Need help with throw down

[TexanSin83]

All,
Looking for help on what to work on with DD. She is a 2nd year 10u and she wants to improve her throw down in the off season. This is a video from a practice session. She has a short arm circle here but sometimes she goes a little long.

[video=youtube_share;c1z_41rRmXU]http://youtu.be/c1z_41rRmXU[/video]

 

[InsidePitch]

That is a pretty good throw for a 10U player. Not much wrong with that. In my limited experience, it appears she needs to finish the throw down lower, her glove hand goes out and pulls back towards the body. Arm crosses the body upon release and continues down towards the ground. Back leg trails through. Your catcher is stopping short from what I can see.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing her throw down at 12 and 14U.

 

[Greenmonsters]

That's an excellent throw for someone 10U. As noted above, her follow through is abbreviated. Short term she should work on finishing very similar to a regular overhand throw. Long term, if she's serious about catching, look into getting a copy of the NECC (New England Catching Camp) DVD and start working on the footwork and techniques that will carry her through the rest of her catching days.

 

[TexanSin83]

That is a pretty good throw for a 10U player. Not much wrong with that. In my limited experience, it appears she needs to finish the throw down lower, her glove hand goes out and pulls back towards the body. Arm crosses the body upon release and continues down towards the ground. Back leg trails through. Your catcher is stopping short from what I can see.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing her throw down at 12 and 14U.

That's an excellent throw for someone 10U. As noted above, her follow through is abbreviated. Short term she should work on finishing very similar to a regular overhand throw. Long term, if she's serious about catching, look into getting a copy of the NECC (New England Catching Camp) DVD and start working on the footwork and techniques that will carry her through the rest of her catching days.

We do have the NECC and she has been to their clinic when they came down to Houston. She knows the proper footwork but does she do it every time is a different story. They seam to pick up a bad habit and it is hard to break. Just as you have one broke another pops up. I wish I had a book of drills from the NECC. People see she is a good catcher and they want their daughters trained as well. The drills at time can get boring. Wonder if there are any exciting ones I don't know of.

Any drills or videos to show the throwing motion. She is a very visual learner.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Sounds like she's on the right track. Drills are boring, especially defensive drills, even when you're not 10U! Sticking with them and making sure that you're doing them right is what separates average, good, and great.

As far as overhand throwing, one fun thing to do is to have her practice throwing like a MLB pitcher - use a baseball in the beginning and a mound if one's available. Lots of games (in season) and video out there to look at and compare to. Tewks' site (A&B Athletic Development) has some very good throwing (and hitting) vids and discussions.

 

[TexanSin83]

We can glean some pointers from Jay at NECC as he shares this Throwing Evaluation Video



Stay to the end for some great throwing examples...

I saw that video this morning. Haven't had a chance to watch it.

 

[bulldogcatcherdad]

When she does practice throw downs make sure that she is in her normal game time stance behind the plate. And yes her throw is short. It is a very good throw for 10u. She has a power arm. Will be even stronger if she follows thru with her throwing arm and trailing leg. That position she is in behind the plate is very hard on there back muscles. I know this from an injury to my kid. If she wants to catch for a long time core lessons and core strentgh training are a must. A die hard softball catcher with a bad back is not fun. Took along time for my kid to heal up. Core training will not only make her back stronger but help her in her throw down and she will pick up bat speed from being stronger in the mid section. Long story short keep her back strong more then working on her throw down. Obviously make sure she can hit her spots but keep her healthy too.

 

[TexanSin83]

When she does practice throw downs make sure that she is in her normal game time stance behind the plate. And yes her throw is short. It is a very good throw for 10u. She has a power arm. Will be even stronger if she follows thru with her throwing arm and trailing leg. That position she is in behind the plate is very hard on there back muscles. I know this from an injury to my kid. If she wants to catch for a long time core lessons and core strentgh training are a must. A die hard softball catcher with a bad back is not fun. Took along time for my kid to heal up. Core training will not only make her back stronger but help her in her throw down and she will pick up bat speed from being stronger in the mid section. Long story short keep her back strong more then working on her throw down. Obviously make sure she can hit her spots but keep her healthy too.

Thanks for the info. I have told her that we need to do some core strengthening. As far as the stance this was a practice on outside pitches to the throw down.

Do you know any good core exercises?

 

[bulldogcatcherdad]

My kid gets training thru her travel team orginization. They have a nice strength training workout. Hour long twice a week at there facility. Geared toward girls. Medi ball, series of running, sprints, and floor excersises.

 

[CCJR]

Hey everybody, sorry, but I had to change the access permissions on that YouTube throwing analysis, as it was never meant for public viewing.

As for the OP's video. One of the concepts I feel is very important for coaches and parents to understand is "Scope and Sequence." The idea that everything has a cause and effect and if you only focus on the result or last step in the process you will miss the underlying issue that is actually causing the problem to occur. You have to look at the whole picture.

The issue with the throw has very little to do with the upper body. Outside of needing to get the ball out of her glove sooner, her lower body movements and direction are the causes to what appears to be a short-arm throw.



If you look at the screen shot you can clearly see her arm is blurring well out in front of her body which indicates it is still moving and IS actually following through out front. However, "out-front" is not where it should be because of the direction that the lower body is traveling at the point of release.

You can see her step forward and off to her left as she strides. The dramatic weight shift in a direction other than her target forces a drift of her upper body to occur, thus forcing the ball to stay put. At the point where her front foot hits the ground you can count 5 frames where the ball actually doesn't move at all. It isn't building momentum, it isn't taking advantage of the energy created by the hips, it just sits there. This forces the throw to rely on one thing for power, rotation.

Although rotation is an integral part of the throwing process, it shouldn't be the driving force behind the throw. Doing so will force the arm to pull, or in some cases, end up pushing the ball towards the target. That is just too much pressure on the arm, a part of the body which is very susceptible to injury when it is the one thing creating ball acceleration.

In looking back at the screen-shot, look at the angle of her body in relationship to her left leg. She never generates proper hip direction because she is never able to stay over the front leg while throwing. She's forcing herself to spin around her left leg to complete the throw.

The good news is that this is a simple fix. As boring as the "T" drills can get, going through the simple progression of the throw step by step will only help to create better muscle memory ("Catch the ball, while standing straight up turn the glove, grab the ball, lift the ball, slide the right foot under neath the body without turning the hips....etc"). So that when a girl takes off in a real game her brain and body have only one response.....a mechanically efficient throw.

Get her to make the exchange as she is standing up, shorten the path of her right foot (pulling it to the middle of her body), make sure it does not go forward, but straight across. This will allow her back hip to drive toward her target, thus allowing her upper body to work through it's loading sequence before the front foot hits the ground. The sooner that can happen, the easier it will be for her to get her lower body involved in the throw and take most of the pressure and force off or her throwing arm.

Again, this isn't about her cutting off the throw or not following through. It is about the actions that lead to her release point being a bit early and her arm becoming the power source of the throw.

I will say that a 2.46 (estimation based on frame count at the point where it seems the ball would have hit her glove and the glove of her infielder) is not bad for a 10U AT ALL. In fact it is very good. It would be fun to see where she is at once those issues are addressed.