Opening Front Hip Early | Talk Pitching | TopVelocity Baseball Forum

The front leg and hip must remain closed until just before front foot strike to promote force production. When a pitcher strides his drive leg foot is parallel to the rubber. If the front leg and hip open up and point towards the catcher half way through the stride, this will limit the pitchers ability to drive because the drive leg ankle is now being twisted along with the knee. The body will not want to build much power through 3x because the ankle and the knee of the drive leg is twisting when it is only built to flex and extend.

To better understand this issue stand with your feet shoulder width apart and then turn your drive leg foot all the way to the right, if it is your right leg or all the way to the left, if it is your left foot. Now squat down and jump as high as you can. Then do it without turning your foot. You will discover that you can jump higher with your feet facing forward which means your power production is limited when your knee and ankle is twisted during your drive.