Stepping out

Question
My daughter is 15 and has been playing softball since age 4.   The last year or so she has been stepping out when hitting off a live pitcher.  She doesnt seem to be scared of the ball.  Are there any drills or techniques that can be used to improve this problem?

Answer
You are really touching on the bigger picture of should you have a stride when you hit or should you hit from the no stride stance.  As far as power is concerned there is no difference.  When I am working with my team, I don't worry about a stride as long as it is not a big stride.  I  don't want to see a stride longer than about 6".  When I teaching a new player to hit, I teach no stride.  There is just less to go wrong... like stepping out and losing coverage on the outside half of the plate.  With that said, some girls just seem to need to take a small stride or replant to get the correct timing for the hit.

The stepping out problems I have had seen in my experience are with longer strides.  I don't have any sure fire drills to fix this.  What I always do first is to have them try to hit with a no stride stance.  This involves widening up the stance to about where they would be with a stride.  The weight shift to the back leg (negative movement) is initiated with a 1"-2" lift of the front foot heal.  If a stride is a must for the this girl, work on making sure it isn't to long.  I have put 2x4 behind their feet to keep them from stepping out and have put a 2x4 on the ground in front of their front foot to limit the length of the stride.

My guess is that when she steps out, her front foot is pointing at the pitcher.  Try this mental cue, the toe of the front foot (RH hitter) must be pointed at where second base plays her position.  Concentrating on this alone may prevent her from stepping out.  It is kind of a weird feeling to step out and keep your toe pointed in the correct direction.  In any case this angling of the foot correctly is very important.  It allows the hips to come through without forcing them open too early.

It will take a lot of repetitions to overcome this habit.  Just make sure that every time she does it in practice, she is corrected.  Don't worry about it happening in a game situation, motor movement memory takes over in this situation.  Make sure she gets the repetitions, done correctly in practice to reteach her body the correct movements.