Learning the 'Down and in' using that football

The 'Football drill' is mostly associated with starting to learn a riseball. It quickly teaches the student to bring the fingers to the inside of a softball. Immediate feedback is obvious.

It should be mentioned that I also used this drill for very young beginners to teach them the 'down and in' pitch. It can be used for that movement pitch for any age pitcher learning that pitch.

Once they can throw the football in a spiral consistently, it is a simple matter to teach them to let the ball roll off the hand between the thumb and index. Do that and cut the hand a little up and to the inside AT release, and you get a nasty down and in. Takes a little practice on that release, but not alot, for a very yopung pitcher. Older ones can pick that up in a heartbeat.

Just another little tidbit for those who still think it is impossible to turn out a competitive beginning pitcher in a month. It all depends on how they are taught.

I really wish I could find a video of the football drill. I've read so much about it, but never seen it done.

Fitz1210 said:

I really wish I could find a video of the football drill. I've read so much about it, but never seen it done.

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Same here.

clm265 said:

same here.

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me too !!!

Just throw the football under with a spiral.

My 8YO DD actually does this on accident for some reason. She will lead with the pinky once every 20-25 pitches. It tails inside pretty hard when she does it. I tried to fight it at first since we are still working on developing her fastball but I've decided now we will embrace it and see if she can throw it consistently.

Fitz1210 said:

I really wish I could find a video of the football drill. I've read so much about it, but never seen it done.

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I think I saw this years ago on a Cheri Kempf dvd... perhaps there is a clip of that vid floating around on the web...

javasource said:

I think I saw this years ago on a Cheri Kempf dvd... perhaps there is a clip of that vid floating around on the web...

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Yep. It was that vid... called The Pitching Edge... just went through an old journal I kept in 2003-2004. They use the drill to teach leading with the elbow in the back part of the circle.

Interestingly, and on a completely different note, it was this video and book that turned me on to the idea of internal rotation. They touched on it regarding follow-through, and the video broke down the motion - allowing me to see what they were doing (but not totally teaching). It was that video and books slight contradictions that led to thousands of hours of research on my part... Guess I should be thankful... cause that's when I completely changed how I instructed.... ahhhh... memories...

I have been recommending the football drill forever and in my first book in 1999. Great drill for any pitch that requires the fingers to come to the inside of the ball.

Bumping this one up for fastpitch26

javasource said:

Yep. It was that vid... called The Pitching Edge... just went through an old journal I kept in 2003-2004. They use the drill to teach leading with the elbow in the back part of the circle.

Interestingly, and on a completely different note, it was this video and book that turned me on to the idea of internal rotation. They touched on it regarding follow-through, and the video broke down the motion - allowing me to see what they were doing (but not totally teaching). It was that video and books slight contradictions that led to thousands of hours of research on my part... Guess I should be thankful... cause that's when I completely changed how I instructed.... ahhhh... memories...

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Did you find a clip??? too