Cues for leading with the elbow at 9 o'clock

What cues have you used to get your pitchers to lead with the elbow at the 9 o'clock position?

DD looks good at 3 and 12 but at 9 she needs a lit more bend and is not leading with the elbow.
We work the palm up t drill and sling shot with the elbow leading but full pitch is happens intermittently or disappears.

Study the brush interference thread by Rick Pauley.

Out in Left Field said:

Another issue is not staying open as that makes it easier for the elbow lead to disappear.
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Light bulb!!!!!!! I looked at some video and this might just be it. Going to work the "stay open" and see what happens.
I printed a picture of Sarah Pauly @ 9 and can see a difference in shoulder/hip angle. Basically, her top and bottom are separate (top open and bottom slightly closed) where DD are together, thus closing her top too soon and erasing the elbow lead.

Thank you to both


Thanks.

Instead of calling a warm up a Power K, I call it a W. I tell them when the coach wants a Power K, do their W's.

My DD's coach calls it the "flex T", and she looks like Giant Robot standing there. Then it's "elbow to pocket" which isn't 100% accurate but it does enforce the idea of lead with the elbow.

Rather than saying "bend," I think a better cue is to keep the lower arm loose and relaxed. Pull the loose, lower arm down with the upper arm and the bend happens automatically.

Ken B said:

I think a better cue is to keep the lower arm loose and relaxed. Pull the loose, lower arm down with the upper arm and the bend happens automatically.

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Nice! I use this also. Keep the lower arm loose.

What I see a lot of is the elbow facing first (rh). Normally from trying to muscle the ball, from my experience. With that most of the time they will close early. The cue I normally use at 9 is holding your pizza. Don't want that falling on the ground.

But what Ken B. said is true!

Between 12 and 10, most pitchers that have a tough time leading with the elbow... disengage their bicep, by allowing their hand to turn in. Doing so allows the arm to straighten... and results in a significantly less-bent arm. They often try to correct it around 9... but the extension at the elbow that took place causes the arm to travel rearward, as opposed to just down. Furthermkre, if the elbow isn't pointing at the ground... you're going to have a hard time 'leading' with it. Getting the shoulder line open BEFORE 12 significantly reduces the hand turn-out... but any turn in (towards 3B for a righty) of the palm engages the extensors in the arm.

Furthermore, practicing static K position type drills isn't going to open the shoulder line in a full motion pitch... whereas aggressively getting OUT AND DOWN with the stride foot, will. I'd recommend practicing loose full-circle throws at first... making sure the hand puts the elbow in the right position over-top. Start slowly... keeping palm to catcher and palm to sky... and then add some volume as she becomes fluent in the correct articulations. Once you get her there... move your focus to getting that stride foot out and down quickly, as mentioned before.

CoachScott said:

What I see a lot of is the elbow facing first (rh). Normally from trying to muscle the ball, from my experience. With that most of the time they will close early. The cue I normally use at 9 is holding your pizza. Don't want that falling on the ground.

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Exactly! Great post, Coach!