Alright onto the footwork, I teach the Leap and Drag style pitch. No matter they are eight-years-old, we are going to start on with one style and stick with it.
What is Leap and Drag?
When you are doing your pitch, instead of just stepping where on my stride foot lands my foot is still touching the mound. Instead of doing it that way, I leap and drag. Where my stride foot lands I am a good three-four feet away from the mound. Done correctly, totally legal, totally my advantage.
The closer I jump to the hitter, the faster I am. I have even read for every foot that you jump closer to the hitter you are three miles per hour faster in that hitter's reaction down, that sounds good to me.
You've got to get a kid gracefully leaping and dragging. So we start with a left side glide to right side glide for my left team. Stay on the power line, feet together, lift up your stride leg, my left leg and her right leg. First we are going to feel springing. Let's jump straight up as high as we can go, hooh, alright. And now we take that same spring and we jump, I am going to jump left, she will jump to the right, you are ready, spring, alright, we go back again. Then you are going to see all kind of weird, un-athletic move sometimes when they are trying to do this.
Make sure a kid loads all their weight bends not just the knee but the ankle and springs from the toe line up, spring, good. That's a left side glide, notice I am dragging the side of my power foot, straight down the power line as we do this. Notice I also have the reverse posture. Got this looking good, you now put it on the mound, up on the mound, I am on mound, hold your shirt with your hands, do exactly what we just did. From the mound I jump out and hold, push, very good. So how far should we be jumping? Measure six of her feet, two, three, four, five, six; put your piece of tape at a 45% angle for her, right up her power line, left on my power line that's where the stride foot should land.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services