Comments/criticisms please

[Doug Romrell]

When driving out, start trying to get the legs to look more like THIS (also from Javasource):

Don't start opening before you initiate the drive (i.e., note the pitchers above--they don't turn their push foot very much).

The arms won't necessarily be like this.



Just focusing on these two things will correct a lot that is going wrong with her drive.


Also, she will open automatically if she gets an explosive drive. Looks to me like she's POPPING open to forcefully, which to me leads to a loss of drive power. Don't get me wrong, she should get open, but if she explodes out, she will/should pop open automatically without the forceful opening.

 

[Doug Romrell]

She does tend to get behind the ball going into release.

For arm mechanics, work on THIS (Boardmember's):

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/10321-i-r-classroom.html#post116738

 

[Doug Romrell]

Let me also suggest you pick your battles--don't work on too many things. Start with the foundational aspects of the drive mechanics (what's going on to initiate the drive off the plate). Also start with arm-whip and internal rotation drills that don't require the leg drive.

 

[Ebbycalvin]

wow.
she looks a lot like my DD did, about when we started to learn I/R and good drive mechanics.
(a little over a year ago...)



I'm no expert on cures, but I can identify a few flaws to try and fix.

RED LINE: extreme shoulder tilt
GREEN LINE: no brush from elbow down
BLUE LINE: extreme body tilt

Most of this is addressed by correcting posture.
I suspect that her release point is still pretty far forward (at or beyond her front thigh...) and she still regards her shoulder as her main source of power in her pitch. But I am far from expert.

One difference I see between your DD and mine at the same point in development,
is that your DD doesn't "turn out" and maintains a palm-up position over the top and down to 9:00.
That's great!

Look like she's pretty athletic, and gets good velocity now, for a 10U.
You'll both be ecstatic on the improvement as you progress.
Stay with it, diligently, through the rest of Winter and Spring.
I predict a good season for her...

Thank you corlay. Great feedback. Her release point is well ahead of the thigh. And yes she is still using more shoulder than anything to muscle the ball. I spent about a year learning everything we shouldn't do and am now making corrections. Needless to say she doesn't have a lot faith in what I'm telling her now since I have contradicted a lot of what I originally told her to work on a year ago (wrist flips, hand on top of ball, close the door...all the good stuff). Now I feel I have a clearer picture of what the motion should look like since discovering this site but she is questioning my knowledge, and who can blame her. Any drills/suggestions to help correct her posture? Thanks.

 

[Ebbycalvin]

Thanks Doug. Greatly appreciated.

 

[CLM265]

She has a nice push off helped by driving out with her knee. She then tries to force her turn. Watch Luna and how natural it is for her. She just lets it happen. I would work on that in her full motion first and then work down stream from there.

[video]http://oi61.tinypic.com/sdo9pf.jpg[/video]

 

[JJsqueeze]

To add on to Doug and Corlay's good advice. One thing to note is the left-right-left momentum she is generating during the drive and pant. That puts some wobbles in the system that are not needed. Starting with a wide stance is nice, but try to let her slide her pivot foot over so she can drive in line to the catcher and avoid having excessive left to right energy being bled when she transfers from rear to front foot in the drive.

 

[Perfect Circle]

I like the way she's digging in on the rubber. Starting out, DD would always dig in , just to anoy other pitcher

 

[BT3100]

The shoulder tilt that Corlay pointed out is a big reason as to why some girls get lower back pain.
They lean like that to "aim" the pitch. They are trying to force it into a spot. My DD did the same thing and did have lower back issues.
The walk through drill will help but she needs to straighten out and trust her stuff. It will take a while for her to get comfortable with not aiming the ball. It will come.. Another thing to do as your DD is built like mine, would be intense core strength training. When my DD went to the doctor's for her back they determined it was a core strength issue. She started doing 10-15 minutes of exercises per day. Not only did her back stop hurting her pitching speed increased pretty significantly.
Good Luck.