BVSA Teaches: Styrofoam Stride
On this episode of BVSA Teaches, Frank Ramppen talks about the styrofoam stride. Alright, so we talked about the load, the transfer, and the proper effecient way to transfer. Generally speaking, you want to be getting that weight into your front side and back towards the pitcher. But a lot of times, with a lot of different levels, the kids will stride too closed into the plate or they’ll stride too open, putting them in a bad place. Getting in here you cut yourself off a little bit, it’s tough to get your hips through first. Out here you’re opening up, your hips are open, you’re giving away power, you’re giving away the outside part of the plate.
Different Options With the Beam
So, one of the devices that we like to use for a drill is just our styrofoam beams, again located throughout the facility. So, whether they have an open stance or a slightly closed stance, this I had set up for a student not to stride too close to the plate. You don’t want to be too constrictive. You want to give your athletes some independence to have a slightly closed stride or slightly open. However, you do have to gage whether it’s too much or too little. So, put the styrofoam here for tee work, for front toss, for regular BP. This will help them be aware that there’s something there and that they can’t stride into it. Conversely, if they’re striding too far out, you can put it behind them.
And obviously with the younger kids you’ve got to make them be aware that if they step out they might fall. They like that, it’s kind of fun for them. But again, just giving them a little bit of a guideline of where they shouldn’t go and where they should go. And for the little kids you can even put the foot down and give them an idea of where they should be striding to. So, just little guidelines, rep it out over and over. Give them some independence to be themselves and have little variations. Meanwhile, try and keep them in the right place that they’re going to land for the most success. Hope that helps.
BVSA Teaches: Styrofoam Stride
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