Diagnosing Lean towards 3rd

[JJsqueeze]

I got beat down for suggesting this earlier.

Glad I am not the only one that sees it. Again, I am not saying that your push foot has to be perfectly at 90 degrees, but the the push foot should not be opening the body.

I think this and what Jryan posted is great advice, but I think it is much more related to the forward lean and the feel of jumping onto your front foot instead of gliding on your rear foot.

 

[javasource]

Water,

First off, your DD has a beautiful whip... seriously high ceiling for this girl. Reminds me soooo much of a girl I work with (Mike B... you see this?!!!)

Nice job... would love to work with this kid.

Anyway, your DD's timing is off. She has zero forward momentum until she's deep into the backswing. Her circle is getting way ahead of her legs.

Take a look at the original 2-Step (you'll see her twin) post. Have her do the drill:

1) Get rid of that BIG bend at the waist in her wind-up for now. Instead, move her focus towards establishing a lean forward (whole body moving forward) in place of that deep stick-your-butt-out-bend.

2) Big toe, less foot flare. Focus on driving out OVER the big toe... not off the side of it. Call it a big toe push... no little toes needed.

3) after release of the ball, tell her to push back against the ground.

Simply put... have her copy the motions of that girl in the post. Re-post that attempt or send me a PM. She looks AWESOME!

 

[Doug Romrell]

...your DD's timing is off. She has zero forward momentum until she's deep into the backswing. Her circle is getting way ahead of her legs.

The stuff Javasource has taught us in this regard gets us to realize that in order for the legs to win the race, and they should, they need to be very explosive long before the arm is explosive. That is, young pitchers start out understanding the need for a fast arm. They generally do not understand that the legs must be explosive FIRST. Further, they have a harder time understanding how to get the greatest power from their legs into their pitch. Nor do they understand the concept of "connection" throughout their bodies. We all know that pitching is an entire body thing, not just an arm action with a quasi-leap toward the target.

Javasource's Drive Mechanics thread (a true gem), along with his other associated posts (also true gems), have helped me immensely in this regard. For me, around the time the drag foot pulls away from the pitching plate, there should be a sense of urgency for the arm to catch up, but it should take until the whip-snap (release) for the pitcher to feel the arm is finally catching up. This adds real speed to the pitch.

The pitcher has to feel, and understand the need for, the arm lagging behind during the explosiveness phase of the drive off the pitching plate. Javasource will have to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I get from his stuff.

1) Get rid of that BIG bend at the waist in her wind-up for now. Instead, move her focus towards establishing a lean forward (whole body moving forward) in place of that deep stick-your-butt-out-bend.

2) Big toe, less foot flare. Focus on driving out OVER the big toe... not off the side of it. Call it a big toe push... no little toes needed.

3) after release of the ball, tell her to push back against the ground.

I see the lean Java speaks of as another sense of urgency that must be established before the actual toe-n-go. I also see a need to stay somewhat square to the catcher during this initial phase. If she gets an explosive drive, she'll automatically open up. I think her push foot turns a little too much because she's thinking she needs to open. Get the maximum explosive drive toward the catcher and you'll automatically open.

I think it was Boardmember, along with Java, to get me really pushing this push-back against the ground as your land foot hits the ground. I think the tendency is to do this way too late, not achieving the maximum resistance to throw against.

It's always good to have Javasource, the drive mechanics king, chime in!

 

[javasource]

JJ,

Love your drexl avatar. Gary Oldman is awesome. Best actor that has never won an Oscar...

 

[JJsqueeze]

JJ,

Love your drexl avatar. Gary Oldman is awesome. Best actor that's never won an Oscar...

One of Oldman's great performances....along with The Professional.

 

[Watershed]

Ok. Tonight's was second attempt at two-step drill. First time, a few days ago, without pitchers plate = gym step. Oops. Did some dry runs today without the ball for about 30-min. The last dozen or so were pretty similar to this video. Most of the pitches had a carry through step after release. First time I've ever noticed her do this. Assuming momentum carried through that wasn't harnessed into pitch?

http://youtu.be/8QYJcur5ew0

 

[javasource]

Yep, you got it. Have her push back for resistance... will give her something to whip against. (#3 above).

Also, she looks pretty comfortable... start limiting the amount she steps backwards into more of just lifting the foot... keeping her foot on the mat. This will get her timing right... she's close.

Establish a slow rhythm to the drill.

Lastly, have her work on getting the knee out to the target (stride knee) so that it gets perpendicular to her torso.

Doing great, keep posting updates!

 

[Watershed]

Thanks JS. Now that we know the blow through is happening we'll work on firming up that front side even harder. I teased her about having a concrete shoe on her drive foot.

Really happy on how this drill is starting to work that lean out towards third. Less bend in waist and hind end jutting out.

http://youtu.be/1lVJf9KixiE

 

[Doug Romrell]

Lastly, have her work on getting the knee out to the target (stride knee) so that it gets perpendicular to her torso.

I have found this to be extremely important. As mentioned, I'm currently working with a pitcher who has always had an excessive lean toward 3B. Our current focus is getting her more square to the target in the initial phase of her drive out. She has the tendency of turning her push foot too much and turning her stride knee way too early. She's always wanted to start opening before she pushes and as she takes her stride knee out.

Again, I am a firm believer in staying square to the catcher with the legs (feet pointed straight, or very nearly straight, toward the catcher). In my opinion, the pitcher will finish opening with the lower half (hips, legs, feet) at that moment when the push foot reaches the end of its push and the stride leg reaches its maximum reach. As the legs reach their maximum spread/reach, in a microsecond, the back/push foot goes from being pointed toward the catcher to being pointed toward the short-stop. This is, for me, the moment of popping open.

 

[javasource]

Water, that's awesome... even has a little resistance on that back shot. Replacing that bend with forward momentum has really helped her posture... flexing the hip more (knee out) and added resistance will do the rest. She has a bright future.