What do I need to work on in off season?

[marriard]

I'm no expert at all, but one small thing I notice is that she's not on her power line at all. She's off to the right side of it. I can give you some drills that my dd was told to do that really helped her to get to where she was consistently on the power line every time.

+1 on this. Way off the power line.

She starts on the left side of the rubber and the stride foot lands WAY right. Some of this is caused by the glove swim (i.e. glove side going away from her body in a swim motion), not opening up fully and her body is trying to balance everything out. Two easy ways to fix this - use what some call a K or a W drill to help but the best way is pitching into her glove - so full motion but she has to release into her glove - she wont be able to do that and swim the glove like she is. Everything must go up and down together. I know WHY she does this - she is trying to generate power and speed - but it is inefficient and limited.

She also swings the ball WAY back on her backswing. Again she is doing it because she feels it generates more speed - but it can cause straight arm circles and timing issues (her arm has to constantly try to catch up with her lower body movement). Older pitchers can get away with this - but it is not ideal and if you can correct it now it is worth doing.

Cat does a nice tight glove side and is nice and straight on a power line (but she has a big backswing)- watch the glove side and the straight to the batter pitches:


Watch all the Hillhouse videos on Youtube and then buy his House of Pitching DVD's. He explains everything is a way that makes it really, really to understand.

The good news is that these are common issues in this age group and there is some excellent things going on. Plus she is a lefty which is an extra advantage.

 

[Doug Romrell]

She's pushing the ball down the back side rather than pulling it. Her hand is palm down when the ball is coming down the back side. It should be palm up. There are plenty of great pitching threads on this discussion board that will help you with this.

 

[Doug Romrell]

+1 on this. Way off the power line.

She starts on the left side of the rubber and the stride foot lands WAY right. Some of this is caused by the glove swim (i.e. glove side going away from her body in a swim motion), not opening up fully and her body is trying to balance everything out. Two easy ways to fix this - use what some call a K or a W drill to help but the best way is pitching into her glove - so full motion but she has to release into her glove - she wont be able to do that and swim the glove like she is. Everything must go up and down together. I know WHY she does this - she is trying to generate power and speed - but it is inefficient and limited.

She also swings the ball WAY back on her backswing. Again she is doing it because she feels it generates more speed - but it can cause straight arm circles and timing issues (her arm has to constantly try to catch up with her lower body movement). Older pitchers can get away with this - but it is not ideal and if you can correct it now it is worth doing.

Cat does a nice tight glove side and is nice and straight on a power line (but she has a big backswing)- watch the glove side and the straight to the batter pitches:


Watch all the Hillhouse videos on Youtube and then buy his House of Pitching DVD's. He explains everything is a way that makes it really, really to understand.

The good news is that these are common issues in this age group and there is some excellent things going on. Plus she is a lefty which is an extra advantage.

Does anyone else find it odd what this catcher does with her right hand as the pitch comes in? Doesn't seem she's protecting it.

 

[Ken B]

Stacey Nuveman. Possibly one of the best all time catchers and HR hitters for Team USA--ever.

 

[skreed]

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions. I talked to my dd last night and she wants to give this method a try. It's going to be hard to break these habits after being taught this way then practicing it hundreds if not thousands times. Until I found this site I did not know any better and wish I caught this sooner. While she has made huge improvements working toward an HE style pitch I can see how she is becoming limited already. She has actually become quite accurate and does very well in TB with what she is doing now but I have noticed her velocity at this point is determined by how fast her arm circle is and how hard she can muscle the ball in. I wondered how the rest of her body could come into play more and now I know. After reading all I can find about IR I hope to help her work towards achieving a more efficient style of pitching. Ty and I will post up any progress made!

 

[Doug Romrell]

Fantastic, skreed! The key here is you are curious and receptive. Reading all there is here about IR will continue to convince you that it is far superior to what she's currently doing. I wish I had known about this IR/arm-whip stuff back 16 years ago with my oldest daughter. She actually pitched with pretty darned good velocity using more of a push-the-ball style. I can only imagine what she would have pitched like using similar mechanics to what I've taught her younger sister (thanks to this website) who is now 16.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Depends on what you consider HE. For me, HE elbow is more about ball orientation in the 9:00 position. Most who are pushing the ball, as this pitcher is, in the 9:00 position, finish with a hello elbow. For me, just because she may not finish with the full hello elbow, she's pushing the ball into release, which is definitely part of the hello elbow (i.e., bowling) style of pitching

 

[Adman]

She also swings the ball WAY back on her backswing. Again she is doing it because she feels it generates more speed - but it can cause straight arm circles and timing issues (her arm has to constantly try to catch up with her lower body movement). Older pitchers can get away with this - but it is not ideal and if you can correct it now it is worth doing.

I don’t know…her back swing looks fine. The reason her arm is so straight later is because of the observed push that happens just after 12 o’clock. Leading with a pushing hand straightens the arm (unless you have a SUPER flexible shoulder/pec connection), while leading with the elbow, and a “pulling” hand, will always allow for a slight bend and a better whip.

She’s very athletic and strong, though, with good control. She’s really exploding off that rubber and is still able to drag that back toe! Although, her glove hand isn't fully committed to the drive. My guess is she’s very coachable and is doing exactly what was taught to her. She should progress quickly with any adjustments thrown her way.

Yes, she’s off the power line, but it’s hard to tell if that’s a cause or an effect. I think her body knows how to handle the torque in the pitch, so she may be adjusting to the stretch in her shoulder due to the pushing motion just after 12, which takes her off the power line. Sorry if that wasn’t clear. I’m looking at the video frame by frame and that’s what I see. Her arm is actually trying to sneak in a little external > internal rotation just before release. That is, her palm starts to turn away from her just before release and has a little forearm pronation through release. She's really close.

Before getting into too much detail, I’d get the basic arm swing sorted out and have BoardMember teach you how to practice throwing underhand. The rest of her mechanics will likely start falling into place like dominoes!

Thanks,
Adam