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May 20, 2019
132
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So last night I made an observation. During warm-ups she was doing walk through long toss and posture/brush was great. Problem is as soon as she got in the circle monkey butt city again..... gotta be a drive mechanics issue?
 
Apr 12, 2015
792
93
During the walk-through, her forward momentum is preventing her from twisting to open. In the circle, with no forward momentum, her habit of twisting to open takes over.

The solution remains the same as earlier and should be a strict point of emphasis during practice:

Imagine she has headlights on her shoulders and front of her thighs. She should try to keep all four headlights pointed straight at the catcher as she drives out. She won't be able to, but that should be her mindset. Once she stops twisting to open and lets the open start happening naturally, her posture will immediately improve.

It will take some time and effort to correct, but she'll get there.
 
May 15, 2008
1,913
113
Cape Cod Mass.
Something that sometimes cures monkey butt is telling them to stay tall. Monkey butt can be viewed as bending over and if that's what it feels like to her then telling her to stay tall gives her a different feel to focus on.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,590
113
Chehalis, Wa
So last night I made an observation. During warm-ups she was doing walk through long toss and posture/brush was great. Problem is as soon as she got in the circle monkey butt city again..... gotta be a drive mechanics issue?

Does it look like there is a hitch is her motion?

Where in her arm circle does she drive off the rubber?
 
May 20, 2019
132
43
During the walk-through, her forward momentum is preventing her from twisting to open. In the circle, with no forward momentum, her habit of twisting to open takes over.

The solution remains the same as earlier and should be a strict point of emphasis during practice:



It will take some time and effort to correct, but she'll get there.
Yes I agree with this and will revisit this and see if this que will work.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,590
113
Chehalis, Wa
Been a while since I posted progress. Still fighting posture but getting better. Also seems to be not entirely palm up down the backside. Control and velocity improving each week. Starting to get some better spin with 2 seam grip as well. Point out any other issues that jump out :)



I like the arc/path of the ball. A good drop ball has a hump, breaks like a curveball in baseball that also has a hump.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
It seems to never stop raining this fall so not getting much circle time. Lots of backyard sessions although its starting to get dark earlier. We are still working hard on posture. I think I have identified one of the major issues causing the posture though. She is fairly consistently stepping well across the powerline.(and no we aren't trying to throw screwballs lol). Dragbox is helping correct drive foot twist. Its like a Neverending game of whack-a-mole!

Flood lights. :)
 
May 20, 2019
132
43
Been a while since an update but we had a nice winter rest and are back in full swing with our first TB tournament of the season this coming weekend and Rec ball practice has started. Over the winter we made a ton of progress on posture and it is paying dividends in better brush contact which has increased velocity and control in spades. Will get some video taken and put up in the next few days for you all to disassemble. Our current point of emphasis has been on front foot placement on plant which has been 90 deg to the catcher instead of 45-50 deg. It seems this foot placement is locking her hips and not allowing her to bring her hip to her hand. This correction has been difficult to burn in and when she gets it right good stuff happens. #thejourneycontinues Hope everyone has a good 2021 season!
 
May 20, 2019
132
43
First tournament yesterday and pitching went well. Only got one relief inning in due to pitchers 3 and 4 were doing quite well in pool play so coach let em cruise. Unfortunately the camera went dead on me and it didnt capture the inning she pitched. My take on the outing is that she still has work to do on closing batters when up in the count. Had a couple walks where she was up on the count and ended up losing them. Couple weak ground balls to the infield followed by fielding errors didnt help either. Pretty happy with first outing of the year overall. Highlight would have been a 3 pitch strikeout with 2 peel drops followed by the prettiest changeup she has thrown yet. I promise i will have some video soon!
 

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