Hip Rotation

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My 10 y/o daughter just started pitching this year for our fall league season. We have pitching practices 2 nights a week, team practice two nights a week and 2 games every Sunday, so we don't have a lot of extra time to work on things away from softball right now. Unfortunately also, our youth association doesn't really offer a lot of coaching to the girls who are just starting out in pitching, and our 'pitching practices' are really just father/daughter throwing/pitching sessions. I've been working with my daughter on some of the drills I have found online to help her with her wrist snap and her mechanics. But the one thing I am noticing is that once she has made her stride to the plate and her arm comes around, her hips are not driving around enough and as a result a lot of her pitches are pushing to the right (way inside to a right handed batter). Does anyone have any suggested drills that i might be able to incorporate into our training sessions that might help re-inforce the full hip rotation?

Any help is appreciated.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
She needs to be open toward 3rd base (if she is right handed) with her toes on the power line, until the ball passes the hips. But, her timing is crucial from the Power K position.

I am not certain what you mean about her hips not driving around enough.

She will need to get to a pitching coach, before you can help her by yourself, though.
 
What I meant was that when the ball comes around past her hips, she is not getting completely square to the plate.

As for a pitching coach, we live in southwestern PA and I have been unable to find any pitching coaches in the area. I have found several in the Eastern part of Pennsylvania and a few north of Pittsburgh, but nothing in a reasonable distance from where we are. If anyone can recommend someone in our area, I would be happy to get as many names as possible.
 
Oct 20, 2009
32
0
Using the word "around" (when the ball comes around past her hips) is messing me up. Your DD shouldn't be pitching the ball around her hip. If her hand is going around her hip then that is the reason she is pitching the ball inside to right handed batters. You need to check out the Fastpitch Softball TV Video Show and watch episode 89, 90, & 91 that Bill Hillhouse is instructing. Bill will explain this issue in detail and you will have a much clearer understanding of the pitching mechanics. Also episode 80 & 81 are very informational for beginning pitchers. Good luck and hopefully this helps you fix your DD's mechanics before she develops some bad habits.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
OK. Getting square to the plate has nothing to do with her pitch. The ball should be gone, while she is open to the power line. Pitch and then, square to protect yourself and field the ball.

You are right that she wants to avoid going around the hips, but that would indicate that she is closing too soon.

If you could post some video, we could help better.
 
Thank you. I will be sure to watch them ASAP. That is definitely my hope with all of this. I want to prevent her from developing too many bad habits and to break the few bad habits she has developed in this first month before they become too deep to work out. As I said before, I'm dealing with a small local youth association whose only goal appears to be developing a few of the 'chosen ones' and not all of the girls. I would love to find a pitching coach that can work with my DD and teach her the things that I simply do not know.
 
Apr 25, 2010
772
0
How far is Pittsburgh for you? What do you consider a reasonable distance? I ask because Bill Hillhouse will be doing lessons near the PBurgh Airport here soon and he is well worth the distance driven and the money spent. We drive a little over an hour to see him once per week. We feel that we have been blessed to be able to get our dd in with him. He's great with the girls, shows them from the ground up what to do, explains why they do it, teaches them to recognize what went wrong and how to fix it. Every time we leave his lessons, we have to spend 15-30 minutes listening to my dd talk about what a goof Bill is and how awesome he is. So if your dd truly wants to excel at pitching, I would make every effort to take her to the best coach you can possibly find.
 
Pittsburgh is only about an hour and I work near the airport area, so that would not be an issue. Where can I find info on the lessons he will be doing around here? I would defintely try to get my DD there.
 
Apr 25, 2010
772
0
WTYA_FP_DAD -

Sent you a pm with some info for you. Didn't know if I was allowed to post a link to Bill's site on here or not....
 

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