Need help ASAP

Man10 said:

To make sure I understand you correctly, correcting posture in her case would be staying taller? She does look to be leaning some.

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When playing catch, while throwing overhand, you likely find that you need to make a minor adjustment from throw-to-throw. You don't normally respond to those adjustments by aiming, but by telling yourself to throw higher/lower/left/right, and your body adjusts to support that goal. If you look closely, you'll generally see players that are 'playing catch' making posture adjustments between throws ... whether they realize it or not.

Most pitchers struggle to keep the ball low in the zone. Unfortunately this is often due to genetics - Bucket Parents. Way too much time is spent throwing to a parent or other pitch receiver sitting atop a tall bucket. The result is most of the practice is done throwing what will be belt high fatties rather than pitches at the very bottom of the zone where the ball belongs. If you are an average sized person sitting on a bucket and the glove is at or above your knee, you are practicing to throw fatties. The cure is less time throwing to location and more time on mechanics, and when you do throw to location try sitting on a milk crate and get the glove on the river and below the strike zone. It is much easier to adjust to get the ball up versus adjusting to get the ball down. I do the same thing with the rise. We relentlessly throw the rise at the very bottom of the zone so that it is easy to throw to the top of the zone. Next time you are at a game pay attention to 2 things. First where is the catchers glove in relation to the zone and second how many pitches come in between the bottom of the zone and mid-thigh get hit hard. I think you will be surprised.

wmy 11U DD has never had too much trouble missing high, once past her 1st year pitching.

ive always suspected something, but never actually measured until today, for the maybe reason why.
in our back yard where we practice, it isnt perfectly flat. Ive always suspected home plate is lower that the pitchers plate, and today I got out the laser level to see exactly what the difference is. Home Plate is 6" lower.

I also do not and never have caught her perched atop a bucket. (no knee/back issues here thankfully) and I suppose that contributes (thanks riseball) . but im curious what you all might think about essentially throwing slightly "downhill" in practice? Seems like if you can hit your low spots with the plate 6" extra low, then in a game with the extra adrenaline flowing, hitting low spots would seem easier? i dunno. seems plausible. just a hunch.

Need to adjust. The fields across the country will have the pitcher ranging from pitching downhill to pitching uphill. Need to be able to adjust to the field that you will play on.

corlay said:

wmy 11U DD has never had too much trouble missing high, once past her 1st year pitching.

ive always suspected something, but never actually measured until today, for the maybe reason why.
in our back yard where we practice, it isnt perfectly flat. Ive always suspected home plate is lower that the pitchers plate, and today I got out the laser level to see exactly what the difference is. Home Plate is 6" lower.

I also do not and never have caught her perched atop a bucket. (no knee/back issues here thankfully) and I suppose that contributes (thanks riseball) . but im curious what you all might think about essentially throwing slightly "downhill" in practice? Seems like if you can hit your low spots with the plate 6" extra low, then in a game with the extra adrenaline flowing, hitting low spots would seem easier? i dunno. seems plausible. just a hunch.

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I actually thought about this earlier today. We do have a slight decline in our yard where she could be pitching downhill some. I also thought it may help the feeling of momentum forward?

riseball said:

Her arm is locked straight out. Video her snapping the ball into her glove at her hip, then compare and contrast with what she does from a full motion.

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Your dd is also releasing the ball at her front hip and nearly facing home plate at release.

My dd did the same thing until last week (Tuesday) when riseball made a similar observation in a different thread (http://www.discussfastpitch.com/sof...-not-sure-anyone-can-answer-3.html#post326438) and it (finally) sunk in for me.

Rich Balswick (developed Cheridan Hawkins and Michelle Gascoigne, among others) explains the importance of the above in these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijHqW1ZpcV8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WJ7V02T8DE
You should watch them for or your own understanding.

DD spent about 15 minutes in front of a mirror last Tuesday nite throwing into her glove to get the feeling. Then, she continued to pitch a couple into her glove between pitches. When she pitched in a scrimmage the next night, she immediately showed huge improvement in both her arm bend and her body angle. Her usual bullet spin became wicked topspin. She's 12.

Longer term, I'll second the observation that there is gold in the I/R and Drive Mechanics stickies and be sure to watch all of boardmember/javasource's videos.

Hope it helps your dd as much as it helped mine--she looks good already.

pumpkinbear said:

Your dd is also releasing the ball at her front hip and nearly facing home plate at release.
View attachment 8214
My dd did the same thing until last week (Tuesday) when riseball made a similar observation in a different thread (http://www.discussfastpitch.com/sof...-not-sure-anyone-can-answer-3.html#post326438) and it (finally) sunk in for me.

Rich Balswick (developed Cheridan Hawkins and Michelle Gascoigne, among others) explains the importance of the above in these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijHqW1ZpcV8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WJ7V02T8DE
You should watch them for or your own understanding.

DD spent about 15 minutes in front of a mirror last Tuesday nite throwing into her glove to get the feeling. Then, she continued to pitch a couple into her glove between pitches. When she pitched in a scrimmage the next night, she immediately showed huge improvement in both her arm bend and her body angle. Her usual bullet spin became wicked topspin. She's 12.

Longer term, I'll second the observation that there is gold in the I/R and Drive Mechanics stickies and be sure to watch all of boardmember/javasource's videos.

Hope it helps your dd as much as it helped mine--she looks good already.

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Good stuff. Thanks!

pumpkinbear said:

...

DD spent about 15 minutes in front of a mirror last Tuesday nite throwing into her glove to get the feeling. Then, she continued to pitch a couple into her glove between pitches. When she pitched in a scrimmage the next night, she immediately showed huge improvement in both her arm bend and her body angle. Her usual bullet spin became wicked topspin. She's 12...

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These results ARE typical and everyone's results will probably be the same!

Just thought I'd let everyone know, she won her game in the state tournament today ��

Congrats to her Mr. Man!