Critique Daughters pitching

[derekderek]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could take a look at my DD pitching . She is 10 and has been pitching for about 9 Month now she seems to be picking it up really quick and has advanced passed her peers . I would like to check make sure she is being tought correctly and if there is anything we should be working or something you see in the videos. Thanks

maya - Coach's Eye

Maya pitching - Coach's Eye

maya - Coach's Eye

 

[JAD]

Her hands need to come together with a noticeable pause, I believe ASA rules are a one second minimum. I would also recommend watching some videos of some collegiate pitchers and trying to emulate one you like. I am personally not a big fan of a pitcher raising her arms above her head to start the pitch. It takes additional effort and everything adds up when a pitcher is throwing 100+ pitches/game.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

If this student came to me, for lessons, I would have her lose the pre-motion and the leg slap. My own DD (darling daughter) thought that the motion where she would take the ball waaaay over head, was cool and it just added stress to her shoulder and she was done pitching, by age 17.

A lot of motion prior to the pitch, does nothing at her age to help her pitch. Take a look at the Bill Hillhouse videos on Youtube. He has some really good instruction available for free - or buy his dvd.

She has a lot of good things going for her, so, I always look to simplify the pitch.

 

[derekderek]

Ok thanks for the info so far. She usually does take a pause before pitching as it is required in USFA as well just for some reason she didn't in the videos. I will work on her stopping the upward arm movement as well that might be a challenge and something done over time to break that habit. She is pretty excited and she is doing really well in tournament play. Just need to work on stamina some which will come with mound time.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

Her hands need to come together with a noticeable pause, I believe ASA rules are a one second minimum.

Anecdotal, I know, but I've never umpired a game or even watched a game where I as the PU or my partner as PU forced the pitcher to pause for "one second". All the pitcher has to do, after putting both feet on the pitcher's plate with the hand separated, is bring the hands together to start the motion and go. I've seen pitchers not even touch the hands together until well into the motion - this includes college pitchers - and never get called for not pausing for at least one second.

 

[lhowser]

From what I see your dd does not load or push out with her right leg. She basically hops and pivots (or sometimes just pivots) and pitches. This will eventually have to change to get her the speed and resistance against the front side (left leg) she will need. She will need to push out from her drive leg. It's something you should observe and compare with other pitchers that you like BUT she is only 10. Glad she is doing well.

 

[Comp]

There is no requirement to "pause" after bringing the hands together in most rule sets. Simply bring the hands together and the hands may be in motion when they are brought together. As for the 1 second requirement, there is no way for an umpire to measure if it was .8 seconds or 1.2 seconds. We are instructed if the hands touch it has satisfied the requirement to bring the hands together.

 

[derekderek]

From what I see your dd does not load or push out with her right leg. She basically hops and pivots (or sometimes just pivots) and pitches. This will eventually have to change to get her the speed and resistance against the front side (left leg) she will need. She will need to push out from her drive leg. It's something you should observe and compare with other pitchers that you like BUT she is only 10. Glad she is doing well.

I completely agree with you she does not push off with her right leg. She is very big and strong for her age so she is able to get by without using her legs for now. This is something I want to address very quickly before it becomes to late. Besides just telling her before every pitch push off hard with her leg what other drills can she do to help her? I ordered the Bill Hillhouse dvd just for my own knowledge as well. Thanks for all the help thus far

 

[Rick Pauly]

There are some good things in this young lady. Timing, balance and posture are critical....especially important to perfect at the beginning stages of pitching.....so I've made a couple suggestions.

Check her body posture at release....she is leaning forward of vertical.......should be slightly behind vertical or vertical, but not forward of vertical....it will be difficult for her to efficiently transfer energy. Also, check the timing/balance of her arms.....they are significantly out of balance with the glove way ahead of the ball arm....they should be almost directly across from each other when the ball is at 9 o'clock......this is related to the posture issue above.