@Shawn all I can say is that the intent of front side usage coupled w early frontside leverage enables a consistent balanced timing mechanism. You can put the foot down early and turn on one or glide/drift/hover to buy time to wait. You can also put the foot down at a 50/50 and hit a change up.
When you pick up the front foot you only have so much ‘time’ for balancing the load. You can start later and back the fastball up or you can start a bit earlier and hit out front(Usually in preferred counts). Sitting in the back hip or loading the hip by coiling causes early hip extension or getting stuck back. Also takes away from the walking model and it’s ‘leap of faith’ mechanic.
Due to the way pitchers can wind up in both sports, baseball has a ton more back leg/hip loading issues. Pitchers can change the time of when the ball is released. Softball cannot. It’s why there aren’t outrageous leg kicks etc in fastpitch. Usually just a small stride.
For me I teach the first move to be at ‘12 o clock’ in fastpitch. If the pitcher is slow. Wait until release. Those are just starting points. The player needs to find exactly where to time within those bench marks for each pitcher they face. And the count they’re in. But without early leverage you can’t hit the fast stuff consistently from either side of the timing spectrum, so the swing becomes messy and inconsistent. For me it’s about when and how you start.
When you pick up the front foot you only have so much ‘time’ for balancing the load. You can start later and back the fastball up or you can start a bit earlier and hit out front(Usually in preferred counts). Sitting in the back hip or loading the hip by coiling causes early hip extension or getting stuck back. Also takes away from the walking model and it’s ‘leap of faith’ mechanic.
Due to the way pitchers can wind up in both sports, baseball has a ton more back leg/hip loading issues. Pitchers can change the time of when the ball is released. Softball cannot. It’s why there aren’t outrageous leg kicks etc in fastpitch. Usually just a small stride.
For me I teach the first move to be at ‘12 o clock’ in fastpitch. If the pitcher is slow. Wait until release. Those are just starting points. The player needs to find exactly where to time within those bench marks for each pitcher they face. And the count they’re in. But without early leverage you can’t hit the fast stuff consistently from either side of the timing spectrum, so the swing becomes messy and inconsistent. For me it’s about when and how you start.
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