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coachdan · 08-11-2008, 12:19 PM

YouTube - Amanda Pitching

Daughter is 10 yrs old has been pitcing for about 2 yrs. She is throwing about 45 mph and can locate fast ball and has a change. We are working a couple of things one is her glove hand flying to the side and not coming straight down. Next we are working the Stork drill hard try to keep her weight and throw against a stiff from side....this is a hard on to break. Any feed back would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Amy in AZ. · 08-11-2008, 03:15 PM

She looks good, especially for her age. That speed is great.

I think you are working on the right thing. Have her do the stork drill, in the house (w/o the ball) to work on her balance. She can do it in front of a reflective window or mirror.

I would encourage her not to slap her thigh, that is pulling her forward and is really bad for her left wrist.

sluggers · 08-11-2008, 03:44 PM

First question: In an hour practice session, how much time is spend on drills on how much time on pitching? Since the regular season is over, she needs to be spending about 45 minutes on drills, and only a few minutes actually pitching.

It sometimes helps to look at a pitcher at 12, 9 and 6.

So, at 12 o'clock, she is in pretty decent shape. Toe has just touched down, so she is a little early with her front foot, but not too bad. Her center-of-gravity has moved forward. She probably needs a little more bend in the right elbow.

Notice that her glove has totally disappeared behind her body. ***The glove should still be pointing at the catcher.*** This is causing her to prematurely close. You might need to focus on fixing this mechanical problem before you do anything else.

At 9, however, everything is messed up. Her front knee is bent, her upper body is over her left foot, and she is dragging the arm. Her hips have closed.

At 6, she is straightening her knee, probably due to encouragement from Dad to "stay up". Her weight is too far forward,

She has the traditional "synchronization" problem where the lower body is finishing the pitching motion before the arm. She will have success at this age, but her motion is worthless when her hips spread in a year or two.

SO:

Drill 1: Carolina walk through. A regular walk though except after she pushes off and throws the ball, she is to keep her right foot OFF THE GROUND. She will fall forward when she does the drill because her weight is moving forward.

Drill 2: She gets open, points her glove and pitching hand toward home, and does circles, *TAPPING* her left foot down each time her arm reaches the release position. On the 5th circle, she throws the ball. She does the arm motion as fast as possible.

Drill 3: She gets open, raises her left foot and throws. She keeps her left foot up during the throw and after the throw. Yes, she throws the ball standing only on her right foot. The goal is for her (1) to throw the ball hard and (2) not to lower her left foot until she gets the ball back from the catcher.

coachdan · 08-12-2008, 05:30 AM

First thanks for the feedback, Slapper you gave some great advice but I do have one question. Drill #1 that you suggested the walk through, we do this drill occasionally but I was under the impression that this was to build speed. We have stopped doing this drill because of the problem with her weight being to far foward. You say that her weight will be forward when finishing the walk through, isn't that what we need to fix ?

Dan

softball33 · 08-12-2008, 02:56 PM

The post titled "i need some tips on mechanical flaws" has some good tips dealing with this same issue.

sluggers · 08-12-2008, 04:19 PM

Dan: Sorry for the confusion.

A standard walk-through is a speed builder. A Carolina walk-through is to correct the "lean forward" problem kids have.

One of the biggest problems in the "lean forward problem" is the kid not being able to feel what she is doing and the dad not being able to see the lean forward. The CWT really amplifies the lean forward problem, making it very easy to detect. When she throws hard, she will look like a circus act trying to keep her balance if she is leaning forward. If she is balanced and centered, it will look like a normal walk through, except that she will be very upright at the end. You will be able to easily see when she does it correctly and when she does it incorrectly.

When your DD first does the drill, she is going to have a real struggle staying balanced. She will fall forward, twist, everything. She has to work at it, but pretty soon she will be able to keep her right foot up and still be balanced.\

She does the drill until she does it right, then you pitch for a while, go back and do the drill some more, etc. (My DD had a really bad lean forward problem, so we worked very hard to fix it.)

The CWT requires that the pitcher stay balanced in all facets of her pitch. She will really smooth out if she does this drill regularly.

08-11-2008, 12:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
coachdan Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 11	Feed back on Mechanics Please YouTube - Amanda Pitching Daughter is 10 yrs old has been pitcing for about 2 yrs. She is throwing about 45 mph and can locate fast ball and has a change. We are working a couple of things one is her glove hand flying to the side and not coming straight down. Next we are working the Stork drill hard try to keep her weight and throw against a stiff from side....this is a hard on to break. Any feed back would be great. Thanks in advance.

08-11-2008, 03:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
sluggers Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 184	First question: In an hour practice session, how much time is spend on drills on how much time on pitching? Since the regular season is over, she needs to be spending about 45 minutes on drills, and only a few minutes actually pitching. It sometimes helps to look at a pitcher at 12, 9 and 6. So, at 12 o'clock, she is in pretty decent shape. Toe has just touched down, so she is a little early with her front foot, but not too bad. Her center-of-gravity has moved forward. She probably needs a little more bend in the right elbow. Notice that her glove has totally disappeared behind her body. *The glove should still be pointing at the catcher.* This is causing her to prematurely close. You might need to focus on fixing this mechanical problem before you do anything else. At 9, however, everything is messed up. Her front knee is bent, her upper body is over her left foot, and she is dragging the arm. Her hips have closed. At 6, she is straightening her knee, probably due to encouragement from Dad to "stay up". Her weight is too far forward, She has the traditional "synchronization" problem where the lower body is finishing the pitching motion before the arm. She will have success at this age, but her motion is worthless when her hips spread in a year or two. SO: Drill 1: Carolina walk through. A regular walk though except after she pushes off and throws the ball, she is to keep her right foot OFF THE GROUND. She will fall forward when she does the drill because her weight is moving forward. Drill 2: She gets open, points her glove and pitching hand toward home, and does circles, TAPPING her left foot down each time her arm reaches the release position. On the 5th circle, she throws the ball. She does the arm motion as fast as possible. Drill 3: She gets open, raises her left foot and throws. She keeps her left foot up during the throw and after the throw. Yes, she throws the ball standing only on her right foot. The goal is for her (1) to throw the ball hard and (2) not to lower her left foot until she gets the ball back from the catcher. Last edited by sluggers; 08-11-2008 at 06:20 PM.

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08-11-2008, 03:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
Amy in AZ. Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 195	She looks good, especially for her age. That speed is great. I think you are working on the right thing. Have her do the stork drill, in the house (w/o the ball) to work on her balance. She can do it in front of a reflective window or mirror. I would encourage her not to slap her thigh, that is pulling her forward and is really bad for her left wrist.

08-12-2008, 05:30 AM	#4 (permalink)
coachdan Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 11	First thanks for the feedback, Slapper you gave some great advice but I do have one question. Drill #1 that you suggested the walk through, we do this drill occasionally but I was under the impression that this was to build speed. We have stopped doing this drill because of the problem with her weight being to far foward. You say that her weight will be forward when finishing the walk through, isn't that what we need to fix ? Dan

08-12-2008, 02:56 PM	#5 (permalink)
softball33 Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 38	The post titled "i need some tips on mechanical flaws" has some good tips dealing with this same issue.

08-12-2008, 04:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
sluggers Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 184	Dan: Sorry for the confusion. A standard walk-through is a speed builder. A Carolina walk-through is to correct the "lean forward" problem kids have. One of the biggest problems in the "lean forward problem" is the kid not being able to feel what she is doing and the dad not being able to see the lean forward. The CWT really amplifies the lean forward problem, making it very easy to detect. When she throws hard, she will look like a circus act trying to keep her balance if she is leaning forward. If she is balanced and centered, it will look like a normal walk through, except that she will be very upright at the end. You will be able to easily see when she does it correctly and when she does it incorrectly. When your DD first does the drill, she is going to have a real struggle staying balanced. She will fall forward, twist, everything. She has to work at it, but pretty soon she will be able to keep her right foot up and still be balanced.\ She does the drill until she does it right, then you pitch for a while, go back and do the drill some more, etc. (My DD had a really bad lean forward problem, so we worked very hard to fix it.) The CWT requires that the pitcher stay balanced in all facets of her pitch. She will really smooth out if she does this drill regularly.