Throwing

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May 15, 2017
29
1
So my daughter has throwing difficulties (drops here elbow and pushes the ball) and after practice yesterday she picked some crab apples and threw them up the hill at my other kids and was throwing like I've never seen her. I'm not sure if it was just the idea of pegging her little brother and sister or if throwing uphill made her get more thoracic extension, but her mechanics were so much better.

Can someone show me what thoracic extension is in this context. I have a medical background but I'm no orthopedist or kinesiologist.
 
Last edited:
Feb 16, 2015
933
43
South East
Could it possible be that the crab apples are smaller than a softball?

This^^^^..... I have read a article that suggest that young girls learning to throw should start out learning to throw baseballs instead of softballs. The theory was that softballs are heavy for a lot of younger girls which would naturally encourage the body to more less "shot put" the ball instead of throwing it. Some consider it as the bodies natural defense mechanism from preventing injury. If I remember correctly, it was a study towards young ladies that start off playing baseball then switching to softball tend to have better throwing patterns than the ones starting off with softballs.
 
Sep 21, 2017
230
43
PA
This^^^^..... I have read a article that suggest that young girls learning to throw should start out learning to throw baseballs instead of softballs. The theory was that softballs are heavy for a lot of younger girls which would naturally encourage the body to more less "shot put" the ball instead of throwing it. Some consider it as the bodies natural defense mechanism from preventing injury. If I remember correctly, it was a study towards young ladies that start off playing baseball then switching to softball tend to have better throwing patterns than the ones starting off with softballs.

This is exactly what I heard Karen Weekly (Tennessee) promote. She made the comparison (hand size) of a young girl throwing a softball to a young adult throwing a volleyball.
 
Mar 23, 2011
492
18
Noblseville, IN
If your mechanic is not driven by the rear hip, you will have to use your shoulders to throw. IMO the biggest reason that kids have poor mechanics is because some don't inherently generate overlap between their hips and shoulders.

The key element to generate overlap is whether or not your rear hip responds (turns forward) when you pull back to throw the ball. I think that this is shown well in these clips of Harper. Notice how his rear hip responds to a scap pull back, also notice how late he ER's his arm.

R5AYmm.gif
BJ48l6.gif


Big things to look for in students with poor throwing mechanics:
1. Are they using their upper arm (humerus) to pull the arm back (bad), or are they using the scap to pull the arm back (good)?
2. Are they quad dominant? (if yes, might need to get in to hyperarch workouts to develop a good glute response)
3. Are they ER'ing too early (forming the vertical "L" before they are all the way back)?
 
Last edited:
Mar 23, 2011
492
18
Noblseville, IN
Not sure what you mean by TE, but there are some decent fielding clips in this thread (link).

While I was looking for the clips, I found this image from Amy in AZ (link). Notice how the girls' shoulders are ahead of her hips. You can see it in the direction of the creases on her shirt (creases are so good for analysis). They clearly indicate that the shoulders are leading and pulling the hips as opposed to hips leading, pulling the shoulders around.

The best thing that we can do for our throwers, hitters, and pitchers is to teach them to resist with the shoulders. Really we want resistance from the whole upper torso and centered around our rear leg, but that's even harder to teach as I've tried and failed with rec teams over the years.

For the individual seeking to throw at a higher level or the involved parent/coach who wants fundamental change, resisting with the upper torso is paramount to acheiving a high level throw.

For the most part, the existing methods for improving throwing speed are just variants of bigger, stronger, faster.
 

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