Follow through

I was recently told that if this great coach allowed my daughter to work with him, he will add another 5 mph on her pitch. He said she needed to follow through…ever since then, I keep hearing, "she needs to follow through". My husband even said that the coaches are coaches because they know what they are doing and I need to stop making it about, "what I want, it isn't about me but her. Everyone pitches differently and mechanics is not absolute…people make mechanics and each persons mechanics is different." With saying that, here is video of my daughter…I do have an idea of what she needs to work on but I am keeping it to myself to get an unbiased opinion.[video]https://youtu.be/5hTUMT-epoA[/video]
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5hTUMT-epoA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Core pitching mechanics are absolute. The pitching coach cannot add 5 MPH to her speed. She can add 5 MPH by working hard, tightening up her mechanics, and growing.

What I mean by that if she did those three things on her own with a mop bucket as a pitching coach she could achieve 5 more MPH in 1.5 to 2.0 years.

You may need a pitching coach for the tightning of mechanics if you or her are unsure of what needs to be made more efficient.

A major overhaul is not needed. Specifically there are some foot work movements that could be made more efficient.

Any follow through should be relaxed, unforced, and natural. The only real way a follow through can effect the speed of a pitch is if that follow through is forced and causes stiffness or a muscling of the arm and wrist through the whip phase. In other words it makes what should be a loose, whippy action a tight and forced action.

Looking at your video, I would not put much thought into a follow through and instead work on other areas.

Tell DH to stick with his day job! Rick Pauly is her PC and you provide interim reinforcement and support. Enough said.

She is following through. She has good IR, and has the "kiss my hand, dearest umpire" (palm down, finger relaxed) follow through.

Whoever told you worry about her follow through have no clue about the pitching motion. My only nit with her motion is that she should *NOT* be bringing her right foot forward after she throws.

What should you do?

As some background, my DD was a D1 all conference pitcher. So, I had a talented pitcher like your DD. I made every mistake in the book, so you can make all the mistakes I did, or simply follow my advice:

Your DD does has the basic motion down. She doesn't need to see a pitching coach (PC) every week. It is time to start learning pitches. Go to the best PC you can find...even if it means seeing a PC only once or twice a month.

As it turns out, Rick and Sarah Pauly will be in Greenville, SC on October 22. It is a little bit of a drive, but you and your DD will be taking lessons from a couple of the top PCs in the US.

Drop them an email and schedule a lesson.

Don't be shy about getting video and posting it here. We are all about constructive focused comments while showing you exactly what we are talking about and explaining it until you understand it. Some closer up video could help but here are few thing.

First...I don't think we are looking at a major project with huge overhauls needed. Overall she looks pretty sound mechanically but just needs some work around the edges...the off season is here and this is the perfect time to make small improvements now that will pay dividends next season. Follow through is not one of them.

given the angle and distance this is the biggest thing I noticed.

She has to fix the issue with her rear foot. It looks like it is turning and digging into the ground like an anchor. Watch minutes 4-5 for a good explanation but keep watching whole thing for drills at the end (if you have questions about anything else Bill says feel free to ask). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2E4rlUNiBI This is hurting her on several levels, not getting as good a drive a she could and probably keeping her hip from fully releasing. Have her try this get fully extended like she would be at foot plant feet far apart with her foot sideways and heel on the ground just like in the picture. Now have her pick up her heel so only her toe is on the ground and laces to the catcher...like Bill explains in the video and let her feel her hip release it should be pretty noticeable. She should look like Amanda in the still below(disregard the blue line it was for something else focus on back foot). Now have her do the first two drills Bill talks about making sure her heel is off the ground.

The last I knew she already had an amazing pitching coach.....

coach james said:

The last I knew she already had an amazing pitching coach.....

Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking?

Sluggers, please delete this whole thread before Rick sees it... this sort of thing could cut a guy real deep!!! LOL

sluggers said:

She is following through. She has good IR, and has the "kiss my hand, dearest umpire" (palm down, finger relaxed) follow through.

Whoever told you worry about her follow through have no clue about the pitching motion. My only nit with her motion is that she should *NOT* be bringing her right foot forward after she throws.

What should you do?

As some background, my DD was a D1 all conference pitcher. So, I had a talented pitcher like your DD. I made every mistake in the book, so you can make all the mistakes I did, or simply follow my advice:

Your DD does has the basic motion down. She doesn't need to see a pitching coach (PC) every week. It is time to start learning pitches. Go to the best PC you can find...even if it means seeing a PC only once or twice a month.

As it turns out, Rick and Sarah Pauly will be in Greenville, SC on October 22. It is a little bit of a drive, but you and your DD will be taking lessons from a couple of the top PCs in the US.

Drop them an email and schedule a lesson.

Click to expand...

I have been very fortunate to have been able to work with Rick Pauly.

The only reason she brings that foot forward after the pitch is because she was told by someone that she won't be able to field without squaring up afterwards. We get a lot of people who wants to work with her and think if we just fixed a few things she will be great….only thing is they are looking at the wrong things.