Teaching arm whip

cblake33 · Oct 4, 2010

Just wondering what the best drills are for helping young pitchers ( 10u-12u ) understand the feeling of arm whip. Couple girls I am working with have good arm circles , but are locked out at the elbow and just spin there arm around and release.

What is the best way to help them understand what arm whip feels like? Any training aids ?

sluggers · Oct 4, 2010

IMHO, the best drill is a pond and a bunch of skipping stones.

Explain what "the whip" is, and then do a drill where the pitcher gets open, takes the ball back to 9, and throws. Have them pause with the arm at 9, and then you adjust the upper arm and forearm to form the correct angle. Do this until the pitcher can do this herself. After you've done this several times, then go to a pond and teach them to skip stones.

You need to make sure there are lots of skipping stones, because they will have a lot of fun.

starsnuffer · Oct 4, 2010

Make sure they're not locking their arm to start with. try this link

Have them actually hold a dishrag instead of a ball so they can hear/feel the difference in snap.

-W

halskinner · Oct 4, 2010

Take them to a bowling alley and teach them to bowl with a slight bend in the elbow.

Then, take them to the park and habe them pitch with a slight bend in the elbow.

Sneaky Softball Pitching.com

cblake33 · Oct 4, 2010

All great suggestions. starsnuffer thanks for the video link. Exactly what their doing. Think I will start with skipping stones and go from there.

Thanks for the help

Perfect Circle · Dec 1, 2016

Found a little technique ... anyone tried this ???

<video width="512" height="100%" controls loop video controls autoplay>
<source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58923514/Resent/T%26F_HB.mp4" />
</video>

Would love to see the catcher, catch that.... Tarp only for us... :{))
Like to have BT hand DD one of them purple socks, or RF hand her a black or red one now...

coach james · Dec 2, 2016

I've tried the sock... You do feel a whipping action. However, it's the ball and sock that your feeling...not your arm. I'd be curious to see if Rachel Fico still uses this drill with her students.
I prefer using a Tee ball bat, choke up as nesc. Go to the T position with palms up. Then let them fall. The arms will turn inward naturally (IR) The player will really FEEL the whip in her arm. I'll also use this same drill with a 1 pound cannonball. The arm will definitely feel the whipping action.

Man10 · Dec 2, 2016

coach james said:
I've tried the sock... You do feel a whipping action. However, it's the ball and sock that your feeling...not your arm. I'd be curious to see if Rachel Fico still uses this drill with her students.
I prefer using a Tee ball bat, choke up as nesc. Go to the T position with palms up. Then let them fall. The arms will turn inward naturally (IR) The player will really FEEL the whip in her arm. I'll also use this same drill with a 1 pound cannonball. The arm will definitely feel the whipping action.

^^^^^^^^^This helped my DD feel the whip better than anything we have done. Our biggest issue with arm movement is a straight arm that turns the ball toward third from 11 to 10 but then she rescues it around9:00 or 8:30 usually. Anyone can help me fix those two things, I'll send u a check. lol

Perfect Circle · Dec 2, 2016

coach james said:
I've tried the sock... You do feel a whipping action. However, it's the ball and sock that your feeling...not your arm. I'd be curious to see if Rachel Fico still uses this drill with her students.
I prefer using a Tee ball bat, choke up as nesc. Go to the T position with palms up. Then let them fall. The arms will turn inward naturally (IR) The player will really FEEL the whip in her arm. I'll also use this same drill with a 1 pound cannonball. The arm will definitely feel the whipping action.

Ok... we tried the Sock, scared the heck out of her catcher. It was fun.... Ready to read your instruction... Thx

<video width="512" height="100%" controls loop video controls autoplay>
<source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58923514/4funfielding/Sock_HB.mp4" />
</video>

CoachJD · Dec 2, 2016

coach james said:
I've tried the sock... You do feel a whipping action. However, it's the ball and sock that your feeling...not your arm. I'd be curious to see if Rachel Fico still uses this drill with her students.
I prefer using a Tee ball bat, choke up as nesc. Go to the T position with palms up. Then let them fall. The arms will turn inward naturally (IR) The player will really FEEL the whip in her arm. I'll also use this same drill with a 1 pound cannonball. The arm will definitely feel the whipping action.

Having trouble visualizing the tee ball bat idea. Anybody have a video of it?

Teaching arm whip

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