Posted by: Donny (donnybstr@aol.com) on Thu Aug 28 15:49:18 2003

Donny,
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> What about players like ARod, Manny, Helton who have their foot in the air while the ball is on the way. These guys appear to me to be reading the pitch while coming to toe touch. Nick
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> > Teacherman. I guess I am saying that you are lined up to a point. The line of the pitch might not be determined at toe touch for someone throwing 97. The guy throwing 76 in the LLWS showed why waiting too long to get the stride foot down can be disaster. I guess against breaking balls you should adjust to the line of the pitch. Kids that wait until pitch recognition before getting their front foot down are invariably late against good pitchers. It is a bad habit to adopt early on. THe ability to predict /guess the speed of the next pitch is an advanced skill and at best a gamble. Watching the previous batters from the dugout might up your chances at being correct. I think good hitters have the foot down early and adjust the rest of the body to the pitch with( spine angle, bent knees, lead elbow etc.)
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.Nick,

I watched ARod closely in the All Star game and I was surprised .They had a great shot from behind the pitcher all the way through release. ARod was down just after release..even with his long stride. In kids, if the front foot is not down by the time the ball is half the way home they usually miss the ball or foul it straight back at best.

The stride is a bad timing device if used after pitch recognition. Edmonds had two strikes against the cubs last night. He got really wide ..no stride . The first two pitches were call strike round house breaking balls lefty to lefty. So was the third and he pulled it in the gap scoring two runs. He was in a must put it in play situation so he took the stride completely away. That tells me that a stride can be a variable that can work against the hitter if not executed perfectly.