Need help with interpreting some pitching video( comparing two HS JV pitchers)

[robinh]

btw Amy, are you near Phoenix or Scottsdale? I can get dirt cheap tickets on Allegiant to those two cities. We have zero pitching coaches here and I would bring her down for a week in the offseason if that were a possibility.

 

[David Carter]

Thanks Amy!

She does walk throughs sometimes as part of her warmups, but I've never gunned them. The HS doesn't use a gun at all, but I was given one for Christmas so I'll use it this weekend and see how she does with that. I've never gunned her overhand throw, but she throws reasonably hard, she plays shortstop when she's not pitching. That will be interesting to see what it is. I'll have her do the over and unders as well.

As far as leg drive goes, she has a lot of strength in her legs (she currently leg presses 240lbs-3 sets of 8, does deadlifts, back squats and jump lunges with I'm not sure how much weight.) But strength hasn't helped her explosiveness, if anything she's gotten less explosive as she's gotten stronger. I've done some research on developing explosiveness and looked at some plyometrics, but there seems to be some injury potential in at least some of them so we haven't tried that yet until I learn some more.

You are on the right track raw power is not the real answer unless they are really weak which does not seem to be the case.

I would encourage the finishing on one leg drill and hold it until ball comes back she can do this with just her regular pitching motion too, the idea is for her to feel that stopping of her momentum as sluggers describes.

She does still need to work on leg drive because she still need to get her car going faster to keep the analogy going. The faster she is going the more momentum she builds up the more it transfers at release when she stops all that momentum.

 

[Ken B]

After her push off, she keeps her *RIGHT FOOT* off the ground until the catcher returns the ball to her.

In this one do you drag then lift the pivot foot after release, or do you leap and the pivot foot never drags/touches?

 

[Jojo]

Robin, what did you use to get those two sequences together like that? I really like that.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I am in Marana. Twenty minutes north of Tucson. I would welcome a visit.

 

[BoardMember]

Robin, in my opinion, your DD is going to have to work twice as hard as the other young lady for equal results. The other girl seems to "get it" naturally.......

Hey Hal..........Maybe you could give her a free copy of that pitching book. Which link in your signature is for the free one you were telling me about before? All the links I click seem to want $$$......

 

[halskinner]

RobinH, I strongly recommend you DO NOT attempt this drill as it is worded her

The drill I would have her do is to do a walk through (she stands a few feet behind the rubber, walks forward and pitches when her right foot touches the rubber). After her push off, she keeps her *RIGHT FOOT* off the ground until the catcher returns the ball to her. It is going to feel strange to her, but she'll eventually get it.

The landing should be on a slight backwards lean with a slightly bent knee and the ankle extended to absorb the shock of the forward momentum stopping. EWhat was being described was either a very weak and slow form of step style pitching or an extremely slow type of some sort. Either way, it will be very stressful to the lumbar spine.

 

[robinh]

Robin, what did you use to get those two sequences together like that? I really like that.

I used Adobe Premiere Pro to grab the individual frames of the videos and save them as jpgs. Then I used Photoshop to put them together, and then I dropped the combined jpgs back into Premiere. So a little tedious and about $1000 worth of software, but I'm a professional photographer so I have the software. I'm sure there are a lot cheaper ways to do it, in fact my camera will save jpgs from individual frames.

 

[robinh]

Robin, in my opinion, your DD is going to have to work twice as hard as the other young lady for equal results. The other girl seems to "get it" naturally.......


Yes, I agree! And DD knows it as well. Neither of us has a problem with that, it's not really work when you love it, right? Unfortunately for DD, she failed to pick the right parents for athletic genes. But she has as much passion for the game as anyone I've ever seen play it. And she'll take that as far as she can. Then she wants to coach which I think she''l be very good at because she's patient and smart, and she understands and relates to girls that it doesn't come naturally for. (she helped coach U10 rec league last year and has been put to work by her JV coach this year teaching the inexperienced girls how to hit, something she is very good at.)

Hey Hal..........Maybe you could give her a free copy of that pitching book. Which link in your signature is for the free one you were telling me about before? All the links I click seem to want $$$......

Hal did send her a copy of his book which she devoured in two evenings! Thanks again Hal!! She is pitching in a double header today that starts in about 4 hours and is anxious to put some of the ideas in the book to work.

 

[robinh]

I am in Marana. Twenty minutes north of Tucson. I would welcome a visit.

Awesome! I'll be in touch after the season and see if we can work out a trip! Assuming of course DD wants to continue with pitching after this season. She's practiced pitching for a coupe of years never really pitched more than an occasional inning here or there. She knows she's way behind for her age, plus her favorite positions are SS and left field. but her JV coach is really heavily counting on her to pitch this season and we are looking at it as a great opportunity to get some real game experience and to see if this is something she wants to pursue. Her improvement between now and the end of the season will determine that I'm sure.