9U DD pitching Video, Beginning our Journey

[FiveFrameSwing]

You do not ask 9 year olds to whack their arm into their bodies.

Is there a particular age when you ask a kid to "whack their arm into their bodies".

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

No one is suggesting 9yo hit their hips, it's called "brush interference" and does not cause injuries. Stop perpetuating this myth.

I call it "brush assisted whip".

Still curious at what age OILF finally begins teaching this?

To me, what is referred to as IR on this message board goes hand-in-hand with "brush assisted whip".

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

You assume much... "Whacking" the hip/thigh works well for the kids I work with. They get it and they realize the benefits in speed and control. No bruises, pain or complaints. For those who make it part of their motion: just happy kids, parents and coaches...

It's so true. So many young kids think their windmill motion should not brush their body .... the notion doesn't come to them naturally .... and they have to learn, or be introduced, that this "whack" is more a "glance" that automates the whip they desire .... as you said, leads to happy kids, parents and coaches. But hey ... OILF will tell us at what age it is okay to begin teaching proper mechanics.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

I suppose if someone describes "brush assisted whip" as a "whack", then perhaps they are thinking that the notion is to slam their forearm squarely into their side with the hope of dislodging the ball forward from their hand ...... rather than causing a rapid rotation of the forearm.

Just sad when someone misses the bus like this.

 

[JJsqueeze]

The big problem with naysaying brush interference is that even more so than pulling the ball down the circle, this mechanic is simply missing from most instruction. In fact it is flat out contradicted by ever PC and coach I have run across with the exception of RIch Balswick, Rick Pauly and others I found through this site. Everyone seems to be caught in "release point" terminology without understanding that there is only one release point, it is triggered by brush interference, high low control is a matter of weight distribution and posture at the time when this brush triggers release.

As for natural, I dunno, when my older DD first started pitching, I was amazed at her hi/lo consistency. By that I mean that much more than other 10 year olds who first started, she was throwing within a plate bouncer and an extended arm of a catcher, noticeably absent from her was the 4 bouncer to home and the over the backstop pitch that is so common with brand new pitchers. I asked HER how she did it (and this is in my pre-DFP days) and she showed me that she pulls her arm into her side and releases at contact. She used to get a bruised hip from this sometimes and it did worry me, but I thank fully never trained her to clear her hips, I just tried to get her to get the fleshy part of her forearm to contact and not the point of her elbow.

I watch pitchers day in and day out and there is such a close correlation between good control and having a tight arm circle that brushes the hip/thigh that it amazes me that anyone who watches pitchers can possibly not see it.

The only part of the equation that confuses me is when i see Bill Hillhouse talking about brushing the belly and not mentioning the strong video evidence of a brush that is more at the hip/thigh in world class pitchers.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

IMO there is a strong correlation between what Doug Gillis teaches, Bill Hillhouse and Mike White. It is as if they all went the the Doug Gillis school of pitching. They often use the exact same terminology .... some of which is used back on Gillis's VHS pitching material that he put out over a decade ago. The information has been out there for those that searched for it.

 

[riseball]

You do not ask 9 year olds to whack their arm into their bodies. Simply putting the arm slot in the proper place where the very top of the arm hits the armpit is enough. I really hate how all of this stuff gets rehashed by rote without any thinking of the effects on young kids. While you teach 1 DD and talk to others on boards, we teach multiple girls a year at that age. Not one does it or wants to, nor do we need that to make them good pitchers. Later if they want to, they can address that issue when they want to throw spin. Most say No even at that time or use the upper ribcage or like BH, the belly.

Whacking the hip or thigh (people seem to disagree) is for the benefit of the parents and adults, not the kids. It is for control. Other drills work better for control by teaching body awareness, particularly the way girls pitch now (not like 20 years ago). There are no shortcuts and the goal is to teach the kid a love for the game.

Yet another whacked screwball post from our resident pitching troll. Have you ever at any point developed what anyone would consider an elite pitcher?

 

[WillyT812]

OILF uses this site to mine for students, nothing more. Good PCs don't have enough time for all of the DDs out there needing their services. OILF has to drum up her business because word of mouth isn't working for her. I can promise you OILF is pm these people steering them over to whatever snake oil she's selling.

Anyway AUTiger, have your daughter learn to throw underhand first. Can't emphasize enough you'll have to stripe a ball and look for a nice 1 to 7 spin. You'll need to video her over and over showing her progress and non-progress. The forearm/wrist/ball should rotate through release. If the hand gets behind the ball and travels with the ball in the hand, then she's still pushing. She'll learn, it just takes a while.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

The OILF whack in action ......

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Whack it good .....