BI help! Indiana clinicians...???

[kaley1]

My dd stress fractured her forearm last fall. She was jamming her forearm into her hip/leg (the deceleration was awesome, hitting her fastest speeds), unfortunately causing the injury. She still has a little pain from time to time, which the doc said might happen for up to a year. MRI in Jan shows she's all clear, but it scares her into questioning the BI/IR being in sync.

Any mechanical issues? Not enough brush? IR happening fast enough? BI enough? Anything else?

June is closing in fast on this 2019 lefty!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_gGaPVRnTU

 

[SoGASoftball]

Just a quick question... How many pitches was she throwing a day, a week, a month? And how much time did she take off each year? Mechanics look good, but I'll defer to the experts.

 

[quincy]

She caused a stress fracture pitching?

 

[kaley1]

Yes, in her ulna bone.

She wasn't overpitching. She was literally "whacking" her forearm into her leg. You couldn't tell by watching, so we had no idea. We're pretty confident she hasn't done it since the injury, but I need to make sure these mechanics are good!

I need to know if she's rolling through it enough or if she should be starting more behind the hip?

 

[Ken B]

Please keep in mind that I have no medical knowledge, but will offer some observations that are concerning to me:

-Straight arm (little opportunity for the wrap/roll/brush around the thigh)
-Very open at release



When I try throwing like that, I feel more of a bonk on my upper forearm against my hip bone. I would not want to throw like that for long. Although it seems counterintuitive, the wrap/roll/brush I feel does not hurt or bonk when my hips are around 45 degrees and I tuck my elbow in behind my hip bone.

I know it seems weird, but this contact doesn't hurt:

 

[kaley1]

Thanks, Ken. We'll try to get more wrap and not be open as much! The wrap is easy to do is slow...tougher to do it full speed.

 

[Ken B]

Welcome--just keep in mind that I cannot prove that wrap/roll/brush is safer than anything else. All I can do is offer an opinion based on my experience.

 

[javasource]

D,

After seeing M pitch in person (in Indiana) - a few things became very evident:

1) She is heavily pre-occupied (mentally) with getting her speed back. Not a bad thing...
2) Her spin axis needs improvement.
3) Her circle is pushing her body back.
4) She might have once been a crow-hopper... just playing a hunch.

Speed work is important... just need to be sure that we recognize that we cannot replace stability with effort forward... in the circle, that is.

She is/was releasing the curve and rise incorrectly ... getting a bullet spin. You can even see in this video how inside and flat her wrist is. We talked about raising the narrows on her rise and moving the thumb back into a position where she can throw the ball over it. This resultant cupping of the wrist will go a long way... just be willing to sacrifice a little speed on the rise for better spin DIRECTION. Hearing that her spin rates are now in the upper 20's is awesome... just remember that the spin direction must compliment the pitch... or you're just throwing a ball with a target on it for the batter (dot).

One thing that may be very beneficial for her 'brush' dilemma... is to really work on the discipline of the the two vertical pitches (drop & rise). With the drop, she really needs to work on pronating the forearm (ken's roll)... and a great cue for that is to work the fastball into a position where the thumb gets forward & down the front of the ball. With this pitch... we benefit most from "finding the bottom" of the circle. Watch Cat... she is/was incredible with this... her thumb gets forward at release... and there is no cup in her wrist (finger tips oriented down). Internal Rotation does not require this (of the shoulder), but pronation (of the elbow) does. Before asking too many questions on this... read through it with her and have her try to interpret what I mean... that picture will speak a million words. This pitch should be innately "tighter" to the body than the rise.

On the rise... slicing through that zone with some cup in the wrist really helps the athlete get her fingers in the best position to impart the best spin. Remember, the circle (centrifugal force) is going to try and pull the cup out of the wrist... so moving that thumb closer to the index finger helps force (or necessitates) a little cup of the wrist (or as I told her "raises the narrows"). As we must work down the ball with some cup... this pitch is much less "tight" to the body. Still will be some contact... but it will be minimal.

Regarding the circle... This is something I recently found in my notebook... totally forgot to talk to you guys about this... so here goes:

When she is coming up the circle... her throwing arm is crossing over in front of her way too much. Almost appears that she is trying to bring that arm over to the glove side. As such, you can see how close her arm gets to her face/head... and really delays the NATURAL opening of the shoulders. Her hips are open by three o'clock... and yet her shoulders never really follow because her circle is so close to her body. I was waiting for someone to comment on her 'glove swim'... but the real issue here is the throwing arm PATH... not the glove arm. Watch how much the arm causes her back to arch rearward as she is passing over top. I'd really LOVE to see her bring the ball up the circle IN-LINE with the throwing shoulder... even slightly outside it. Bring the glove over to the left side... instead of the ball over to the right side. Simply put... let's draw a circle that is at or slightly outside the throwing shoulder. I'd also like to see her bring her glove down so that the thumb side of the glove contacts her leg.... not the pinky side of the glove. Making this correction to the circle plane will greatly benefit the backside of the pitch, too.

Regarding the crow hop comment... Crow-hoppers try and open... by firing the hips open... and by planting at a SEVERE plant angle. M is planting dang near to 90-degrees. This angle of the front foot will impact the rear, too... and the hips. I see a kid that cannot elevate the heel well when she plants at 90. Heel elevation is everything for the drop... as it elevates the rear hip, too. Again, watch Cat... and note how her heel is always raised... which subsequently raises her hip. A higher release point lets us better "throw downhill". To better facilitate this... and Ken's roll... M really needs to work on planting at 45. Seldom would I require this... but with her I would. THis will allow for her shoulders to naturally re-align with her hips... and in a position that allows the 'roll' to happen more naturally.

Really sorry for being so distant... really wish I could work with you guys weekly. She's a star.

 

[kaley1]

Okay, can you help me understand a few things because she WILL ask?!

1) What is the ball coming too close to her head doing to her pitch?
2) Her circle is pushing her body back? I don't understand this at all... pushing her body back? (maybe you mean what I mention in my #4?)
3)Making this correction to the circle plane will greatly benefit the backside of the pitch, too.? The backside? probably ties in to question #2?
4) She was taught (not mentioning names) to really stick her chest out during the pitch (as she's opening), probably causing the arched back and circle too close to her?
5) How much should we even be working on the "brush delimma"? She gets brush -- I feel like we spend too much time on this????
6) I know you guys aren't crazy about in/out, especially the screw, but it's a good pitch for her as a lefty, really good, and we don't spend much time on it. It's clearly her fastest pitch, she thinks because of the front side resistance of this pitch. She drives more into the front leg on this pitch. How can we improve that on other pitches? I think you and Doug both told us she drives the front leg out and then it just drops. I need practical drills to correct this, right?

Land foot is a work in progress (45) -- I thought we had it beat, obviously not.
Rise is improving -- thumb is off completely -- lost speed but better spin. As was her goal, it is quickly becoming a dominating pitch.

Any response would be great! Wish we had you in Missouri, Java!

 

[4 girl's dad]

"Regarding the crow hop comment... Crow-hoppers try and open... by firing the hips open... and by planting at a SEVERE plant angle. M is planting dang near to 90-degrees. This angle of the front foot will impact the rear, too... and the hips. I see a kid that cannot elevate the heel well when she plants at 90. Heel elevation is everything for the drop... as it elevates the rear hip, too. Again, watch Cat... and note how her heel is always raised... which subsequently raises her hip. A higher release point lets us better "throw downhill". To better facilitate this... and Ken's roll... M really needs to work on planting at 45. Seldom would I require this... but with her I would. THis will allow for her shoulders to naturally re-align with her hips... and in a position that allows the 'roll' to happen more naturally."




I'm really seeing more and more of the plant foot facing toes to the catcher with the correct release angles. I have been working on this with a couple of our team pitchers and, when they do it, it helps. Old habits die hard but at 10u, we have some time to fix it.

I have really been watching the better pitchers plant foot and most are landing nearly toe pointing at catcher. In my personal pitching practice, I can feel this is a better angle and gets the arm behind me for more BI and core power, but I am 43 and not as nimble as I used to be Most PC's we have been to dont emphasize the plant foot enough and it creates bad habits, IMO.

Best of luck to your DD on the journey!