quote:Originally posted by birdman14:
Bum - I'm interested in your opinion about stride length. My son is 6'5", so using the 110% theory, his stride would need to be a around 7'. He is not anywhere near this.
What are some of the specific things your son did to improve his flexibility?
As TPM alluded to stride length has a lot to do with a pitcher's base. Bum, Jr. is not tall and he weighs nearly 190 lbs. Counter-intuitively, he is not stocky either. A close look at his legs will explain how this is possible. He has strong, muscular legs yet a lean body mass.
A lot of that is genetic but he trains very hard to be in shape. He would go down to my health club 5-6x week in h.s. to run and stretch, did in-season and especially off-season plyometric work, etc. This is the starting point, but there is more to it. A pitcher can only stretch out as far as he can possibly rotate and maintain proper mechanics. So a strong core is absolutely KEY. Do tons of core work.. and combine this with proper pitching instruction. Because you can have a kid lengthen his stride without doing all the other stuff and you will have shoulder problems develop because his he'll be opening up too soon trying to catch up to his body or otherwise change his mechanics to compensate. Not good.
Core. Leg and crotch strength exercises. Plyometrics. Athleticism. Proper instruction. Like I said, it takes a lot. And it takes time! It is at least a two year process.
Finally, I should add it's probably unrealistic to ever expect your 6'5" son to have a long stride. (He probably doesn't need it.) Most of the guys that stride far relative to their height are shorter guys (e.g, Lincecum).