Posted by: Paul () on Tue Jul 5 17:21:47 2011

> My 14 year old uses a no stride stance. To better hit the outside pitch his coach wants him to move his front foot in towards the outside pitch 3 or 4 inches sort of like a sideways stride. Any thoughts on this?

Question: Does he keep his feet flat and not break inertia, or does he lift his foot and put it down in the same place?

Look, what the coach is advocating isn't the worst thing. He will lose some ability to cover the inside pitch, but he'll be able to hit the outside pitch. Most pitches (60% and up) in the MLB are thrown to the outside corner.

Like stepping in the bucket, it can be overdone. Stepping in the bucket isn't bad as long as the player has a bat long enough to cover the whole plate. Striding slightly closed isn't terrible.

Or you can just 1. Lengthen his bat or 2. Move him closer to the plate.