pitching rubber. He is a wonder who has repeated that delivery since he was small. Not many baseball players have his athleticism to copy that motion and be effective.
For baseball hitters the stride should be 2-4 inches. They should stay with the stride that produces the most dynamic hip and shoulder rotation without sacrificing balance and losing eye contact.
Some professional hitters choose not to stride and some overstride, but they have worked hard on their technique where they get the best results and feel comfortable.
Read more about how pitching and hitting are the same:
More youth baseball pitching tips
- Youth Baseball Pitching Grips
- Youth Baseball Pitching is Difficult to Teach
- Successful Pitching in Youth Baseball Using One Pitch
Dave Rosene By implementing various teaching and coaching methods depending on the athlete's skill level and body type, Dave Rosene identifies and corrects errors in skill technique. Leave a Comment
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Comments
Should the lead foot be open at all right when it is planted after the stride? Right now after the stride, my son’s (7yr old) lead foot is planted perpendicular to the batter’s box sideline when hitting. And parallel to pitcher’s mound when pitching. In other words, the striding foot is parallel to his back foot when he lands it for both hitting and pitching.
Robert,
The front foot is parallel in both hitting and pitching and hitters should never open their front side on their own. Rather, the front side is opened by the back foot pivoting into the inside of the front leg. That’s why batters dig in with their back foot, to enable them to make a strong rotational move for maximum power to the inside of front leg with balance. If the front foot is perpendicular, hitters lose power and balance because they’ve released their power with opening of the front side.
The ideal position at contact is the front leg firm with the back foot and hip fully rotated and pivoted in an L position. You can practice that move by having your son holding his bat behind him on his lower back and practice the pivoting into the front leg without swinging.
In pitching players should lead with the side of the front foot and should land softly on the ball of the foot or flat. The front side wil be opened by a strong back foot pivot move and not a pushoff move. Parallel is correct.
We also agree that the front foot can land at a 45 degree angle to help younger pitchers rotate their back side or power side smoother and more efficient. Many pros do it that way. Check out Mark Buerhle for example. Hope this helped.