Hey Guys,
Coach Omar Zeenni here. So a few of you have been asking me about the wide vs narrow stance set position. So I thought I would make a breakdown for it! Let me know if this video helped. If you have any further questions, feel free to DM me:
Clips 1-3: Okay guys, so as you can see from these three clips, Alyssa steps into the angled shot in a narrow stance, but as the shot comes, she quickly jumps into a wide stance.
Now, while she is making the saves in that wide stance, notice the location of those saves. They’re in an area that I call the Reach only Zone.
Reach Only Zone: Notice how when Armando jumps into that wide stance, his feet are now rooted to the ground, which means he can no longer pick them up. Because of this, he can’t push off of them. Now, he can only stretch his arms as far they can reach. By the time he repositions his feet, the ball will be past him. This wide stance limits and delays your lateral movement, and that can slow you down when you need that extra half second to make a save.
Alyssa Clips: Now I want to show you guys a few more examples of this, notice in these next two clips how Alyssa uses the same wide stance technique, but now the balls are being hit out of her reach zone. Because her feet are in that wide stance, she now becomes immobile and she’s limited to her reach.
Ryan Clip: Let’s look at Ryans feet as he prepares for this shot. As he steps forward, he jumps into a wide stance. And as you can see when we slow-mo the clip, that wide jump takes away all of the power from his legs. Now, because of this, he doesn’t have time to reposition his feet back into that narrow stance where he would be able to get a power step off, and as a result he can’t get any extra push and he ends up falling as far as his arms can reach.
HOW TO FIX THIS:
So, one way to combat this bad wide jump habit is to constantly remind yourself to:
1. Keep your jump small
2. Keep your feet shoulder width apart.
After watching film with Armando, we were able apply those two concepts into his next few reps.
First, let’s take a look at his small jump. With it, he’s able to release the pressure off of his feet and keep them active. This small jump allows him to get his feet back to the ground in time to take a power step. By doing this, he keeps his legs in the equation and now his body is moving in together instead of being split like we see with a wider stance.
Next, notice how his legs are shoulder width apart before the shot and only slightly wider after the shot is taken. While that wide stance limited him to a reaching zone, this narrower approach now gives him the ability to use either foot to power step as far as he needs to. This helps him break out of that zone and extend his reach.
Now, let’s watch these next few clips and see how this new technique is working for Armando.
Remember, it won’t come easy. It has taken Armando a few months of consistently reminding himself to stay discipline with his approach.
Try this in training and message me if you feel a difference in your technique and shot stopping ability!