Is There a Correct Stride Length?

Okay,

So today I wanted to talk about something that is taught a whole bunch of different ways out there.  The stride length of your load phase.  Now there are a lot of new school thinkers popping up around there that are teaching what I am (which is right), but there are still the old schoolers who think that there is an answer to the stride length.  It really isn't clear cut.  The stride has to be different for every hitter.  It drives me crazy when I listen to hitting coaches preach a 3 inch stride or  a six inch stride or a no stride approach.  How about we let the hitter do what works for him, but perfect it?  Now, I am not saying that every stride you could possibly think of is good.  There are definitely some things to watch out for.

The No No's:

These are a little off topic, but it's never too early to eliminate these awful habits.  I will talk more about these and tie all of it together with a later piece on the different types of loads.

1. Bat wrap- Too many guys think because a couple of major league hitters can get away with wrapping the bat way around their head that they can do the same.  Most of the time, you can't.  It's no secret that it lengthens your path to the ball.  Unless you're an absolute stud, I would recommend that you stay away from it.  And even if you are that absolute stud, I'd tell you to kick the habit because a top level pitcher will get you out 99% of the time.

2. Too much Negative movement of the Head-  I'm not saying that you don't need to move negatively into the ball, because you definitely do.  But do it with your hips.  Have your hips travel backward in your load and try and keep your head movement as minimal as possible.  The rock-back loads are fine, but once you start letting your head travel way back and then forward again, you will find yourself not squaring the ball up as much.

3. Keeping Your Front Foot Closed-  Yep, I said it.  It may be the most controversial thing that I preach, but give me a minute and it will make sense.  My theory is load with your big toe pointed at first base. (slightly open) Why?  It allows your hips to travel a few inches further around your axis of rotation. (the line down the middle of your body that you rotate on)  If you don't think that those extra few inches will give your more power through the baseball, let me pose you this question.  Does a shot putter keep his front foot closed as he throws the shot put?  No!  He gets everything that he possibly can out of his hips and lower half.  Obviously, we can't spin around like shot putters, but I think we can get a little more out of the lower half by opening it up slightly and allowing it to rotate further.

*I struggled to find a hitter in the load position, but here's a picture of Prince at contact.  Look at that front foot pointed right at third base. (It would be first for a righty)



The Stride:

Like I said before, there are too many hitters trying to clone the load phases of swings.  Hitters need to stride based on how their stance is.  The proper stride length is actually very simple.  Narrow stance hitters such as Babe Ruth or Ichiro will take a rather large stride, possibly a foot or more.  Moderately wide hitters such as Alex Rodriguez or a guy like Manny Ramirez will take a middle of the road stride, and a very wide hitter like Albert Pujols will take little to no stride.  The common denominator is that they all load to the athletic position.  You know, stand like you're guarding someone in basketball, then pick up the bat.  That's the position where your body produces optimum power.

The Main Point:

The main point is that there is no set in stone way to get to the athletic, loaded position.  No matter what hitting coach tells you there is, it's just flat out wrong.  I touched on the phases of the load very little, but will put out another piece on the different types of loads to tie this all together.  I wanted the main focus to be on the stride.  Try these different things out, see what works for you, and mash the baseball.

Tip of the Day: Find a stance and a stride that you are comfortable with and go with it.  Do not constantly change the stance and the stride, because it will constantly change the muscle memory of the swing.  Chances are if you had a bad day, unless you have severe problems, it wasn't your stance or your stride that caused it.

Thanks!