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As my son progressed through HS, one effort made by his pitching coaches was to land on a bent leg and come down hard. Now I'm told he's learning to land on a hard leg and come over the top.

Being a neophyte, I have come here to seek wise counsel as to what technique others promote and why.
[COLOR:BLUE][i]Pray not for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs.[/i][/COLOR]
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Landing hard causes a jerk throughout the body upon coming forward..this in turn will result in a loss of control and quite possibly lower back and shoulder problems all of which I witnessed first hand when my son tried to come back too early from minor knee surgery. He started "locking himself out" which wasn't noticed at first until he started complaining of his back and shoulder bothering him. His coach noticed something was different but it wasn't until a closer look was taken that we were able to get him back to "landing soft"
quote:
Originally posted by CPLZ:
As my son progressed through HS, one effort made by his pitching coaches was to land on a bent leg and come down hard.

Landing on a bent front leg is good advice. But "coming down hard" isn't. Actually, when trying to imagine someone consciously trying to do this, I envision them screwing up other aspect of their mechanics. When everything else is done properly (i.e. good posture and balance, appropriate momentum, proper sequencing and timing), how hard one plants is a non-issue.

quote:
Now I'm told he's learning to land on a hard leg and come over the top.

Assuming "hard leg" means "straight" or "bent but rigid". My preference is for pitchers to land on a bent front leg that isn't initialy rigid but which quickly firms up and braces after foot plant to stop forward motion of the hips. I feel landing on a straight or even a bent but rigid front leg will affect the proper sequencing and timing of the delivery such that the pitcher will lose control and velocity and will end up throwing more with just the arm.
quote:
Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
Pitchers who land on a straight led are not striding enough. It is what I refer to as pole vaulting over your landing leg. I know a couple guys who do it and it not a great way to pitch. If you look at a quality pitcher it is imposible to stride properly unless you bend your knee.


They might have overactive quads and week glutes, hamstrings, and hip flexors. Which is a common problem among the general public.

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