Mechanics Help

[toquin]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and looking for some advice from other softball parents. My daughter has been pitching for a couple of years now and has gotten into the habit of holding her hand sideways when the ball is behind her which creates a pulling motion at her release (instead of the typical fingers behind the ball release). At twelve years old her fastball tops out at around 50 MPH which seems decent, but I only wonder how much more speed she'd have if she got behind the ball. Any suggestions on drills or aids to help correct this tendancy. Thanks...

 

[James Smith]

IDK, she might be doing it right. She wants to pull the ball down not push it with her hand.

If you can post a video of her from ½ way down until release of the ball that might help.

 

[Ken B]

Welcome to DFP! Based on what you've described, your daughter is doing very well. The hand position and resulting speed you've described often suggests a higher level of mechanics. Compare her to this video of Amanda Scarborough and see if the release motion is similar.



Has she moved into any other pitches? If she has control of a good change, a drop and is thinking about adding a rise, I'd say's she's off to a good start. If you feel comfortable doing so, post a video of her in full motion for input/suggestion on things she can improve on. For a good assessment, it's helpful if the video is from the throwing arm side and from 15-20 feet away. The higher the resolution and shutter speed the better.


Ken

 

[James Smith]

I was looking for that video to post but couldn’t find it.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and looking for some advice from other softball parents. My daughter has been pitching for a couple of years now and has gotten into the habit of holding her hand sideways when the ball is behind her which creates a pulling motion at her release (instead of the typical fingers behind the ball release). At twelve years old her fastball tops out at around 50 MPH which seems decent, but I only wonder how much more speed she'd have if she got behind the ball. Any suggestions on drills or aids to help correct this tendancy. Thanks...

Toquin....a picture really is worth a thousand words. A video is worth million. I have seen a lot of requests for input get pretty convoluted because no one is really sure what is being described. Showing it with pictures/video helps clarify what is being described.

 

[FrozenRope]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and looking for some advice from other softball parents. My daughter has been pitching for a couple of years now and has gotten into the habit of holding her hand sideways when the ball is behind her which creates a pulling motion at her release (instead of the typical fingers behind the ball release). At twelve years old her fastball tops out at around 50 MPH which seems decent, but I only wonder how much more speed she'd have if she got behind the ball. Any suggestions on drills or aids to help correct this tendancy. Thanks...

Sounds to me like she figured out how to throw a softball underhand despite someone telling her to "Get Behind the Ball".

 

[toquin]

[video]https://www.dropbox.com/s/0zo8wp9pvzuwuyb/IMG_1390.MOV[/video]

I appreciate all the replies. Here's a link to one of her most recent practices (side view), and it does seem as though she has similar mechanics (at least the wrist motion) to Amanda's. If the link doesn't work please let me know and I'll find a different way to get it on here. Again I appreciate the advice.

Tony

 

[toquin]

Sounds to me like she figured out how to throw a softball underhand despite someone telling her to "Get Behind the Ball".

Is that a good or a bad thing?

 

[Ken B]

Good thing. "Getting behind the ball" can be counterproductive as a cue when learning the basic form. Even in a drop ball, the fingers may only be behind the ball for a fraction of a second, which may seem counterintuitive at first.

 

[JJsqueeze]

[video]https://www.dropbox.com/s/0zo8wp9pvzuwuyb/IMG_1390.MOV[/video]

I appreciate all the replies. Here's a link to one of her most recent practices (side view), and it does seem as though she has similar mechanics (at least the wrist motion) to Amanda's. If the link doesn't work please let me know and I'll find a different way to get it on here. Again I appreciate the advice.

Tony

the link works. I am downloading it to see what it looks like in slo mo, but it looks like she might be a bit of a bowler to my eye. more to come.

That arm action looks pretty good! No bowling there. There is plenty to work on but almost none of it is in the arm circle. She should try to get her elbow bent a little more, she has what I have been calling a "stiff armed I/R delivery" her hand/ball position is generally good around the circle and gets to some very good positions in the area just before and up to release.

Her bigger issues are posture, weak glove side, stride foot angle, and not getting open during the pitch.

You'll get plenty of good advice on how to improve some of these other things by people more knowledgeable than I.

One thing I noticed is that while she does get into some good positions on that circle, she is trying to finish and throw her hand behind the ball/elbow up. So she is not letting her natural correct arm rotation whip the ball.

Basically, I think you need to reverse your viewpoint, the coaching of trying to get behind the ball and push it is what is limiting her right now. The thing you thought was wrong is right, the thing you thought was right was wrong.

Read the I/R in the classroom thread and evaluate her arm circle and hand positions against that and what I am saying will make sense.


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