DD pitching

DD pitching, any constructive comments welcome

Side view


I have been her pc, tried my best to teach what I have learned here on DFP. PCs in the area are all HE type. She is playing 18U B. So what do you see that she/we need to work on.

From the other side would have been better.

I may be mistaken, but I think she gets her hand behind the ball too early, like around 9:00 (when the ball is straight back going into release).

Also, there is a disconnection at the waist at release--she's leaning forward. I would argue that her torso should be perpendicular to the ground at release. Pauly has said the head should be back roughly 8-degrees relative to the leg at release.

The hand behind the ball and the forward lean shows there might be a little bowling action, compromising the whip a bit.

Just a little clarification on posture. I would relate these angles to her spine tilt. It should be about 8 degrees tilt behind vertical at time of landing foot plant and then the upper torso would "hinge at the waist" such that it would firm up and be 1-2 degrees behind vertical at time of release for her low/dropping pitches. If she were throwing a high/rise pitch she would attempt to maintain the 8 degree tilt she had at landing all the way thru release.

Doug Romrell said:

From the other side would have been better.

I may be mistaken, but I think she gets her hand behind the ball too early, like around 9:00 (when the ball is straight back going into release).

Also, there is a disconnection at the waist at release--she's leaning forward. I would argue that her torso should be perpendicular to the ground at release. Pauly has said the head should be back roughly 8-degrees relative to the leg at release.

The hand behind the ball and the forward lean shows there might be a little bowling action, compromising the whip a bit.

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Mike
I think the number one thing that would help your DD is related to her drive (or lack thereof) off the mound. The sticky on Drive Mechanics that Java Source put together is about as good as it gets.......I'd suggest reading thru it and incorporating his drive suggestions.
Good luck with the instruction....you've already done a lot of good things with her.

Mike,
When you get a chance, can you take and post a video from the side and from up close? It looks like she's got some good stuff going on, but it would help to see her with a little better video. What are some of the main points she's been working on?

Thanks,
Ken

Will take her to a field where I can video from the other side. Had not videoed her in quite a while and I was surprised by how straight her arm was at 9 o'clock with the hand behind the ball. The problem at her waist has always been a problem, I think she has fixed it and it just keeps coming back. When I see it get too bad I have her pitch in to a balance pose. When she lands the drag foot must remain off the ground until the ball gets to the catcher. If she is leaning forward then she is out of balance and cannot maintain the pose. I wonder if this has caused her weak drive? Any other drills or suggestion on fixing the disconnect at the waist. Is my focus too late in the chain-of-events, is there something happening earlier that is causing the disconnect?

RP I have read the Drive Mechanics post, you might notice the two-step at the start. I do agree that the drive is still weak. Maybe hearing it from someone besides me will help. Have worked a lot on the first push, ever since Carly's post about false loading. Obviously have a ways to go yet.

Ken we have worked on balance and strong front side resistance. The big focus has been on batting and strength/conditioning over the winter/off-season. Also now that we are able to get outside we have worked on accuracy or hitting her spots. Another big thing we have worked on is getting her arm closer to her body, she has a tendency to let the arm get away from her body with a resultant pitch that is way inside, at times behind the imaginary batter.

She is HS age but still in the off-season due to her choice not to play high school ball. TB begins in early June.

Java great work on Drive Mechanics post. BTW we have incorporated the resistance band work into her warm-up and cool down with great results, much less muscle stiffness the day after. She complained of tightness between the shoulder, so we added one where she pulls the band with hands in-front held at top of her chest, palms out, elbows at shoulder height, concentrating on pinching her shoulder blades together.

First off I do not know how fast she throws, no radar. The last time she was gunned about three years ago she was in low/mid 50s, this was right after she converted from a slam-the door style to IR. She throws 5 pitches, FB Screw, Change-up 1, Change-up 2 and a Drop. CU 1 is Hillhouse style, 2 is Amanda Scarborough's they are distinctly different in speed and movement but look the nearly the same in delivery. Screw is her best moving pitch, working on throwing that one out (RH batter) and having it move into the strike zone. The key word there is working, she is having some success. Drop never moved a lot but we modified her grip, thumb and pinky on the axis, and it is definitely spinning and moving better.

Other thing we have added recently is underhand throwing. Focus is now on getting hand under the ball and leading with a bent elbow.

I agree with the assessments, less than optimal arm-whip, disconnect/hinging at the waist and weak leg drive. Looking for drills, suggestions that give her instant feed-back. What I have noticed is when I can find a way for her to "feel it" she can "fix-it" when I have to tell her your are_______ then it takes a lot longer for her to fix it. She usually tells me she thinks she is doing what I have suggested but her body is lying to her.

Thank-you Doug, Rick and Ken for taking time to help my DD and me.

One tool to consider is showing her video of her and a couple elite pitchers and ask her to evaluate. I think it may help with some buy-in and hopefully the motivation to improve. I suggest working on whip and drive separately and blend them as able. I'm guessing she's needed to pitch in games whibch makes this tough, but do your best. Also, use a mix of immediate feedback: both direct and indirect. Sometimes, let her know what you saw, but more often, ask her how it felt to her. I think this helps with self-evaluation and correction.

Ken, or anyone else, first she does not have to pitch in games, not playing HS ball so we have some time. Appreciate the feed back, will do more video with her and have her look at some model pitchers. I am thinking to work on drive first then, improved posture on release and finally whip because the drive will effect the timing of the whip, am I on the right track or should I go top down? As far as the whip we have been doing under hand throwing to improve whip. Any suggestions on drills to fix these problems? My primary method is backwards chaining, start with the focus point in isolation and move towards full pitch. Have worked on her feeling the problem and identifying without my input starting to have success, she now tells me what she did wrong more often than I tell her what she did wrong. My current favorite motivational phrase is "its not who will be in the circle." We will keep working although this week is ACTs so her mind is not on pitching.

Just my opinion, but whip is always a top priority. That said, I'd work on both. As she's working on whip, she can slowly add more lower body. Meanwhile, work on drive without a ball.