Softball Throwing Mechanics

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Feb 16, 2010
456
0
Nashua, NH
First, why isn't there a separate category for throwing mechanics?

Second, the fact that there isn't a category is disappointing.

Third, I deal with many more baseball throwers much more than softball throwers. I always ask my athletes questions about what they've learned, what they've been taught. I do evaluations. The throwing mechanics are scary - and I would say dangerous. I can't say the baseball world does a great job, but when I have girls coming in who have been on paid teams for 4-5 years and have the mechanics they have... and discuss what they have been taught... it is just scary.


What is going on with softball throwing mechanics????
 
May 7, 2008
442
16
DFW
Could not agree more.

Every one of my students who comes to me I end up giving throwing lessons to only because what I see is pure UGLY. When it comes to the female athlete the biggest thing I see is them throwing of a straight front leg. Then when you try to change them its like they have some adversion to flexing the front knee.

Coaches wonder why little Jonny or little Suzie. Cant hit the broad side of a barn when they throw. Its because you have not taught them the proper mechanics to throw. Overhand throwing is the weakest area in the girls game today without a doubt.

When did we loose teaching kids how to throw using the right mechanics?

Dana.
 
Jan 13, 2010
140
16
While I appreciate you guys letting us know that girls throwing mechanics are generally weak and not taught much. Could you explain what you believe the correct mechanics are? What would the difference between a throw from CF to 3rd/home, from a throw from 3rd to 1st, if any? Thanks
 
Feb 16, 2010
456
0
Nashua, NH
Gred, there isn't a separate thread on this forum. The softball pitching side is huge... in baseball, the pitching and throwing mechanics correlate and it seems like throwing is greatly overlooked. I know Howard teaching throwing with hitting... hitting mechanics contain a great deal of throwing mechanics (and vice versa) but to be honest there isn't much good info on either.

Something very, very simple in the baseball world that I was blown away by last night (and inspired this thread) was I had two girl in for throwing. On gripped the ball in a way that is considered a 2-seam grip. I stopped her and said, "Why are you throwing with a 2-seam grip and not a 4-seam grip?" She looked at me like I was clinically insane. That is literally the first thing I show a kid when throwing. I wonder of the short throw or the quickness of the game makes people ignore it..... The softball being bigger would increase the wind resistance over a baseball and make the seams catch even more...

The next thing I was baffled by was both girls did throwing demos for me where their hand hit their front hip. From a posture standpoint, this shouldn't be possible. From and arm angle/arm slot standpoint, this shouldn't happen. I've never in my life seen a baseball player hit their front hip with their hand when throwing or doing a demo.

And the last one for now... a simple question: "Does your arm hurt when you throw?" Why did the two girls look at me, kind of shrug and say something to the effect of, "Well, yeah." Arm/shoulder pain was expected and acceptable. ?????????????? Their arms hurt but nobody even asked and never even had an opportunity to explain why. I have video of both players... but it isn't even hard to see why and where their arm hurts when you watch them throw. I can typically watch one throw and pinpoint where the pain in, where they are consistently inaccurate to and what process is needed to fix it.... What pieces of the sequence are missing.
 
Oct 25, 2009
3,345
48
Great thread starter!!

You are absolutely right; teaching correct throwing mechanics is probably the most neglected part of fastpitch softball. A thread like this can make huge difference. Thanks.

Anticipating learning much info here.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
I spend a lot of time on overhand throw. As a 1st baseman, I agree that women can't throw.

I teach a 4 seem fast ball grip, with the ball out in the finger tips. Generally, I tell them about elbow up, wrist snap, step and the hip follows through. We never get all the way to distinguishing between an outfield throw and an infield throw. (Although, I tell them "We aren't there, yet.")

Little boys have to learn proper overhand throw, too. But, I have 3 male students and it comes a lot easier to them. I think that it has something to do with shoulder muscles and shoulder build. But, girls should be able to get the foot motion.

Mike Candrea says that he has to teach the freshmen to throw. Now, that is a problem.

I used to know a statistic about how many errors in softball are on the throw. I think it is 7.5 out of ten. To note throwing errors in the score book, I put 6E. To note a fielding error, I put E6.

There should never be pain from OH throw. Geez!
 
Feb 16, 2010
456
0
Nashua, NH
I am going to offer a Tom of info on this topic. The forum format may not be the best, but I'll do what I can.

Also... I believe the wrist flick is a non teach.... Like the swing, this is so far downstream it should happen on it's own. It should be impossible NOT for that to happen. The release point is found by throwing.

Hitting and throwing mechanics are so similar. The movement pattern have very similar sequences. There is one kid on a separate forum (that everybody loves to hate) whose throwing velocity went from 86-88 to 93-94 by working on his hitting! (And this was reported by a big time baseball authority.)

If your swing and throw mechanics don't correlate, something is wrong!!!
 
Feb 24, 2010
154
0
Great thread, and I hope it gets made into a catagory soon. I coach a young 12U team, and their throwing is horrendous. As we are about to move indoors, this will be my first point of emphasis in our drills. And I also expect that their hitting mechanics will improve as well.

Just out of curiosity - how are these girls taught to throw in the first place? We were taugtht at a coaching clinic a few years ago, to teach through the progression of 1. wrist snaps from 4-5 ft 2. Elbow pops from 10-12 ft 3. Warrior from 15-18 ft, then further as their strength increases 4. Full motion from catch of ball. Using this progression, I see a lot of girls hesitating, or even stopping, at the Warrior pose before they throw - similar to the picture of the girl at the top of this page in the red visor, except for the glove being near the ball. I also see that the girls that lack strength have to do a "reverse windmill" after catching the ball - bring the ball all the way down to their hip and then up to the shoulder (to get into that Warrior pose). I'm trying to get these girls to realize that it's one fluid motion and equate parts that are similar to batting. If the picture of the girl above has a bat in her hands instead of a ball and glove, that would be a pretty good starting position to hit.

What are some of your teaching methods and drills?
 
Dec 3, 2009
218
0
Kansas City area
Gred, there isn't a separate thread on this forum. The softball pitching side is huge... in baseball, the pitching and throwing mechanics correlate and it seems like throwing is greatly overlooked. I know Howard teaching throwing with hitting... hitting mechanics contain a great deal of throwing mechanics (and vice versa) but to be honest there isn't much good info on either.

Something very, very simple in the baseball world that I was blown away by last night (and inspired this thread) was I had two girl in for throwing. On gripped the ball in a way that is considered a 2-seam grip. I stopped her and said, "Why are you throwing with a 2-seam grip and not a 4-seam grip?" She looked at me like I was clinically insane. That is literally the first thing I show a kid when throwing. I wonder of the short throw or the quickness of the game makes people ignore it..... The softball being bigger would increase the wind resistance over a baseball and make the seams catch even more...

The next thing I was baffled by was both girls did throwing demos for me where their hand hit their front hip. From a posture standpoint, this shouldn't be possible. From and arm angle/arm slot standpoint, this shouldn't happen. I've never in my life seen a baseball player hit their front hip with their hand when throwing or doing a demo.

And the last one for now... a simple question: "Does your arm hurt when you throw?" Why did the two girls look at me, kind of shrug and say something to the effect of, "Well, yeah." Arm/shoulder pain was expected and acceptable. ?????????????? Their arms hurt but nobody even asked and never even had an opportunity to explain why. I have video of both players... but it isn't even hard to see why and where their arm hurts when you watch them throw. I can typically watch one throw and pinpoint where the pain in, where they are consistently inaccurate to and what process is needed to fix it.... What pieces of the sequence are missing.

When you say hitting their front hip do you mean as their arm circle goes back (at the low part of circle, in the begining)? because we teach to drag the thumb across the thigh to get them to make a big arm circle, then elbow high, and keep ball away from head. as they develop we teach a short thumb across chest smaller quicker play circle.
 
Jul 26, 2010
3,567
0
Agreed. I think it has to do with so many coaches using "throwing warmups" as a non-teach time and not paying much attention to exactly what the girls are doing. Sure, there are pushups for dropping the ball and a lot of verbal corrections, but very little real teaching.

My own daughter has always struggled with throwing. She went to a camp at St. Mary's College this summer and came back throwing bullets. Three weeks later into travel ball season and she was back to the same old nonsense.

I've seen drills to teach throwing, but none that change the culture of poor mechanics in the sport.

-W
 

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