An unorthodox pitching style?

[Adman]

Hello everyone. I'm brand-spanking new here and this is my first post.

I have a nine year old daughter who is interested in pitching for her softball team (our season has been over for a month). She got to pitch a few times this last season and I thought she was progressing pretty well with the standard stride and drag and closed-open-closed mechanics. Our coach has recently put together a few pitching practices, to finish out the summer, with a local high school pitcher. The pitcher is athletic and she appears to have good mechanics. Her form begins typically, for what I've seen, until she finishes her arm swing and follow through. Instead of finishing with her dragging foot next to, or slightly behind, her planted, striding foot, she steps though PAST her striding foot, while leading with the throwing shoulder. So while the standard pitching form for a right-hander has the pitcher's belly-button always facing forward or to the right, she finishes with her belly-button facing to the left and right foot forward by at least a half step. In other words, the mechanics would now be closed-open-closed-open. I have not been able to find an example online anywhere of this pitching style.

My poor nine year old was totally flummoxed. The impression I got from our coach is that this is THE correct way for them to pitch. The only advantage I see is that the ball's release may be closer to the batter. I also feel that accuracy would be more difficult.

Does this sound at all familiar? Is it even legal? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to imprint on my daughter any bad habits or an illegal/inefficient pitching form.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[chinamigarden]

You know its wrong. Don't try to justify your daughter learning it. Get her proper instruction and if the coach doesn't like it, then you should move your dd to a different team. Its one thing for a coach to not know how to pitch, its another to demand the girls pitch wrong, just because it "works" for one HS girl.

 

[MandM]

This is incorrect mechanics. If you need further confirmation- and want to make the point to your daughter's coach, there are 16+ pages of posted videos of elite pitchers at the beginning of this page- watch some of them. That will be answer enough.

 

[MandM]

Sorry, that is at the beginning of the "softball pitching" page, a thread entitled "model pitchers"

 

[Adman]

Thanks for the replies!

You know its wrong. Don't try to justify your daughter learning it. Get her proper instruction and if the coach doesn't like it, then you should move your dd to a different team. Its one thing for a coach to not know how to pitch, its another to demand the girls pitch wrong, just because it "works" for one HS girl.

I'm not necessarily trying to justify anything. I'm holding out the possibility that I don't know everything. It's also possible that I misinterpreted mechanics or intent. I didn't know if there was some interim step for young players that was more in line as an early training tool, that could naturally be discarded later. But to your point, my gut feeling was that something was fishy. The girl teaching had talent, and appeared to be very practiced, so I thought I'd research a bit before being too firm in my assessment. I've also made a call to a local pitching coach, and am waiting to talk to her about it.

@MandM: Yes, thanks. I saw the videos thread and am slowly giving it a look. What I've viewed is much the same as my earlier research. I'm still trying to decide, in a tactful way, how to approach talking to my daughter's team coach.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[coachdan]

I would be liery of an coach that tells your daughter to close, open, close or as some on this board would say slam the door style of pitching. The hips should only close 45-53 degrees at release, if PC is telling your to close the hips all the way toward the catcher I would be looking another pitching coach.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Are you paying for this instruction?
Just find your own pitching coach and see her weekly.

 

[Adman]

The hips should only close 45-53 degrees at release...

This is actually the approx. range/angle of her hips to the plate I've been trying to have her aim for during our practice. When her hips are square to the plate before release, she's often over rotated and her hand/forearm has a greater chance of hitting her right thigh. Her aim also then shoots to the left. I'll stick to what we've been doing at home until I can hear back from an experienced pitching coach.

Thanks.

 

[halskinner]

Adam,

what I am getting out of this original post, that pitcher is 'Walking through the pitch'. You do not want to do this. This is a very weak pitcher and a very uninformed coach.. She has no resistance against the stride leg

Walk away from this one.

 

[Adman]

Adam,

what I am getting out of this original post, that pitcher is 'Walking through the pitch'.

Thank you. Exactly. The pitcher (and team coach) was asking the kids to, in effect, "walk through the pitch" (finish with throwing hand/foot forward). You've summed it up right there.

...walking away...