Speed drop off with I/R

My DD spent 3 years (8U and 10U) pitching with a hello elbow style motion. I then worked to convert her to I/R with the help of the Hillhouse videos (a life saver), stickies on this forum, and by watching slow motion video on YouTube (Ueno, Osterman, Pauly, etc.). I'd say we got her 3/4 converted and she pitched that way for the 2 years of 12U. In the last 3 months we've been working on converting her the rest of the way, and to my untrained eye it seems like she's getting there (but I'm sure there is stuff I'm missing).

The problem we are hitting, is that her speed has dropped off since converting the last part of her motion. At the end of 12U she was pitching around 45mph, but since the conversion she's pitching about 40mph. She's 13, 5' 8", and is fairly strong (gymnast and other sports) so I'd think we should be able to get her up into the high 40's or low 50's based on other girls her age we've pitched with.

I have a few questions for the group, feel free to give feedback on 1 or all:

1. Based on the videos below, do you guys see anything in her motion that could be hurting her speed? Or do we just need to give her a few more months of getting used to the motion so that her timing is down, muscles are stronger, and she doesn't have to think as much when pitching?

2. Are there certain body types that don't do as well with I/R? I always think of her as having more strength than flexibility if that makes sense.

3. For pitchers who pitch at high speeds, what percentage is good form and what percentage is body type? Like do some people just have more fast twitch muscles (or whatever) and their speed can't be taught?

Just to be clear speed is not our main focus, we work on accuracy, spin, etc. too. The reason for the post is just that her speed has dropped off and is at the point where she'd be in the bottom 20% (I'd guess) of the girls pitching in her age group and I'd like to help her bring it back up.







Thanks in advance, love the forum and all of the info you guys provide!

Jim

Arm circle looks like it goes too far behind her head.

And particularly on the first video from the side, she cuts off her follow through by hunching her right shoulder. (Follow through looks more natural on the head-on shot).

The one from behind looks like she goes palm down too early, possibly losing some whip. But I don’t know if that segment is using the same motion as before her recent speed loss.


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Very little front side resistance.

1. She is leaking speed with the arm circle. Ball goes behind her head and her chest goes out to compensate. Get that arm on the power line.

2. Her drive is weak and is leaping just a tad too. Where her knee should be leading her foot does more of the leading.

3. Because she is not driving straight out , more of an up and out, she is landing vs breaking. She needs to drive into the front leg. That’s what front side resistance is. Breaking. Stopping
Ps. Landing on her toes too. Product of launching up. Not out.
4. Her trigger is good then seems to lose it at the end. Her arm goes straight prior to brush. Gotta hold it longer. So losing a ton of whip there. That’s HE coming back into things.
In side vid she is tight. In front vid more lose. Remaining lose is vital.

She is strong and athletic. Remember though as they grow they go through speed bumps. And when you fix one thing other areas suffer. Is part of the process.
Keep up the good fight.
Ps you may want to consider releasing the right arm backwards. It may help with her drive. Her glove goes so far back it’s twisting her torso a ton. That’s just mho.
Dr t


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Has she had a large growth spurt recently? That seems to come up fairly regularly. A large growth spurt and then suddenly, lots of things seem to regress.

4KidsDad said:

Very little front side resistance.

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was going to say. She could try staying back a bit more I think. Needs to reverse posture and lock that knee on release.

looks like she's rotating around the front hip and not really IR snapping the ball.

Agree with all the experts. Similar story with my dd. Switching is hard after having success with HE. Speeds go up and down for many reasons. Stick with it and listen to these guys, the speed will jump again. Is it possible she's holding back a bit to get technique right?

She's really close... to piggy back on a few other posts, I see the following adjustments needing made.
1. Her style to initial load is misunderstood... We don't see a clear loading of the legs and glutes prior to launch. This negates any potential energy that could have been redirected.
2. She has whats referred to as a "lasso".... she brings the ball over her head, this is a result of the twisting in her back swing. Keep the back swing straight and on the powerline.
3. Her resistance is a bit soft. Pay attention to her front hip especially. See how it never fully stops drifting forward? That needs to stabilize when the stride lands. Also watch her right shoulder. See how her body spins up the spiral line? Its as if the kinetic energy shoots up her body like a candy cane stripe rather than a straight line up her left leg and into her right shoulder! She needs to hold that posture, and fight the urge to have the back shoulder assist in sending the ball forward.
Hope this helps, Coach James

Don’t know that I have anything new to add but front side resistance, drive and what we would Call “getting out of the shoulder” would be where I would focus. My daughter struggled with the shoulder deal but as we got away from that things got better.

She is close and expect as she refines a few things the speed will come along. Keep working and she will get there.