Are Your Lower Body Mechanics Safe?
Hey There Friend!
This week's article is about one of the MOST COMMON mistakes that I see pitchers making with lower body mechanics, AND it's one that can INJURE them! If you haven't had the opportunity to watch the video above, take a couple minutes to watch it now.
This mistake is one that CAN be fixed with a few minutes of focused, daily practice over 4-6 weeks. I believe it's worth every minute you spend correcting it to reduce the possibility of an ankle or knee injury down the road!
Here are a handful of my favorite drills to use to help correct this mistake:
- Stride and Drives - This is one of the drills covered in my course, "Small Habits to "BreakThrew" Moments" and a GREAT daily drill to do to help create CORRECT muscle memory with lower body mechanics. Have your pitcher try doing 30-50 CORRECT reps DAILY in front of a mirror for the first week so that she can SEE and FEEL her footwork!
- Assisted AND Resisted Ankle Harness - This drill will really help your pitcher FEEL what her drag foot is doing. Do 2 sets of 10-15 CORRECT reps BOTH WAYS every day. Do these drills WITHOUT throwing a ball so that your pitcher can focus ONLY on what her drive foot position feels like! Once she can do these drills easily without a ball, have her try throwing socks into a wall or a ball into a net. If she is unable to do her reps correctly, put the ball/socks down and do a couple reps without them again until she corrects her foot position. If she can do it WITHOUT a ball, she CAN do it with a ball, it just takes consistent, focused practice! My pitchers typically use Arm-Pro Bands as their harness, but J-Bands or other similar options would work as well!
Just like any change we try to make, it may feel "weird" the first few times your pitcher works to correct her foot position. Remind her that WEIRD is GOOD when you are trying to create something NEW and BETTER!
Short, consistent (ideally daily) practice sessions AND correct reps over time (typically 4-6 weeks) are the KEY to changing mechanics! This common mistake is absolutely WORTH the time investment it takes to fix it!
Let me know if you have any questions by emailing me at: [email protected]! I personally read and answer each email I receive!
All My BEST,
Myndie
Let's GET BETTER together!
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Myndie Berka
Author
Hi, I'm Myndie. Welcome to my weekly blog! I'm the founder of a training company called BreakThrew Fastpitch and I love helping softball pitchers and their parents, catchers and coaches GROW. I blog about ALL THINGS PITCHING - from mechanics, skill development and workouts TO habit building, growth mindset and competitive practice games. Watch video, listen to audio content, and download PDF files to use during your at-home or team practices. I try to give you something a little bit different each and every Thursday morning!
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