Getting your foot down is important because until your front foot comes down and more precisely your front heel you can not launch.  Hitters land with their toe first and then the heel hits, at this point the back hip fires starting the hands by getting them into the slot.

Please remember while you read this that when I say your foot, I mean when your heel hits the ground

When I work with hitters a problem I see often is the foot getting down too early.  This is a problem because it disrupts the natural rhythm of the swing.  Your stride foot should come down when the ball is about half way to the plate.  I hear people say get your foot down when the ball is at the top of the pitchers release.  This is wrong because it causes you to wait for the ball after your foot is already down, which actually stops the momentum of the swing.  Stopping your momentum is bad because in order to start it again hitters will use their front shoulder to swing, thus pulling the bat out of the zone.  You want the swing to be one motion from start to finish allowing all the proper steps to take place, which we have talked about and will talk about further in video posts and live streams.

Major problems associated with getting your foot down too early are, leaking, pulling off the ball, and hitters get jumpy.

Leaking: If a hitter gets their foot down too early sometimes to keep the body moving they slowly slide their front side (hip and shoulder) forward.  This motion ties you up because your weight is now over your front foot and you will not be able to get the back hip turn and drive you need in order to get your hands out in front.  Please note hip turn is squaring your hips up to the pitcher, you should be pointing your belly button to the pitcher no further.  You can do this in a mirror at home and see how weird sliding your hips feels.

Pulling off the ball: This happens when hitters get their foot down too early and stop the momentum.  They load, stride, stop, then swing.  Stopping your momentum means your front shoulder is going to take over the swing by pulling toward 1st or 3rd base depending on which hand you hit.  When this happens the barrel of the bat follows and it leaves the zone quickly and on such an angle that you are going to hit many routine 15 hop ground balls.

Getting Jumpy: The natural progression of the swing tells us that once our front foot is down it is time to swing.  This means you have already decided if you are going to swing or not by the time your foot hits the ground, this is why I call the load and stride the observation period.  Evidence to this fact is how well hitters take pitches.  Watch any big league hitter and see how he takes pitches.  You will see the hitter is balanced and sturdy, they will not be flying all over the place in the box.  Their foot will hit and they won’t even offer at the ball.  On the contrary the hitter who is down too early grows impatient, because he is taught foot down swing, but now his foot is down and he is waiting and waiting.  Getting jumpy will result in pulling off the ball and also getting out in front of the off speed pitches.  Your body wants to swing when the foot hits the ground and by getting down too early you are going against that.  I often hear instructors say get your foot down early, you don’t want that, you want your foot down on time.

Practice this in the cage.  Do front toss with a friend and work on getting your foot down when the ball is roughly half way to the plate.  Move back and work on it from short toss (seated throws), and short BP and then finally regular distance if you desire.  This drill will help you slow down your load because you are not rushing to get your foot down, and it will help you figure out when to get started in relation to the pitchers delivery.  Also, when game time comes around use the on deck circle to work on your nice easy load and getting your foot down in time, not early, and don’t just stare at girls in the stands, and girls don’t stare at guys in the stands when you are on deck either.

I have provided a link of B.J. Upton swinging.  What I want you to watch for in this link is when B.J.’s front foot hits the ground in comparison to where the ball is.  Don’t worry about his mechanics or how he turns is front hip in.  I do not want you to change your swing to emulate this swing it is to see the timing only.

http://www.draysbay.com/2009/10/18/1085722/b-j-uptons-swing-remains-the-same