Thanks. I believe that would be a helpful step to implement as a cue for her.
“Stay Tall”
- Thread starter Texas McE
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- May 9, 2019
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Please watch this video. I have to agree with Amanda on this. Lift that stride leg and staying back to stay tall is just a natural product. I know Amanda is a member of DFP. Her videos/Instruction is spot on imho.
- May 9, 2019
- 294
- 43
Forgot the link
Agreed. Good video.
My DD struggled with similar issues and, at 14U, we are still working to improve her front side resistance and posture at release. But we made huge improvements and you can too. I think certainly part of it is that they are doing what they think they need to "throw strikes," which is rewarded at every level of course, but is particularly prized at the 10U and 12U. It also can partly be a strength issue--stopping their forward momentum--that they grow out of.
What helped for us:
1. As was suggested, pitching without a ball. "Dry Pitching." We used to do this as a warm up for our sessions. We would do 10-20 dry reps to get going. Bonus points if you have a mirror that she can look into and see herself performing things (hopefully) correctly. You could also do a variation of this where you freeze when the stride foot lands to reinforce the idea that she has to stop herself from floating or tumbling forward when her stride foot lands.
2. Dry Pitching with a Drag Box (you can buy one online or build your own from Home Depot for less than $10). I notice that your DD's drive foot is collapsed. So-called "zombie foot." My DD had this too and it is very hard not to lean forward when you are dragging an anchor behind you. Doing this for a couple months totally fixed this issue for my DD. She now drags her drive foot toe beautifully, shoelaces to the catcher.
3. Spend a lot of time working mechanics throwing into a tarp. This takes away the pressure self-imposed or otherwise to "throw strikes." When you throw into a tarp the location does not matter and they can just focus on the mechanics rather than hitting daddy's glove or he will be upset with me.
4. Balance/core strengthening drills. Flamingo Drill. Have her throw from the 12 o'clock position while lifting her stride leg off the ground. You can also do it using a full arm circle. If she does not maintain good posture she will fall over. It's a little hard to describe, but Rick Pauly has a similar drill where the stride foot is at about a 45. the drive foot you are up on your toe. Full arm circle. As your ball arm gets to 3 o'clock (superman position) you lift the drive foot off the ground and hold it up until the ball is returned from the catcher. Or, if throwing into a tarp, until dad hands her another ball.
What helped for us:
1. As was suggested, pitching without a ball. "Dry Pitching." We used to do this as a warm up for our sessions. We would do 10-20 dry reps to get going. Bonus points if you have a mirror that she can look into and see herself performing things (hopefully) correctly. You could also do a variation of this where you freeze when the stride foot lands to reinforce the idea that she has to stop herself from floating or tumbling forward when her stride foot lands.
2. Dry Pitching with a Drag Box (you can buy one online or build your own from Home Depot for less than $10). I notice that your DD's drive foot is collapsed. So-called "zombie foot." My DD had this too and it is very hard not to lean forward when you are dragging an anchor behind you. Doing this for a couple months totally fixed this issue for my DD. She now drags her drive foot toe beautifully, shoelaces to the catcher.
3. Spend a lot of time working mechanics throwing into a tarp. This takes away the pressure self-imposed or otherwise to "throw strikes." When you throw into a tarp the location does not matter and they can just focus on the mechanics rather than hitting daddy's glove or he will be upset with me.
4. Balance/core strengthening drills. Flamingo Drill. Have her throw from the 12 o'clock position while lifting her stride leg off the ground. You can also do it using a full arm circle. If she does not maintain good posture she will fall over. It's a little hard to describe, but Rick Pauly has a similar drill where the stride foot is at about a 45. the drive foot you are up on your toe. Full arm circle. As your ball arm gets to 3 o'clock (superman position) you lift the drive foot off the ground and hold it up until the ball is returned from the catcher. Or, if throwing into a tarp, until dad hands her another ball.
Without seeing a video of her whole motion it is hard to make a diagnosis. My thoughts are similar to what Amanda S. is saying. Many times pitchers are encouraged to get low, push out hard, and try for maximum distance from the rubber. This can result in too much forward lean at push off. I have seen this with pitchers who have been encouraged to use a 'sprinter's start'. You can see Amanda get low but she very quickly gets back upright, she does it by getting her stride leg up and out. The thing to pay attention to is that she returns to vertical shortly after she disconnects from the rubber and at touch down is leaning back. Make sure your daughter isn't leaning too far forward as she pushes off, try standing taller at the start.
Great suggestions. Thanks.
- Jul 31, 2019
- 495
- 43
A couple of thoughts. I agree it's difficult to identify root cause without seeing the whole pitch, but here are some things that I typically work to address:
www.theartofcoachingsoftball.com
Creating Energy in the Trail Leg
● Potential energy is energy stored in an object because of its position or arrangement. It is more commonly known or felt as “stretch.”
● Learning to Hip Hinge properly to create potential energy in the posterior muscles of the trail leg.
Transferring Energy into the ground to produce force to move horizontally
● Transferring potential energy into kinetic energy through the creation of ground force.
● Pushing against the ground with the trail leg and driving the center of mass at the target with maximum intent
Transferring Force through Lead Leg Blocking
● Transitioning the energy created from the force produce into the ground, up the joints, and muscles that make up the kinetic chain.
● Landing on a firm, not bent, lead leg. Applying the brakes is critical.
Arm Path & Snap Timing to Transfer Energy into the Ball
● The arc that the arm travels is the end of the kinematic sequence.
● Passively improving the consistency of arm path and timing of the release without over-cueing or overstressing the athlete’s internal process that will inhibit their ability to find their movement solution.
Conclusion
The best mechanics are your mechanics. Designing programs and frameworks to solve their movement solutions is critical for individual development. If an athlete is to own their delivery, truly we must give them the freedom to self interpret and self optimize it around a proven skill acquisition model. Over cueing or critiquing is only inhibiting the athlete’s ability to reach their movement potential.
- During the loading process/"lean", it's critical that the pitcher not only get into her legs but more importantly her hip hinge.
- Explode out of your hip hinge outward through your belly button and REVERSE POSTURE. Simply put, the head goes from in front of your belly button to behind your belly button.
Pitching: Understanding the hip hinge
It’s important to understand that your pitcher’s attack posture has really strong bio-mechanical principles for creating power. The hip hinge is a vital factor in developing power in your pitchers and…
www.theartofcoachingsoftball.com
- Most girls that lean, either don't get a lift from the stride leg/glove or anchor the drag foot. If the glove does not elevate or worst points out/down, you get to your front foot so fast that the body can't reverse posture. I seldom use the words "drag foot". I prefer to call it the drive foot. If a pitcher pivots or does not create much ground force, a pitcher lunges forward and "pulls" the pitch through.
- Last, if there is no brush interference, there is limited/no arm whip.
Creating Energy in the Trail Leg
● Potential energy is energy stored in an object because of its position or arrangement. It is more commonly known or felt as “stretch.”
● Learning to Hip Hinge properly to create potential energy in the posterior muscles of the trail leg.
Transferring Energy into the ground to produce force to move horizontally
● Transferring potential energy into kinetic energy through the creation of ground force.
● Pushing against the ground with the trail leg and driving the center of mass at the target with maximum intent
Transferring Force through Lead Leg Blocking
● Transitioning the energy created from the force produce into the ground, up the joints, and muscles that make up the kinetic chain.
● Landing on a firm, not bent, lead leg. Applying the brakes is critical.
Arm Path & Snap Timing to Transfer Energy into the Ball
● The arc that the arm travels is the end of the kinematic sequence.
● Passively improving the consistency of arm path and timing of the release without over-cueing or overstressing the athlete’s internal process that will inhibit their ability to find their movement solution.
Conclusion
The best mechanics are your mechanics. Designing programs and frameworks to solve their movement solutions is critical for individual development. If an athlete is to own their delivery, truly we must give them the freedom to self interpret and self optimize it around a proven skill acquisition model. Over cueing or critiquing is only inhibiting the athlete’s ability to reach their movement potential.
A couple of thoughts. I agree it's difficult to identify root cause without seeing the whole pitch, but here are some things that I typically work to address:
- During the loading process/"lean", it's critical that the pitcher not only get into her legs but more importantly her hip hinge.
- Explode out of your hip hinge outward through your belly button and REVERSE POSTURE. Simply put, the head goes from in front of your belly button to behind your belly button.
Pitching: Understanding the hip hinge
It’s important to understand that your pitcher’s attack posture has really strong bio-mechanical principles for creating power. The hip hinge is a vital factor in developing power in your pitchers and…This article does a better job of explaining it than I probably did:
- Most girls that lean, either don't get a lift from the stride leg/glove or anchor the drag foot. If the glove does not elevate or worst points out/down, you get to your front foot so fast that the body can't reverse posture. I seldom use the words "drag foot". I prefer to call it the drive foot. If a pitcher pivots or does not create much ground force, a pitcher lunges forward and "pulls" the pitch through.
- Last, if there is no brush interference, there is limited/no arm whip.
Creating Energy in the Trail Leg
● Potential energy is energy stored in an object because of its position or arrangement. It is more commonly known or felt as “stretch.”
● Learning to Hip Hinge properly to create potential energy in the posterior muscles of the trail leg.
Transferring Energy into the ground to produce force to move horizontally
● Transferring potential energy into kinetic energy through the creation of ground force.
● Pushing against the ground with the trail leg and driving the center of mass at the target with maximum intent
Transferring Force through Lead Leg Blocking
● Transitioning the energy created from the force produce into the ground, up the joints, and muscles that make up the kinetic chain.
● Landing on a firm, not bent, lead leg. Applying the brakes is critical.
Arm Path & Snap Timing to Transfer Energy into the Ball
● The arc that the arm travels is the end of the kinematic sequence.
● Passively improving the consistency of arm path and timing of the release without over-cueing or overstressing the athlete’s internal process that will inhibit their ability to find their movement solution.
Conclusion
The best mechanics are your mechanics. Designing programs and frameworks to solve their movement solutions is critical for individual development. If an athlete is to own their delivery, truly we must give them the freedom to self interpret and self optimize it around a proven skill acquisition model. Over cueing or critiquing is only inhibiting the athlete’s ability to reach their movement potential.
A couple of thoughts. I agree it's difficult to identify root cause without seeing the whole pitch, but here are some things that I typically work to address:
- During the loading process/"lean", it's critical that the pitcher not only get into her legs but more importantly her hip hinge.
- Explode out of your hip hinge outward through your belly button and REVERSE POSTURE. Simply put, the head goes from in front of your belly button to behind your belly button.
Pitching: Understanding the hip hinge
It’s important to understand that your pitcher’s attack posture has really strong bio-mechanical principles for creating power. The hip hinge is a vital factor in developing power in your pitchers and…This article does a better job of explaining it than I probably did:
- Most girls that lean, either don't get a lift from the stride leg/glove or anchor the drag foot. If the glove does not elevate or worst points out/down, you get to your front foot so fast that the body can't reverse posture. I seldom use the words "drag foot". I prefer to call it the drive foot. If a pitcher pivots or does not create much ground force, a pitcher lunges forward and "pulls" the pitch through.
- Last, if there is no brush interference, there is limited/no arm whip.
Creating Energy in the Trail Leg
● Potential energy is energy stored in an object because of its position or arrangement. It is more commonly known or felt as “stretch.”
● Learning to Hip Hinge properly to create potential energy in the posterior muscles of the trail leg.
Transferring Energy into the ground to produce force to move horizontally
● Transferring potential energy into kinetic energy through the creation of ground force.
● Pushing against the ground with the trail leg and driving the center of mass at the target with maximum intent
Transferring Force through Lead Leg Blocking
● Transitioning the energy created from the force produce into the ground, up the joints, and muscles that make up the kinetic chain.
● Landing on a firm, not bent, lead leg. Applying the brakes is critical.
Arm Path & Snap Timing to Transfer Energy into the Ball
● The arc that the arm travels is the end of the kinematic sequence.
● Passively improving the consistency of arm path and timing of the release without over-cueing or overstressing the athlete’s internal process that will inhibit their ability to find their movement solution.
Conclusion
The best mechanics are your mechanics. Designing programs and frameworks to solve their movement solutions is critical for individual development. If an athlete is to own their delivery, truly we must give them the freedom to self interpret and self optimize it around a proven skill acquisition model. Over cueing or critiquing is only inhibiting the athlete’s ability to reach their movement potential.
I know the video is from too far, but this is what the still photos were taken from.
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