Which mechanics need most work? Input, please!

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Aug 12, 2015
14
1
Hello everyone. My DD (13yo) has been trying to implement some of the important mechanics I've discovered on this board. We're making some progress but lots more to do. She decided not to play middle school ball this late summer/early fall. Instead we are going to try to keep working on mechanics. Can I ask for your input on what you think are the priorities, based on this not-so-great video that I'm hoping I attached correctly?

One thing I think I notice is that she has trouble having her hand lag behind her forearm/elbow during the whip part of the pitch. Not sure how best to fix that. She seems to have less flexibility than even me in that part of her arm, and I'm old!

Any observations and things to focus on are much appreciated.

Cheers!

https://youtu.be/zT9lnm00IIw
 
Oct 10, 2012
502
16
Oklahoma
Mechanics look pretty good to me. She appears to have the palm up on the way down the circle, good front side resistance and stabilizes well. If I had to pick something to focus on, it would be the drive phase. My daughter struggles with the same thing and that is exhausting the push by the time the ball is at 3:00. We have tried everything we know to achieve this but have not done so yet. I do not think it is as simple as "get off the rubber quickly" or "push faster". I really think it is something that takes maturity and thousands of reps of getting the body in an "uncomfortable" position before it is "comfortable". What I mean by that is.....when the push is exhausted by 3:00, it feels extremely rushed and makes the pitcher feel as though they are going to fall. So, in order to drill on this, it takes getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. With young kids, thats something they do not like and is extremely hard to do over and over. So, with all that being said, IMO, it takes a lot of time and patience. Hope that helps a little. Overall your DD look really good and seems to have some great mechanics. Good luck.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
It would be nice to see her pitch off a pitching plate and not floor to see if she gets the same drive in the dirt.

Unless she has absolutely no control at all I would seriously reconsider skipping playing or at least look for guesting opportunities unless she is getting burned out or just wants a break.

Her mechanics are fairly good there are many good things going on. I'll let others comment more but her drive does seem very hesitant but its hard to tell since she has nothing to push off of.
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
Mechanics look pretty good to me. She appears to have the palm up on the way down the circle, good front side resistance and stabilizes well. If I had to pick something to focus on, it would be the drive phase. My daughter struggles with the same thing and that is exhausting the push by the time the ball is at 3:00. We have tried everything we know to achieve this but have not done so yet. I do not think it is as simple as "get off the rubber quickly" or "push faster". I really think it is something that takes maturity and thousands of reps of getting the body in an "uncomfortable" position before it is "comfortable". What I mean by that is.....when the push is exhausted by 3:00, it feels extremely rushed and makes the pitcher feel as though they are going to fall. So, in order to drill on this, it takes getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. With young kids, thats something they do not like and is extremely hard to do over and over. So, with all that being said, IMO, it takes a lot of time and patience. Hope that helps a little. Overall your DD look really good and seems to have some great mechanics. Good luck.

I agree... good observation Boomer. Superg, if you think about the 2 checkpoints for overlap, your dd is missing both, more so the 1st 3:00 checkpoint than the latter 9:00 checkpoint. The Detachment from the rubber, or at the very least, the stride foot reaching full extension ideally happens at 3:00. AND the heel plant of the stride foot should ideally happen prior to the arm circle reaching 9:00.... much of what I see the best do is heel plant at about 10:30. So in essence, I think this young lady is doing awesome, but she's leaving some velocity on the table as a result of some timing issues. And believe me, this is something I am working on with my own kid and it's very difficult to modify....at least for us. But as she gets closer to the goals, she's squeaking out MPH on her pitch....so it's worth the effort.

A couple of the cues that may help are for her to think about the push from the rubber pulling her arm out of the backswing.
 
Jan 7, 2014
972
0
Western New York
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I super slowed her to 3 o'clock so you can see what the folks are talking about...CP
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
Nice Job DJ..... Amanda is in a better position than Jennie. And remember, Amanda is nowhere near 6'0" tall like Jennie. Because she doesn't have those long levers to generate velocity, she has to more effectively use those levers to throw the ball as hard as Jennie.
 

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