97bucketdad DD *VIDEO*
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- Aug 19, 2011
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I don't think it has anything at all to do with the pitch, it's just kind of like that little loop Jim Furyk has in his backswing where he takes it back steep and then slots it inside for the downswing. Finch swings out as she takes the ball back but drops right back in. Just a grooved motion.
Interesting. I would think everything she does would be deliberate but who knows. She is so good that she may not care if some pitch was a little telegraphed. I thought it was a screwball but her screwball practice pitch video doesn't quite look the same. Haven't seen another video yet that shows it as good as this one. To me...it does feel pretty natural... to swing it out a little to get it on the path of the power line though. Will have to check more videos.
Wannahit..don't know if your asking me or not. I am a dad and i do work with other pitchers, have coached but I not a pc per se…so keep that in mind…but here's my opinion.
When we started the leap...we stopped mentioning up within the first couple days, if not the first day. Its out/forward imo.
If you watch the hips (where the hip socket is) of most good pitchers…once they push off …their hips don't really go up. So there is not as much an upward thrust as a forward thrust. Most keep there head on a level plane…and it doesn't go up and down either.
As far as arm circle for height of leap…i am not sure what you mean.
You will probably notice that the higher they bring the knee (Finch) the more the ball is at the knee at the highest point of the knee. The lower the knee…the higher the ball will be above the knee…but still sync'd in transitioning to 9 o'clock.
I do believe that the higher you bring the knee…the longer the stride can be…if the push off is strong enough and stride quick enough to accommodate it AND if the arm speed can keep up and stay synced. See Escobedo…she brings her knee high too.
Remember that the overlap BM mentions and the ball in relation to the highest point of the knee is a "transition" from one point to another...in my mind.
So i don't confuse anyone…here is how i see this. The focus points for us is the
Point #1. Launch position…ready for push off….to get to #2.
Point #2. 9 o'clock position (ball arm reach…stride leg extended…not locked). The sync is a transition point…between #1 and #2 and we used the highest point of the knee because that is when we saw pitchers extending their stride leg. Which we wanted to do… to get to our #3 position.
Point #3. 1 o'clock to 2 o'clock…this was our next point (sequence if you don't mind) in striding. 12 o'clock was a transition area that we didn't concentrate on till later looking to see where ball was pointed and if arm was locked. The transition from our #2 point to #3 point…we didn't really spend much time on…we focused on being open during that transition..but it was kind of a natural transition…that didn't and hasn't with other girls been real time consuming.
Point #4. 3 o'clock …weight bearing part of the sequence where the front stride foot takes the weight of the body. The transition from #3 point to #4 point is getting weight loaded on front stride leg.
Point #5. 6 o'clock / Release point.
You can see here is my dd. Its paused at the knee at highest level (transition point). Then at/near our #2 point then at our #3 point.
I don't know if that helps or makes it more confusing!
I can see where that coach wants to slow down the arm swing…in bucketsdad video….so she synchs with the lower body. I would rather try and get the lower body sync'd with the arm swing with his dd.
Look at her first pause point. Thats where the knee is the highest point. The ball location just above it is ok imo. However she doesn't extend stride leg and open there…she continues going and really doesn't extend/open the lower body till the ball is about 11 o'clock or even later really.
If she was to extend the stride leg and open where the knee is at its highest point…she would sync better. It might look more like a step at first…rather than leap but thats ok…till she can push off stronger and stay in sync.
This should be an easy fix…as you can dry pitch that sync point till you feel it and see it in the house…from launch to 3 o'clock. I had one young lady that was opposite. She brought knee high and her arm would be down by her side…yet she didn't have the arm speed to be in sync at 9 oclock. It was harder to deal with than the other way around.
Hopefully BM or someone else can explain it better!
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- Feb 4, 2009
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bobby for the girl you referenced earlier w/ the following "I had one young lady that was opposite. She brought knee high and her arm would be down by her side…yet she didn't have the arm speed to be in sync at 9 oclock. It was harder to deal with than the other way around."
Could you give some details of things you did to help her w/ getting her arm and body more in sync?
Could you give some details of things you did to help her w/ getting her arm and body more in sync?
bobby . my question about the apex of the leap and the arm position comes from trying to teach my pitchers not to use their drag foot as an ancher, and i have been to some instructors who have stressed the up together, down together type of motion, using gravity to help with the down part, in viewing footage of pitchers like white, gillis, hillhouse, they seem to have more up, and at the apex of their leap their toe of the drag foot is barely touching the ground, and the ball is directly above their head facing the catcher, this position seems quite consistant with them, and none of them appear to snap their lead leg out straight like a german soldier, it appears to be more of an athletic move up and out.
- Apr 25, 2010
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Keep in mind, also, that the men are allowed to leap, so they don't necessarily have a "drag" foot.
Have you ever seen a person walk…where their left and right side wasn't sync'd? Where the arm swing was with the wrong leg and made them look stiff? This was her.
This young lady is/was not a very athletic kid. I could tell in our warm ups that she was not very flexible for a young girl (12 at the time) and her over hand throw was really bad. So we did a lot of stretching and overhand throwing for one.
After seeing the basic verbal cues for the first part of the pitch wasn't going anywhere…we started physical training and thats pretty much what it became…more physical training than pitching.
During our warm ups…we always jog and do bounding (plyometric) before we do dynamic leg stretches. When this girl would bound…she brought her knee high, with arm on the same side coming up and bounced up. Her head/body was up-down-up-down. Looked more like bouncing and awkward skipping than bounding.
So I taught her how to bound…with the head staying level…right elbow goes up when left knee comes up..ect. We would bound with knee high… thigh parallel to the ground…then on the way back we did it with knee lower. We did this a lot…till she got it. It took her well over a month to even get fairly smooth with it. She had a very hard time with it. My dd learned to bound like the first day we ever did it.
I also had her do…front leg thrust kicks (both legs)… like she was going to kick down someones shin…from my karate days. Its where you bring your knee up and push out to kick…verses snapping from the knee (front leg snap kicks). I wanted her to feel extending the leg with her knee lower…without snapping it. That thrust kick/push out is a very comparable feel… to the extending the leg to get to 9 o'clock. Feels like an exaggerated ….stepping over something side ways too. We progressed into lateral plyometrics… single leg side hops over a board…stand sideways push off with rear leg…hop to other leg keeping knee below 90 degrees for her. And we did simple core exercise for her age…like planks in different positions.
We didn't have much time for anything else…we just practiced getting from launch to 9 o'clock without a ball. Which is basically leg and arm going up together….pivot/thrust/extend leg before knee gets to 90 degrees. Then we stretch at the end of a workout. Once she got better…we moved on. But man...it took some time.
I felt like a professional trainer after that and 5 lbs lighter.
…but I also think its what made a huge difference. I wouldn't want to go through that again to that degree… but her mom is friends with my wife…so you know how that works. Btw..this young lady is now a freshman and pitched half the games on varsity at a nearby country school. I haven't seen her pitch since before August… but got to listen on the radio when she pitched in districts…sounded like she did ok…she threw a lot of pitches though. She is also…the only other pitcher I let come workout with my dd at the same time…cause she will work and is a very pleasant kid and she is coming to pitch with us today…will be interesting to see what she is doing.
