As for the mirror thing, that's not my recommendation, nor that of the instructor. That's her liking the way she looks!! Vanity if you would...lol
Been there ... do that !!!
As for the mirror thing, that's not my recommendation, nor that of the instructor. That's her liking the way she looks!! Vanity if you would...lol
Does that make sense? I'm just thinking from my own perspective.
Funny you post this, as I was going to ask this question and it seems you may have already answered. Last night she wanted to pitch again, so I told her that she needs a rest day from the 150+ throws she's been doing for 4 days straight. Keep in mind that's a lot of 1/4 circles and half circles mixed in with the full circles. So I told her to do her stretches, and then we practiced the footwork for 5 or 10 minutes then went right to full pitches. She probably threw about 40-50 pitches. On 80% of them,it looked like she wasn't getting her arm around to the release "zone" in time. When I looked at the video, I saw what I thought I saw in real time. In most of the pitches her arm was still in the 1:00 - 3:00 position and she was throwing the ball into the very bottom of hanging carpet that was only 10 feet away. (To Be Clear, 3:00 is center field and 9:00 is the catcher) I was telling her she was releasing too early behind her hip, which she was, clearly in the video. On the few she got around to 4:00 - 5:00 at foot plant, she was releasing and the ball was going on plane to the target. So I guess I am in agreement that timing is critical. Her natural instinct is to release the ball in close proximity to foot plant, so when she doesn't get the arm into the release zone in time, she's still releasing WHEN she should, but it's not in the right spot. Is that a better "miss" than if she was releasing at the wrong time but in the right position? I hope that makes sense.To comment on the timing thing:
Pitching is like skiing downhill, if you stay on the bunny slope (ie, no incline), you never get anywhere. But instructors want you to start there.It is "safer" and creates more lessons, I guess. Skip the bunny slope.
Timing in a short description is landing the stride foot and letting go of the ball accordingly. Beginners try all sorts of things to be perfect (slowing the arm down, leaning forward) and parents harp on release and control, too, when the pitcher should be learning how to harness the momentum, with a large strike zone.
I assume the goal her is to get that stride leg UP and out as opposed to just just floating across the ground?You can't do this too long...its the baby steps some one requested. Too long hampers the keeping the glove up. I was somewhat challenged by the comments that a 10year old can't understand what I'm talking about... this is old stuff... I had her going up and down these same steps when she was 9 mo. old.
Nice "Bucket"!!! Do you mind me asking the purpose of the string? I also noticed you don't have her leaping off the mound, but rather a strong stride. Is my DD getting ahead of herself by starting out in the very beginning with the leap as opposed to the stride?Here is one from today...
Well, of course my DD can't follow instructions very well, and I guess I'm the guilty party for allowing her to throw with the footwork. I was actually pretty shocked at how it looked. I'm SURE the experts will find a million and one things wrong with this (Assuming this video link works), but I thought it was pretty good after 1 lesson. I showed her some stuff from reading this site over the past month, but she didn't really practice, or really get what I was telling her. I didn't drill her too hard as I didn't want her to get bad habits from my know little instruction.
After First Lesson
Funny you post this, as I was going to ask this question and it seems you may have already answered. Last night she wanted to pitch again, so I told her that she needs a rest day from the 150+ throws she's been doing for 4 days straight. Keep in mind that's a lot of 1/4 circles and half circles mixed in with the full circles. So I told her to do her stretches, and then we practiced the footwork for 5 or 10 minutes then went right to full pitches. She probably threw about 40-50 pitches. On 80% of them,it looked like she wasn't getting her arm around to the release "zone" in time. When I looked at the video, I saw what I thought I saw in real time. In most of the pitches her arm was still in the 1:00 - 3:00 position and she was throwing the ball into the very bottom of hanging carpet that was only 10 feet away. (To Be Clear, 3:00 is center field and 9:00 is the catcher) I was telling her she was releasing too early behind her hip, which she was, clearly in the video. On the few she got around to 4:00 - 5:00 at foot plant, she was releasing and the ball was going on plane to the target. So I guess I am in agreement that timing is critical. Her natural instinct is to release the ball in close proximity to foot plant, so when she doesn't get the arm into the release zone in time, she's still releasing WHEN she should, but it's not in the right spot. Is that a better "miss" than if she was releasing at the wrong time but in the right position? I hope that makes sense.
So of course, my next question is, how do you "show" her, or explain to her how to get that arm into the right place at the right time? It seems like it may throw off tempo if you force her to start whipping faster. I always pictured the full circle as an accelleration throughout as opposed to instant full speed . It sems like the ones where she was "on time - in the right spot" were the times she had the longer, higher, more powerful "leap".
Does it make sense to give her a goal for the stride foot that will challenge her to jump out harder and stronger?
Is there nothing contributed to acceleration by the shoulder/upper arm during the downswing? I seem to get more speed when I relax, so I'm wondering if I should focus less on trying to accelerate during the downswing...?The circle accelerates up and falls with gravity behind, helped by whipping action.