- Aug 21, 2008
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No worries Bill! My assumption was that many others on here have done this drill with their DD. I thought this drill was a commonly used drill to address timing issues. I’ve always used Java’s stuff as my go to for drive stuff. Her ball passes her hip before the stride knee (bad timing imo). In watching other high level pitchers the stride knee gets out ahead of the ball, which I creates more whip. I understand that drills can be over emphasized or used to correct issues that don’t exist.
I know and respect Java a lot, he's a great guy. And I know Mike (Java) has his own way of doing things and reasons for them, but I just don't understand how this "drill" helps with the drive forward. I truly don't get it. Two critical things are missing for a maximum drive from the rubber: 1. arms leading the way. 2. there's no load of the legs.
1. Arms need to lead the way when we do things. When you jump in the air, or broad jump, people use their arms (plural, not ARM) for momentum. When we run we use our arms (plural, not ARM) for momentum. This drill doesn't demonstrate any of that.
2. There is no load of the legs, no bend of the waist and flex of the front knee like a sprinter for the push off the rubber. She's striding from a completely erect position. How does that help someone with their stride? I'm not so sure it does.
I'm not trying to lump you or your DD into this statement but, this happens all the time. Pitchers doing drills that don't encompass the other moving parts of the pitching motion, in many cases CRITICALLY necessary moving parts (arms leading the way and loading the leg for push off for example). Then when she goes to pitch, the timing is thrown off because she's trying to put those pieces in somewhere while using the mechanics worked on in the "drill".
There is a pitching coach in my area whom I played with and against for many years during the '90s-2000's. He was a good pitcher, and seems to be pretty good at teaching pitching. However, I have noticed when we do lessons side by side that many of his students come in to the facility and warm up 2 or 3 lanes down where he doesn't see them. Many of these girls warm up doing wrist flips, ridiculous knee drills, etc. etc. Then, in their lesson, this coach is trying to get them to whip the ball and do all the things a pitcher is supposed to do. But, her warm ups are contradicting her lesson. So their bodies train themselves one way with these warm up routines then try to work in contrast to that in the lesson. I don't think this pitching coach realizes this, I KNOW he wouldn't sign off on doing wrist flicks and other things because they'd refute what he wants them to do when pitching. Do you see what I'm getting at here? The timing issue might be a problem because you're not working on all the factors needed for the timing problem. It's just a theory.
It's entirely possible that I'm missing something here and this is the greatest "drill" in the world. I certainly acknowledge that I don't know everything.
Bill