Importance of landing toe first on stride?

[inde53546]

Daughter was recently videoed by PC. She recognized that dd was landing heel first with her stride foot. I looked at several videos on the model pitcher sticky and inall but one that I saw they did seem to land toe/ball of foot first. Monica Abbot being the exception. Can the pc's give me a clue here as to why. I don't remember this ever being talked about

 

[shockcoach]

Nolan Ryan gave Randy Johnson the same advice back in '92 in order to save him from years of figuring it out himself. He said it kept him online with the plate.

 

[starsnuffer]

For one, it'll save her knees. By landing ball first, there's a little bit of absorption there, even though the stride leg needs to be firm to transfer forward momentum into the arm circle. Landing heel first will damage the knee over time.

The trick is to get them to land ball first but not prance around toes first like a ballerina. I'd much rather fix a kid landing on their heel then fix one who lands on their toes with no power.

-W

 

[Carly]

Do you have a picture? I'm trying to imagine what it would feel like to land on my heel and it's just too weird. I'm thinking you shouldn't worry about the foot itself too much; the heel landing is probably caused by something else, which is the real problem. I'd need to see a picture or a video to be sure though.

 

[go4fpsb]

What I see as a reason for landing toe or ball of foot first instead of heel has to do with the unloading of the hips. From toe toe to heel plant, in many pitchers you will see rotation from a very open position to the angle of the hips that is the release point angle. JMHO.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I teach that it all stays the same. Toe touch in pitching, toe touch on overhand throw and toe touch when hitting. I preach the similarities and that not every skill is different.

 

[inde53546]

Here's video of her. I posted the same video a couple of weeks ago looking for advice as well.

 

[Goobie]

Here's video of her. I posted the same video a couple of weeks ago looking for advice as well.

Interesting. This question had me standing up in my office experimenting. Personally I don't see how you can get effective resistance from the front leg by landing heel first. I tried stepping forward with my left foot, landing on my heel, and then pushing back. I couldn't do it even if I waited until my toe came down. If I instead stepped forward and landed on my toe I could get good front side resistance and could push back hard.

However... at the age of the pitcher, this might be something not to worry about. I bet it will fix itself when she starts pushing back hard on that front leg.

 

[bobbyb]

When you walk...you heel strike first. So you can look at her current mechanics as a big step rather than a leap. When you leap/drag...she probably will land on toe/ball of foot.

You can see she doesn't really get the stride knee much higher than if she was walking/running. I use to put a swim noodle in front of dd... where she had to lift the stride knee enough to get the foot over it.

You need carpet, pitching mat, yard or something. I wouldn't leap on a garage floor myself...too slippery. Not good for ingraining good habits. JMHO

 

[inde53546]

When you walk...you heel strike first. So you can look at her current mechanics as a big step rather than a leap. When you leap/drag...she probably will land on toe/ball of foot.

You can see she doesn't really get the stride knee much higher than if she was walking/running. I use to put a swim noodle in front of dd... where she had to lift the stride knee enough to get the foot over .O

PC pointed this out as well and we have started working on a higher more aggressive stride. Old habits die hard. How did you use the noodle. Any other thoughts on how to improve this would be great