Jumping off the rubber ain't as easy as it looks...

[GatorGirl]

So we have noticed our bendy knee has slipped back in on us, so I decided to try and work it backwards and asked her to show me how to leap, land, drag and stand tall, stick it, keep it stacked, push back or whatever you call it and I almost busted my you know what.

First off she is a lefty and I am a righty so after some adjustments there I started. Let's just say I have a whole new respect for this and won't be all like "its so easy". At first I kept adding an extra step, then I almost tripped over my own feet, but I finally "got it" sort of. She had a good laugh and said next time she was filming me.


Oh Brother!

 

[JJsqueeze]

Haha...welcome to the club.

 

[halskinner]

Congratulations. I have seen what you are describing hundreds of times in pitchers at all levels.

You have attained 'Pitching Style Limbo'. You tried to pitch like a fast and aggressive 'Leap and Drag' pitcher but tried to 'Stand Tall' at LFT and release, like a pitcher using slow and easy 'Step Style' mechanics. Those step style mechanics cannot accomodate/ contain the stronger and faster mechanics of a L and D pitcher. If you 'stand tall' at lft and release but you have faster and stronger forward momentum, of course you are going to take an extra step and 'walk through' the pitch.

Push off from the rubber with a good forward lean of the body. Land with a slight backwards lean and a slightly bent stride knee. Do that and watch the ball speed increase. DO NOT STAND TALL UNTIL AFTER BALL RELEASE.

Ever walk into a broken turnstile at a fair? Your bottom half comes to an abrupt halt but your top half tries to keep going forward. Remember the 'Ugh' and the stress you felt in your lower back when it happened? In the lumbar area? That is the exact thing that happens when you are standing tall at LFT and release. All that energy is absorbed by the lower spine and that is NOT how the spine is designed to absolrb shock and stress, not in a back to front motion.

If your daughter is at the point of being in pitching style limbo, like you described, she will become very frustrated very soon. She will sense that 'something' is holding her back from throwing as strong as she knows she can. She will know she is being held back but she will not know why.

YOU now know why, whether you want to believe it or not. Good luck with your 'Broken Turnstile' mechanics.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Welcome back big guy. We missed you.

 

[CoachFP]

Hal, good to see you back!

 

[GatorGirl]

She has done it fine as late as last week so I am not sure why it is slipping back in so I will mention it to the PC. Mostly her foot is landing straight instead of at a 45 degree angle and causing her knee to bend at landing. Funny how we have fixed so many things and now this is back.

 

[Boomers2012]

Congratulations. I have seen what you are describing hundreds of times in pitchers at all levels.

You have attained 'Pitching Style Limbo'. You tried to pitch like a fast and aggressive 'Leap and Drag' pitcher but tried to 'Stand Tall' at LFT and release, like a pitcher using slow and easy 'Step Style' mechanics. Those step style mechanics cannot accomodate/ contain the stronger and faster mechanics of a L and D pitcher. If you 'stand tall' at lft and release but you have faster and stronger forward momentum, of course you are going to take an extra step and 'walk through' the pitch.

Push off from the rubber with a good forward lean of the body. Land with a slight backwards lean and a slightly bent stride knee. Do that and watch the ball speed increase. DO NOT STAND TALL UNTIL AFTER BALL RELEASE.

Ever walk into a broken turnstile at a fair? Your bottom half comes to an abrupt halt but your top half tries to keep going forward. Remember the 'Ugh' and the stress you felt in your lower back when it happened? In the lumbar area? That is the exact thing that happens when you are standing tall at LFT and release. All that energy is absorbed by the lower spine and that is NOT how the spine is designed to absolrb shock and stress, not in a back to front motion.

If your daughter is at the point of being in pitching style limbo, like you described, she will become very frustrated very soon. She will sense that 'something' is holding her back from throwing as strong as she knows she can. She will know she is being held back but she will not know why.

YOU now know why, whether you want to believe it or not. Good luck with your 'Broken Turnstile' mechanics.

Good ole Hal and his "pitching style limbo".......welcome back

 

[coach james]

Looks like Hal has finally gotten out of the timeout corner! But he's right in that if you land tall, your momentum will carry you forward. Stay back on a firm front leg to help transfer your leap momentum into the downswing of the arm. This will generate a lot more whip.

 

[halskinner]

Looks like Hal has finally gotten out of the timeout corner! But he's right in that if you land tall, your momentum will carry you forward. Stay back on a firm front leg to help transfer your leap momentum into the downswing of the arm. This will generate a lot more whip.

You tell them to leap and land on a firm front leg??? Pitching style limbo? Either you pitch with step style or leap and drag. If you dont know the difference between the two when you see it, then how can you possibly know when a pitcher is somewhere in between those and not doing either one correctly?

This is why other instructors would send me (loan me) a student, so I could convert them to L and D from step style. The student was halfway in between and the step style instructors didnt know what to do to fix them. I fixed them and sent them back.

The administrators can ban me for life right now. I would not miss this silly little forum at all.

 

[Boomers2012]

I would not miss this silly little forum at all.

..........hogwash