A little advice on the arm circle

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Jan 4, 2015
48
8
Long time lurker, first time poster. So, I have 2 daughters who pitch, ( and another 12YO that catches) one is 9 and one is 14. Both of them started at 7 or so. I really, really like the stickies above with the explanations and demonstrations for shoulder Internal rotation and pronation of the forearm, as well was, drive mechanics for maximum optimization of the kinetic chain.

Although, I'm not the greatest coach, it seems that my 9 YO is really getting this stuff down and it is showing. My 14 YO old daughter throws around 53 or so, but I think she can do a lot more. I analyze them using coaches eye and noticed that when she gets to the 11/10 position, the Palm is down and the medial aspect of the arm is closest to the ground. Around 9 o'clock she begins to ER the shoulder and the thumb faces 3rd base before she whips through. I'm trying to get some drills correct the arm spill at 11/10 so that she has a better chance to get the palm up at 9.

We have been doing a lot of the drills from Boardmember's I/R sticky and she does those really well, and they look good. Unfortunately, I can't get it to translate when at full speed. Just seeing if there is anything to do at the top of the circle to help it translate into when she is pitching full speed.

Thanks in advance and thanks for having these threads. I know it has made my children better ball players.
 
Feb 3, 2010
5,752
113
Pac NW
Welcome to DFP. I like dark roast with a little cream and chocolate syrup.

You're on the right track. Show her the difference and attempt to validate the better mechanic and advantage. With some buy in, hopefully you'll get increased motivation to put the work in. Someone recently posted that Cheridan Hawkins put in 7 months without facing a batter because she wanted it that much. The pay off was well worth her hard work and commitment. Gotta credit a great pitching coach as well.

In the absence of a good PC, as Gronknation would advocate, learn this stuff along with her and hopefully she has the commitment to her craft to constantly grow and learn...


Ken
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
You'll definitely get responses from the true experts, but what comes to mine for me is ADDUCTION--pulling the elbows downward into the sides of the torso. Of course, it would need to begin with the elbow leading the way starting around 2:00 and the ball pointing toward the catcher at 12:00.
 
Last edited:
Jan 4, 2015
48
8
Ha! Would you like a grande or Venti? She works her tail off 4-5 days a week on some aspect, but if she's practicing the wrong stuff, might as well not practice. I'll try to figure out how to post a video if I can.

Doug, thanks for the response. It is kinda strange, the ball faces the catcher at 12, then she internally rotates the shoulder to Palm down, then tries to correct at about 9:00.

She has a PC, and we like her a lot and she teaches I/R (calls it something different), but it is hard to notice full speed.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
It is kinda strange, the ball faces the catcher at 12, then she internally rotates the shoulder to Palm down, then tries to correct at about 9:00.

I think the elbow leading from 2:00 on, along with elbow adduction, focusing on the throwing elbow most, will help keep that hand more toward palm up. For me, the main thing is that she at least needs to have the elbow leading with the palm toward palm up at 9:00. Seems to me that a lot of the high level pitchers we post clips of here have a little outward turning of the hand around 11:00 - 10:00, but they seem to get right back to near palm up by 9:00.

Does she really have her palm down 11:00 - 10:00??? I'm thinking maybe her arm is too straight at 12:00 (easier to turn the arm if straight at 12:00), OR she's really turning that arm in a short distance of her arm circle.
 
Jan 4, 2015
48
8
It certainly looks Palm down with attempted correction at 9:00 (that only gets about 50-75% there). She's at practice now, but I'll record them both later tonight on something that isn't coach's eye and upload so you can see it.

I think that focusing on adduction of the elbow is a good place to start. She needs to feel it so she can understand and fix it.
 
Jan 4, 2015
48
8
Here she is. I used my phone, it's the best I can do. The coach's eye app slows it to 240 fps, but I can't figure out how to upload it.
 
Jan 4, 2015
48
8
[video]https://www.coachseye.com/v/fpns?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=sms_4-1[/video]
 
Jan 4, 2015
48
8
[video]https://www.coachseye.com/v/hpSv?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=sms_4-1[/video]

Here is my 9 year old.
 

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