Jayleen - 13yo

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Nov 20, 2020
995
93
SW Missouri
I’ve seen some other threads of similar theme and have really enjoyed them. Both for the story of the journey but also for all of the great feedback.

This year will be DD’s third year of competitive softball and also pitching. Jr High tryouts are coming up and then she starts her 2nd year of 12u. She started playing/pitching almost from scratch in 10u sharing the position with two others. Then moving to 12u (last year) was the teams #2 pitcher. Though HC really used them as 1a and 1b.

The start of last year was tough. We lost Spring. Ball got bigger. Pitching distance increased. And we changed some mechanics. It really started to click come end of Summer/start of Fall. Below are some clips of 10u versus where we ended 12u. Looking forward to continuing her journey.

10u - This was the teams first “tournament”



12u - This was the final Fall season game.

 
Last edited:
Oct 26, 2019
1,375
113
Haha - It took me a minute but I got it. Wrong Springfield. I think.....


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I’m not sure the Simpsons ever clarified where their Springfield is.

does your DD still use the step back? What does she do when the rule set doesn’t allow for it?
 
Nov 20, 2020
995
93
SW Missouri
I’m not sure the Simpsons ever clarified where their Springfield is.

does your DD still use the step back? What does she do when the rule set doesn’t allow for it?

I thought at one point the creator or writers settled on Springfield, IL. But I could be wrong!

She does still step back. And since both ASA and USSSA allow it we’ve not run into any issues since the change last year.

Edit: I will add that we’ve started practicing having her drop her stride toe down behind her rather than stepping back from the rubber. Mainly because she sometimes steps to far back or behind her drive foot causing imbalance.


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Last edited:
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
Looks pretty good. I'd work on getting rid of the forward lean at (and after) release.

Do y'all have a pitching coach?
 
Nov 20, 2020
995
93
SW Missouri
Looks pretty good. I'd work on getting rid of the forward lean at (and after) release.

Do y'all have a pitching coach?

We do have one she’s been seeing for just over a year. He’s great. And the lean is something he calls out. In practice it’s not so prevalent, but comes out in games when she’s really trying to send it.

We worked on pushing her stride all year. Now it’s getting her to fire her glutes and get the hips square at the end. Again, in practice it’s there. But in games....not as much :)


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Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
We do have one she’s been seeing for just over a year. He’s great. And the lean is something he calls out. In practice it’s not so prevalent, but comes out in games when she’s really trying to send it.

We worked on pushing her stride all year. Now it’s getting her to fire her glutes and get the hips square at the end. Again, in practice it’s there. But in games....not as much :)


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It'll never end. There's always something to fix and work on. :)
 
Feb 10, 2018
496
93
NoVA
Your DD looks like she is making good progress. Moving back 5’ with the bigger ball is no joke, having been through it with my DD. Also, a shout out for switching to the “out of glove” style. My DD is a recent convert as well and it has helped her keep more bend in her arm compared to the long backswing she used to have (in addition to other benefits).

Do you have any recent video of her from the ball arm side? @uncdrew mentioned the forward effort. That does jump out in the video. Keeping a stacked posture—connection between the upper and lower body—is key. The origin of the issue may be that she is still trying to clear her hip, even subconsciously, to make a path for the ball. That is, she may be too open to the power line when she lands. Take a close look at her stride foot. Some say the ideal angle is 45. But I’d say you probably have 15 degrees of tolerance on either side of that.

If you are too open to the power line, you are going to have a really hard time getting brush and whipping the ball. That is going to tend to lead to pushing the ball and forward effort to “help” get it to the plate.
 
Nov 20, 2020
995
93
SW Missouri
Your DD looks like she is making good progress. Moving back 5’ with the bigger ball is no joke, having been through it with my DD. Also, a shout out for switching to the “out of glove” style. My DD is a recent convert as well and it has helped her keep more bend in her arm compared to the long backswing she used to have (in addition to other benefits).

Do you have any recent video of her from the ball arm side? @uncdrew mentioned the forward effort. That does jump out in the video. Keeping a stacked posture—connection between the upper and lower body—is key. The origin of the issue may be that she is still trying to clear her hip, even subconsciously, to make a path for the ball. That is, she may be too open to the power line when she lands. Take a close look at her stride foot. Some say the ideal angle is 45. But I’d say you probably have 15 degrees of tolerance on either side of that.

If you are too open to the power line, you are going to have a really hard time getting brush and whipping the ball. That is going to tend to lead to pushing the ball and forward effort to “help” get it to the plate.

Thanks! Unfortunately, I didn’t realize just how big a change 10u to 12u was until I started taking learning to pitch seriously myself. The out of glove style was a big recommendation from her PC. Previously DD would be locked out due to the backswing so we made the adjustment. Took awhile for her to get used to it. Now we’re working on her negative motion timing and trying to stay in the glove longer. Should help keep her more square at finish, allow the brush, and offer more deceit.

I’m in agreement about her stack and staying too open. All about the brush and pushing makes sense. Kind of where my comments came from her leaning to get a little extra heat on it. Once season ended and we saw her PC again he gave her some homework to help fix it. But I’ll definitely keep an eye on her stride foot. PC advised to make sure her drag foot is toes down/laces forward to help the posture.

I don’t have a lot of recent footage from her ball side. Right as we started to work again she hurt her drive knee. I think we started too fast after taking some time off after Fall. So we had to shut it down again. She’s starting to feel ready to get back at it after a month of band/stretch/rest rehab. So as we (slowly) get back ready for Spring I’ll take more footage from that side.

Thanks for the kind comments and advice!


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