I/R after release

I've seen and read different follow throughs associated with the Basic Whip motion. Is the follow through direction and/or style a critical component to I/R? Or are the follow throughs I am seeing a result of the type of pitch that is being thrown or just personal style?

For example....BM video clips show the forearm going straight out to the catcher and parallel to the ground. BH video explains the follow through should naturally be up and across (opposite of throwing over hand). Scarborough varies which most likely is a result of the pitch she is throwing.

Disregarding everything else (leg drive, drag, etc.)....What arm follow through advice or instruction do you have for a beginner, who is trying to get away from the HE and still learning the basics of the I/R whip motion? Should the follow through be treated as a personal preference or is it critical in the learning process?

My 11yo has a natural tendency to bring the arm across her body.

Thanks,
TJ

In some cases the forearm will follow the fingers. If she has a bullet spin fastball by feathering the fingers at release, the arm will naturally want to turn over. (Japans Ueno clips are a good example) However if its a peel drop and the fingers come up together and evenly, the forearm will come straight up.
That's a pretty accurate gauge for me with a couple of my students. If I ask for a drop ball and she rolls her forearm over, its instant feedback for me that she didn't release the ball properly.

Once the ball leaves her hand everything after that is personal preference.

With that said you can tell a lot about how a pitcher is pitching by where her hand ends up. Some pitchers actually have good IR then force their arm into HE after the pitch.

Right now I have DD bringing her pitching arm over to her left shoulder, right handed pitcher. I would like to get her to forget about her arm after the release of the ball but we are not there yet.

Follow through should be loose and natural--not forced. I prefer to let the hand go where it wants and not force it unless the kid needs it as a cue. Even in the peel. Although I'm not fond of bowling/HE, it can get you a result--hopefully it's just the last resort.

Don't teach follow through.

Teaching follow through and teaching stance are two hold-overs we have from previous generations of coaching when we had no high speed video analysis capability. All coaches could teach was what they could see, which happened before and after an athletic move.

There's still a lot of good ol boys (and gals) out there so you'll still see coaches training on stance, windup, and follow through for various athletic activities, be it hitting, pitching, bowling, or playing the cow bell, but it's really just a time-waster.

-W

I disagree about the cow bell. Really... The sound is much more clean with a well executed follow through.

Ken B said:

Follow through should be loose and natural--not forced. I prefer to let the hand go where it wants and not force it unless the kid needs it as a cue. Even in the peel. Although I'm not fond of bowling/HE, it can get you a result--hopefully it's just the last resort.

Click to expand...

Ken, just a question on my DD...after IR, when DD arm stays more level with her waist area after release she tends to throw a few mph faster, better control, and keeps the ball lower in the zone. When she lets her arm come up higher after release the ball tends to go higher in the zone (not always, but a lot of the time) and pitch is a bit slower.

I would agree that after release is just preference, but what I am I missing with this on DD release? Thanks!

I always taught my students to have the forearm/ fingers straight at the catcher / target at release. No follow through EXCEPT when a follow through would add spin or more spin to a particular movement pitch.

Example; Let the ball roll off the area of the palm between the index and thumb AT RELEASE for a down and in - follow through slightly up and to the glove side for more spin and movement. RELEASE THE BALL AS YOU START TO FOLLOW THROUGH.

OH YEAH talking right hand pitcher and batter here.

T.J.,
My guess is that the different follow throughs are the result of different releases/whip. Video of both would help confirm this.

Ken

Ken B said:

T.J.,
My guess is that the different follow throughs are the result of different releases/whip. Video of both would help confirm this.

Ken

Click to expand...

Thanks Ken. My reason for the inquiry is that I have two DD pitchers (15yo & 11yo beginners with I/R whip mind you), and both have different natural follow throughs. My inquiry was to find out if I need to instruct them in a certain direction...or let them go with what feels comfortable and natural.