No stride swings

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Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
My DD swing at 8u was fashioned after Albert and now (11 years old) has morphed into Josh Donaldson. I like no stride for the youngest players because there is less movement of the head/eyes. And if they can learn to use their core with no stride then converting them to stride is easy.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,591
113
Chehalis, Wa
A simplified approach for some kids that are less athletic might be no stride.. lets stop comparing every kid to a MLB playerBTW OP, I am not saying your kid is not athletic or coordinated... but mine is, :). For some reason she can still generate good bat speed, throw the ball hard etc.. but sometimes she has trouble standing up straight, lol. For her no stride makes more sense.. we've been down the take a step/stride path before, it's not for her and I'd imagine a swing with less moving parts would make sense for quite a few of our DD's. With that being said stride might be just the thing for your dd, it might work well, nothing wrong with being open to that. But just because 99% of MLB'ers stride doesn't mean your DD has to.

Yes, doing an analysis is one thing, actually swinging like a ML hitter is an entire different story.
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
lets stop comparing every kid to a MLB player.

I'm pretty sure that Dads and kids will have much more success striving toward a general MLB pattern, and following instruction that matches that pattern, and making sure that techniques that are used follow the Hanson Principle.

Otherwise, it would be like going to China and taking Spanish lessons. It's easier.

I put 5 kids through fastpitch and baseball. I have tried every single dead end technique and shortcut that people try and can say from experience that most of them don't work for pitching or hitting. Fatal flaws are exactly that. I'm just trying to keep you and others from going down dead-ends. Time is your enemy.

Stride when the pitcher releases the ball for youth or coach pitch, at hand break for baseball, and roughly when arm is overhead (or sooner) for fastpitch.
Coil inward 45 degrees during the stride and hold as long as possible.
Pull the elbow back like a bow.

If you do those 3 very simple things (that you can learn in a week - for free) and you will be ahead of 99% of preHS kids,with a great start on an MLB pattern.

edit: stride timing wasn't clear for different ages/sports
 
Last edited:
Jan 6, 2009
6,591
113
Chehalis, Wa
I'm pretty sure that Dads and kids will have much more success striving toward a general MLB pattern, and following instruction that matches that pattern, and making sure that techniques that are used follow the Hanson Principle.

Otherwise, it would be like going to China and taking Spanish lessons. It's easier.

I put 5 kids through fastpitch and baseball. I have tried every single dead end technique and shortcut that people try and can say from experience that most of them don't work for pitching or hitting. Fatal flaws are exactly that. I'm just trying to keep you and others from going down dead-ends. Time is your enemy.

Stride when the pitcher releases the ball.
Coil inward 45 degrees during the stride and hold as long as possible.
Pull the elbow back like a bow.

If you do those 3 very simple things (that you can learn in a week - for free) and you will be ahead of 99% of preHS kids,with a great start on an MLB pattern.

Does the motion start with the pitch release? Or does the loading began before release?
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
Does the motion start with the pitch release? Or does the loading began before release?
Sorry, I wasn't clear for different ages. I edited the post as follows:
Stride when the pitcher releases the ball for youth or coach pitch, at hand break for baseball, and when arm is roughly overhead (or sooner) for fastpitch.
 
Last edited:
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
I'm pretty sure that Dads and kids will have much more success striving toward a general MLB pattern, and following instruction that matches that pattern, and making sure that techniques that are used follow the Hanson Principle.

Otherwise, it would be like going to China and taking Spanish lessons. It's easier.

I put 5 kids through fastpitch and baseball. I have tried every single dead end technique and shortcut that people try and can say from experience that most of them don't work for pitching or hitting. Fatal flaws are exactly that. I'm just trying to keep you and others from going down dead-ends. Time is your enemy.

Stride when the pitcher releases the ball for youth or coach pitch, at hand break for baseball, and roughly when arm is overhead (or sooner) for fastpitch.
Coil inward 45 degrees during the stride and hold as long as possible.
Pull the elbow back like a bow.

If you do those 3 very simple things (that you can learn in a week - for free) and you will be ahead of 99% of preHS kids,with a great start on an MLB pattern.

edit: stride timing wasn't clear for different ages/sports
A no stride approach is not a dead end and works for many girls. There is no difference between stride and no stride. Like you mentioned above, sequence is important, and that can be achieved by stride and no stride. Let's stop talking BS.
 
Apr 16, 2013
1,113
83
The only problem I've found with no stride is that most kids just spin in place. That weight shift is everything, and it's doing the exact same thing that a (proper) stride does. I'd like to say my DD is kind of in between. Very small stride/step. We used Pujols as the exact example of how to do the no stride when we spent years working on her swing. I tried to help her figure it out, then swing whatever way she felt comfortable.
 
Dec 26, 2017
487
63
Oklahoma
Not striding has been a night-and-day improvement for my kid but it's not because of athleticism issues, but rather timing ones. I just can't figure out a way to get her timing fixed so we ditched the stride completely. I don't anticipate it being something she does forever but until I can figure out how to get it fixed, we will roll with it. It isn't pitching speed either- she's striding at the wrong PART of the pitch, no matter the speed. She's late on everything. It isn't just deciding too late to swing against fast pitchers. It's bizarre (and REALLY frustrating).
 

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