Stance

 A good ATTACKING stance is essential to set the foundation to start a good swing. It should be comfortable and balanced with pressure on the inside of your feet.

When your feet are in the correct position, we call this “NEUTRAL.” Here, your body is balanced with your toes pointing forward. Be conscious of where your toes are pointed. If your back foot is pointed outwards, you’ll create a longer path to the ball. This takes more time. If your front foot is pointed outwards, you’ll open your hip earlier than desired.

A good stance is slightly wider than “shoulder width apart.” Your knees are never outside your feet. This would indicate that you are leaning backward or forward.

 An open stance is acceptable if you can return to the NEUTRAL position when striding. Some hitters prefer an open stance to see the pitchers’ release point more. But, an open or closed stance takes more time to return to a NEUTRAL position.

Your knees may have a slight inward pressure. When this occurs, you can feel your big toes grabbing the ground. We call these Gorilla Toes. 

Your knees should be inside your feet. You are leaning forward or backward if your knees move outside your feet.

Your hands should be near your back shoulder, relaxed. The bat should be at a 45-degree angle, with the knob of the bat pointing slightly toward the catcher. Your front elbow should be in an “L” position with your shoulder tucked under your chin slightly. We want to maintain this as long as possible. Maintain two-eyes on the pitcher.

Maintain a “K” posture throughout your swing. See below.

DRILLS

Mirror Drill – Get in front of a full-length mirror. Close your eyes and get into your stance. Open them and see if your stance looks like it feels. Sometimes they are different.

Head Positioning – Close the front eye and see if you can see the pitcher with the back eye. Make sure you have a full view of the pitcher.

Here’s a PDF version you can use for later reference.