stride foot not staying closed big problem?

How old is he?

8th grade

When the stride foot opens up too soon, the hips are usually opened up too soon and too far, the shoulder is usually opened too far, thus taking the bat head out of the hitting zone too soon. Check to see if thats happening with your son.
At the youth levels, his swing may have been successful due to pitch speed and lack of movement. This type of hitter usually locks his front knee also which can create a heels hitter. He's probably a good pull hitter and may have hit the long ball as a youth.
As the pitching improves, and he sees more movement, he will want to be over the baseball and able to hit thru the middle, be able to hit to the opp field as well. It will be diffcult if he is pulling off the ball, and a front foot opening too soon will usually cause this. There are lots of drills for this, but I am much better at fixing this in person. His instructor should be able to get him to stay closed.

He definitely likes to pull the ball. But can hit to the opposite side. Here are a couple pictures from a couple yrs. ago.

To the best of my knowledge, what's important is that the front knee stay closed even if the foot is open slightly as the front leg should firm up at point of contact.

Can't keep the knee closed if the foot is open. Also, it is not optimal for the leg to stiffen. In the pics above I see a kid with great swing potential. His left swing is more over the ball and he will drive the ball better from that side according to what I see here. The open foot early, key word is early, could cause him to fly open all the way up the body. Remember that the hitter wants to stay in the hitting zone and over the ball for maximum plate coverage. He will learn to adjust to the inside stuff by leading his eyes and hands to the ball.
For a little guy, I like what I see.

"Can't keep the knee closed if the foot is open"

I don't believe this to be true. Foot plant can be slightly open and still keep the knee closed as there are quite a few MLB hitters that do this.

"Also, it is not optimal for the leg to stiffen"

In transferring weight to front leg during rotation, the front leg becomes the axis and will firm up at point of contact.

JMHO...

TED WILLIAMS

JDsDad,Here is a clip of the greatest hitter that ever lived. Check out his stride foot and then don't worry about what the instructor at the camp said about your son's stride foot. In fact, you should show the instructor the clip of Ted Williams and see what kind of excuse he gives you with his answer.

Doug,

Great to hear from you.

And Ted Williams wasn't the only great hitter who opened the stride foot.

bbscout,

I don't think I've ever posted in the Hitting forum before, but ... we missed you!

Thanks everyone for your input. He worked on it all day yesterday at home. I was watching him at practice yesterday and he could keep it closed right handed but had a real tough time with it left handed. I feel a lot better about it from your comments. I think we'll just go with what feels natural.BBscout I couldn't get the clip to come up but it could just be my computer thanks.

NY Dad, try keeping your knee pointed toward the plate, which is what closed is, while your foot is pointing toward the mound. Also, the front leg will firm up but not lock up.
All due respect guys, we are trying to build a young hitter. If we try to emulate a guy like Willams, not what he said, but what we see, we may get ahead of ourselves with a young kid.
In Ted's book he preached staying closed during the swing. However, he taught himself many things and became a great hitter along with some incredible God-given talent.
When this youngster gets to the next level, if he knows how to hit and be successful at it, he can then experiemnt with different things that may or may not enhance his hitting.
Keep in mind that if the front leg is the Axis, and it over spins to a point where the hands, hips and shoulders are no where near the hitting zone, a hitter will have a tough time reachng anything over the plate.
Please just don't throw out somebody's theory, test it and see, find out thru trial and error.
Again, good luck to the young man.

Coachric, front foot pointing towards the mound is extreme. I was saying being slightly open i.e. about 45 degs. Also, in keeping the front knee inside the front foot I believe your are keeping it closed.

JDsDad, If you load up Quicktime (it is free) you will be able to see the clip of Williams. Without looking at it, you are back to square one. Emulating the very best is much better than just listening to opinions from people who are just posting their thoughts.

Doug, if you ever come to Corvallis for a game please let us know. I'd like to meet you. Thanks.

Much better put NyDad. I am with you on the knee.
Incidentially, I don't post my thoughts, just my experiences.

quote:

Originally posted by JDsDad:
Doug, if you ever come to Corvallis for a game please let us know. I'd like to meet you. Thanks.

JDsDad, I was just in Corvallis this past weekend. Drizzle and cold, but the Beavers are a good team to watch.

Sorry we missed you. We were in Medford at the camp. My son's favorites are Barney,Gunderson, and Kunda if only he could hit as good as he fields.

Just a quick tip. Don't worry about closed, stive for 45 degree angle to home plate. That will be sufficent. Front toe closed in theory sounds good, but very hard to do. 45 degress, much more attainable and easy to master. See it and hit it, if you are thinking about your feet and not the ball, you are in trouble. Make sure game time his mind is not on mechanics but the BALL.