Need Help For Kids Stepping In Th Ebuicket When They Swing...

[bamamike 0]

Anyone have any ideas or drills on how to help kids from pulling their foot when they swing? We have couple of kids on our Little League team that does it....Back in the day what our coaches used to do was to put a couple of bats on the ground behind us so that if we pulled our foot then we fell....But their is no way I would do that know..For one it is kinda dangerous if a kid falls the wrong way he could be hurt and a LOT has changed since I played Little League...Any help would be great..Our first game is less than 3 weeks away and I need help.

Thanks

[Coach_Brewer 0]

I have also used the bats behind the feet but it can be dangerous for youger kids. I now use a 2x4 about 4 feet long and set it behind their feet (about 1-2 inches behind their heels. If they step on it they won't fall (much) but they know its there and if forces them to step to the pitcher. You can also have them close their stance up a bit (front foot little closer to the plate) so when they step in the bucket they will be in the correct position. It's a hard habit to break. If they have a mirror @ home they can practice stepping forward and not in the bucket, this works well too because they can see themselvs doing it. Good luck!

-Coach_Brewer

[slogar1 0]

The easiest way to break it to do what Coach Brewer said, close stance. Have the batter place the front foot closer to the plate than the back foot and have him reach, with one hand, and touch the outside part of the plate with the bat (it is ok to lean) to make sure he has full coverage. Tell righties to step towards the 2nd basemen, lefties step to the SS, to start. If he does tend to step out, esp. on an inside pitch, he will actually be stepping straight. Another drill is to bang the tire, concentrating on keep the head in and down. Pulling the foot goes hand in hand with pulling the head and, in fact, many step out BECAUSE they pull their head; if the head stays in, the foot will stay in. What's nice about the tire is you can get in 100 swings a day in no time at all and they will learn to keep their weight over their feet and opposed to shifting the weight back, again leading to pulling the foot.

[PrepFanatic 0]

I have a 15 inch spare tire (no rim, just tire), that I make my son put his front foot in. He still has room to make a step toward the picher when he "steps and loads", but there is no way he can pull his foot away.

Edited April 28, 2006 by PrepFanatic

[emptyR 0]

I have just come back to coaching baseball (well Tee-Ball with my oldest son) but before I coached 11-12 year olds, and then 14-15 Babe Ruth Level.

For kids who were chronically bailing that front foot, and then likely having difficulty making solid contact, I adjusted the starting stance.

The feet at the beginning were wider than an athletic stance, actually starting at the width that they would end up with following the step. Then the foot is up and down. No forward movement. Foot comes up as though it is attached with a rope to the hands. So as the hands come back during pitch delivery, the body rocks back, front knee bending and then coming back down in the same place it started.

the wider stance makes it more difficult to bail prematurely where most of these kids were coming out.

[GA Manager 0]

I agree with the closed stance theory also. It gives the child a false sense of security when at the plate. When they make that stride from a closed stance they dont realize they are stepping straight. U have to remember 99.9% of the time the step out is in fear of getting hit by a baseball pitched.

I have found when you use closed stance they get a few hits that build they're confidence and they actually work themselves out of closed stance usually all on they're own.