stance, closed: A stance in which the front foot is closer to the inside line of the batters box than the back foot. A closed stance many favor a hitter who hits to all fields.
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stance, open your: A phrase used instructing a hitter to move his front foot away from the plate, which would open his front side to the pitcher. (show more of his chest pocket to the pitcher) See stance, opened.
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stance, opened: A stance in which the front foot is further from the inside line of the batters box than the back foot. An open stance may favor a large chested hitter by improving their vision. It is also used by pull hitters who stand close to the plate. In an attempt to keep hitters from opening up too soon, some coaches start hitters with an open stance, and have them stride closed.
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stance, parallel: A stance where the toes are equidistant from the inside line of the batters box.
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stance, pigeon-toed: A stance in which the toe are pointing slightly inward. This stance promotes keeping the striding foot closed and also pivoting on the back foot.
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stance, square: See stance, parallel.

stance, widen your: A phrase used to instruct a hitter to increase the distance between his feet. When working with young hitters, it is best to error with a stance slightly wider than one too narrow. A stance with the feet well outside the shoulder can control many problems in young hitters regarding stride, weight transfer, head movement, and balance. By widening a hitters base, their center of gravity lowered. This puts more weight or inertia on their front foot, making it more difficult to lift and overstride, or step in the bucket. Eliminating these problems usually will reduce head movement, so the hitter sees better. The wider stance also makes it easier for a young hitter to hit against a firm, front side, making it more difficult to get their weight on top of their front leg.
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step in the bucket: A phrase used to describe the striding foot stepping away from the plate, causing the frontside to open up. This is a common problem in young hitters with narrow stances.
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Click Red Dot for Drills to Correct Stepping in the Bucket

stepping on ice: A term used to describe the action of the front striding foot as it reaching forward and is planted softly. Others teach the 3 S’s of Striding -- Slow, Short, and Soft.

stride: A term used to describe a linear movement of the front foot that occurs during the loading or cocking phase of the swing. This action prepares the front side to receive the weight transfer and must be completed before the weight shift occurs.
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Click Red Dot for Drills to Develop a Stride

stride, closed: A term that describes the direction of the stride that moves toward the plate.
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stride, developing a: Don’t worry about teaching a stride to young hitters who are just starting out. Encourage a wider stance with young hitters, advising they maintain a little wiggle in their butt. This will help develop rhythm and allow them to feel their weight moving back and forth. Soon you will notice their front heel starting to lift and front knee cocking . It will not be long until they begin to pick up their foot, which moves the weight to the backside and cocks the front hip, and then put it back down in place. Finally the hitter will eventually learn to take a short, controlled stride in which he maintains balance, keeping his head still. This young hitter has developed a controlled stride that progressed from a widened stance and a little wiggle in his butt.

stride, direction: A term that describes the location of the front foot lands while striding in relation to where it started in the stance. Normally a stride is closed, opened, or straight back toward the pitcher.
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stride, length: Refers to the distance the front foot moves from its starting positon in the stance to where it ends up after the stride occurs. Hitters can smooth the dirt in the batters box and check after each pitch both stride distance and direction.

stride, no-stride: A term that refers to a hitter who hits without moving his front foot, or striding. This may be advantageous to beginners. See developing a stride.
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stride, opened: A term that describes the direction of a stride that moves away from the plate.

stride, overstride: A term used to describe a long stride that adversely affects a hitters balance and can cause head movement. Some coaches feel a stride can not be to long provided a hitter can keep their weight and hands back.
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stride, toe closed: A phrase used to describe the front foot pointing toward the plate after completing the stride. Starting in a pigeon-toed stance can help. This is used to keep the front hip in longer, and causes the front knee to firm up during the weight shift. See front side collapse.
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Click Red Dot for Drills to Develop Keeping Stride Toe Closed

stride, toe open: A phrase used to describe the front foot pointing toward the pitcher after completing the stride. Some coaches feel strongly that the hips must clear and lead the way for the hands. Others feel that striding with the toe open causes the hips to open too early, making it difficult to stay closed. This comes under about as much debate among professional hitting instructors as which hand is dominant in the swing..... the top hand or the bottom hand?
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Click Red Dot for Drills to Develop Keeping Stride Toe Closed

swing: A term used to describe the striking action of a hitter using a bat to propel a pitched ball.

swing, compact: A description of a swing path that is very efficient, with little wasted motion. See swing, short.
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swing length: Refers to the distance the bat head must move from its loaded position at the top to contact.
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