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So, what does the back foot do in a proper swing? Squash the bug? No! I made a video
of this a few years ago, I think it was, and we talked about what the back foot really
does in a swing, in a proper hitting mechanics and what you'll see in that video, if you
haven't watched it yet, go, go watch it now. I'll leave a link or an annotation or something.
But, what you'll see in that video is one a pro player taking a swing and he's actually
gaining some ground on his back foot. His back foot is coming off the ground and moving
forward and you'll see that in a lot of Major League hitters, Ok? But, I got a question
in an email the other day asking how to work on that. That his son wasn't able to make
his back foot come forward or get off the ground and I accidentally put it into my junk
box. I don't know where the email went, so if that was you, I'm sorry, I meant to reply
to that. Um, but, I'm going to answer it here, um, so you can see it. And, how, so, how do
we work it, how do we work on that, how do we teach what the back foot is supposed to
do? We don't. That's it. That's the end of the video. If you found this video helpful.
Alright, I'm just joking, I'm just joking. I wouldn't, I wouldn't do you like that, but
we really don't teach what the back foot is supposed to do. All we want the player to
do is be able to feel and do everything right up to that point and then that the back foot
will happen as an effect. Ok? So, what you want to work on, or what you want to focus
on more than the back foot is the load and the stride and just being able to move forward
while staying closed. Ok? So, we ca, moving forward, Bryce Harper does this. You can look
at the Bryce Harper hitting drill that I've got on my page. Um, but, as you're staying
closed, you're moving forward. Ok? So, what this does is keep you closed. Closed on the
foot, closed on the knee, closed on the hip, closed on the shoulder as I'm moving forward.
Ok? Now, if the player can understand that, he's going to already be gaining some momentum
on here. Now, you might say, well, if he's moving forward, isn't he going to finish out
in front? and that's not going to be a good swing. Well, yes, that's a possibility. But
the second thing you need to work on is going to be to stay behind that front leg. So when
you hit that front leg, you don't want to collapse through and have a front leg. So,
if you can work on with your hitters, or if you're a hitter and you're watching this,
work on your load and your stride, moving forward but staying closed and then when you
do start to open up and swing, use this front leg as leverage. As I swing my hands through
watch my knee here. As I, it's bent right now, but as I swing my hands through I'm going
to sit down, sit behind it and it's going to straighten out. I should have a straight
line from my front leg all the way up my body with my head on that contact point as I finish
the swing. Ok? So, if you work on those two things, a good load and a good stride, as
well as staying behind that back, or that front leg, this way, the back foot is going
to happen and it's going to be natural and it's going to do what it's supposed to do.
So, it doesn't have to be perfect. Some guys drag this back foot and catch. Some guys actually
are off the ground when they're hitting and catch. Some guys don't even get all the way
around, they get here and they kind of catch it sideways. So, if you work on the beginning
and staying behind that front leg, the back leg is going to fix itself. So, that's my
answer. I hopes it helps. If you found this video helpful, please subscribe and then join
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