Reposting this in its own thread as a cautionary tale about how early success can be a setup for later heartbreak.
But also it shows what’s possible, even with limited natural athleticism, via resilience and tons of hard work, if DD truly wants it.
And because DFP is the bomb.
***********************
This is our story. I hope it helps:
DD grew early and fast. Absolute dominant pitcher in 10/12U. Could throw 50+ first year 10U. She was 5'4"/145lbs in 2nd grade! Taller than her teacher.
And then, as she approached and went through middle school...everyone caught up. By second year 14U she was pitcher #3 and having to rely on her bat for playing time. In search of answers, we switched pitching coaches and learned IR from one of the best. That took a year.
Once IR was mastered by early 16U, and movement started to come back, she still couldn't throw much over 55mph. Pitching coach was scratching his head, said he couldn't teach speed, only mechanics and spin. So overall, HE to IR, but only about 3-4mph of gain in 5 years!
I posted video on DFP asking for help at the time. The clear problem was leg drive...lack of it. She spent months working with each of two different trainers, didn't really help. Incremental improvement and she was working 24/7. Dedicated her life to it and nothing. 55-56mph during first year 18s
Heartbreaking.
And then...
I read the DFP thread on quad dominance ("hyperarch mechanism"). Googled quad vs glute dominance and learned as much as I could. Lightbulb went on; it all started to make sense. She was quad dominant and no amount of work on her own (sprints, long toss, weighs, etc etc) would fix it.
Serendipity intervened and we got hooked up with a very good baseball trainer. One look and he said "she's badly imbalanced. I can fix it." Said it would take 3 months to adjust, 6 mos to see a change and a year to realize the full benefit.
He was right.
It's been almost exactly a year with this trainer and she's still in the gym 5 days a week, with sprints, agility, and other drills on her own in addition to team practice, but is now capable of 63-64mph. Although not yet consistent at that speed, she cruises at 60-62 and it's becoming apparent she will be able to sustain mid-60s by next summer. Says she can feel it coming on, and by the gun we can see episodes of 64 that are more and more frequent. In-game results have improved dramatically (now #1 pitcher on a nationally competitive 18U team). She'll play mid-level D3 ball in college because of the school but has turned down a mid-major D1 and a top D3 offer.
Nothing is ever straight up and to the right. But with enough work, insane luck and DFP we got to the breakthrough.
So thank you DFP!
PS - she posted the best BA on her team after an 11 game tourney last week. Leg drive is good for hitting too
But also it shows what’s possible, even with limited natural athleticism, via resilience and tons of hard work, if DD truly wants it.
And because DFP is the bomb.
***********************
This is our story. I hope it helps:
DD grew early and fast. Absolute dominant pitcher in 10/12U. Could throw 50+ first year 10U. She was 5'4"/145lbs in 2nd grade! Taller than her teacher.
And then, as she approached and went through middle school...everyone caught up. By second year 14U she was pitcher #3 and having to rely on her bat for playing time. In search of answers, we switched pitching coaches and learned IR from one of the best. That took a year.
Once IR was mastered by early 16U, and movement started to come back, she still couldn't throw much over 55mph. Pitching coach was scratching his head, said he couldn't teach speed, only mechanics and spin. So overall, HE to IR, but only about 3-4mph of gain in 5 years!
I posted video on DFP asking for help at the time. The clear problem was leg drive...lack of it. She spent months working with each of two different trainers, didn't really help. Incremental improvement and she was working 24/7. Dedicated her life to it and nothing. 55-56mph during first year 18s
Heartbreaking.
And then...
I read the DFP thread on quad dominance ("hyperarch mechanism"). Googled quad vs glute dominance and learned as much as I could. Lightbulb went on; it all started to make sense. She was quad dominant and no amount of work on her own (sprints, long toss, weighs, etc etc) would fix it.
Serendipity intervened and we got hooked up with a very good baseball trainer. One look and he said "she's badly imbalanced. I can fix it." Said it would take 3 months to adjust, 6 mos to see a change and a year to realize the full benefit.
He was right.
It's been almost exactly a year with this trainer and she's still in the gym 5 days a week, with sprints, agility, and other drills on her own in addition to team practice, but is now capable of 63-64mph. Although not yet consistent at that speed, she cruises at 60-62 and it's becoming apparent she will be able to sustain mid-60s by next summer. Says she can feel it coming on, and by the gun we can see episodes of 64 that are more and more frequent. In-game results have improved dramatically (now #1 pitcher on a nationally competitive 18U team). She'll play mid-level D3 ball in college because of the school but has turned down a mid-major D1 and a top D3 offer.
Nothing is ever straight up and to the right. But with enough work, insane luck and DFP we got to the breakthrough.
So thank you DFP!
PS - she posted the best BA on her team after an 11 game tourney last week. Leg drive is good for hitting too
