I have a problem with the idea that brush is necessary for control. Baseball pitchers don't brush. If there is brush where is the contact sensed, in the arm or the body? Some pitchers (Cat O.) where a neoprene sleeve on the elbow, in theory this would reduce the sensitivity to contact and leave the pitcher prone to wildness. Pitchers, as players, often wear sliding shorts, something else that would reduce sensitivity and cause wildness. To me brush is a sign of good mechanics but not a factor in the timing of the release.
Hitting hip and throwing inside
- Thread starter guyonabuffalo
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If you think about the speed of the arm as it comes into release, I don't think it is a given that the pitcher has time to say " oh I better let go now". Instead, I agree with AWhip, that it is a sign of good mechanics with the arm being in a stable position and tracking close to the body but not the end all. I used to think brush was the platform to die on, but I've since decided that stabilizing the various joints while utilizing the correct musculature is much more important.
A person can use HE and still brush at the same location.
I'm too lazy to read through my post, but I don't think I said brush is necessary for accuracy. Maybe it came across that way, but I don't believe that brush and accuracy are mutually exclusive. Would it make someone who doesn't brush even more accurate? I couldn't say. I do think a pitcher who has brush could recognize something has changed if they suddenly didnt have it. It's a good point of reference or maybe a box to check on your list of points to hit when assessing mechanics. Like you said, a sign of good mechanics.
I've seen plenty of reasonably accurate pitchers who have pretty rough mechanics. They've just got enough natural coordination and a million reps that they've managed to compensate with other muscles, etc.
Edit...so I just reread my post and I think I kinda did misrepresent my feelings on brush. I was more speaking to the opinion of brush proponents as opposed to myself. My bad.
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My clarification on brush is in my previous post back to armwhip.
But, to say a pitcher can't mentally process brush fast enough to help trigger release is like saying we can't recognize the ball hitting our glove quickly enough for the brain to signal our hand to squeeze it.
I agree about someone with a straight arm being able to brush. Brush and whip aren't mutually exclusive. I personally think that for a pitcher throwing with a straight arm, catching a bit of brush is for the best. There are a few kids I work with who are either already in lessons (and being taught straight arm circle), or are never gonna put in the time to make real mechanical changes (yet will be expected to pitch some), and that's one of a very few suggestions I'll make. Less so for a trigger and more so just so they'll find a way to get their arm in roughly the same place every time. But I absolutely do not believe brush is a requirement for accuracy.
There is no comparison between the amount of time a baseball/softball player practices throwing overhand with the amount of time a softball pitcher has throwing underhand.
Baseball & softball players start throwing overhand at 3 or 4 YOA. As soon as they are at t-ball, they are taught to lineup and play and catch. Then they learn to field groundballs and they overhand to 1B. As long as a kid is playing baseball or softball, they are spending at least 30 minutes of every practice throwing overhand.
Even with all that, if you start comparing college pitchers, you find that baseball pitchers have less control than softball pitchers.
It's a learned somatic reflex. External stimulus (the touch of the arm on the body) triggers the release sequence. Learned somatic reflexes are everywhere in sports.
Catching a thrown ball with one hand is an example of a learned somatic reflex. Take a ball in your right hand raise it about eye level and drop it into your left hand. Your left hand has a grasping reflex. If you pay attention, you can feel the hand spring shut.
As requested, here's some video. She's only throwing fastballs here. As you can see in the last one video, this has been typical where the ball trails inside and down when she misses. Today we worked on walk throughs, striding straight out instead of across her powerline, trying not to force herself open, and bringing the back leg through. This really seemed to help and she regained some consistency and was able to hit inside and outside again. Still a work in progress and need to work on the glove arm though, but just trying one thing at a time. I'm still open to suggestions but I hope we're on the right path to solving this.
Now that we have the side view…I’m not concerned she’s too open, but concerned her hips are way out in front. She’s nearly completely closed at release and that’s too much. Personally I’d keep up with the walk through and other ways to get her driving a little more aggressively and leave that hip behind a tad. She’s sitting down at release and lacking much front side resistance. If she drove lower and faster she’d have to fight to stop harder.
I literally was thinking tetherball before you got to that analogy!
Excellent videos by the way. I'm looking at a little mismatch between her shoulders and her hips. She is very open with her shoulders at release, at the same time her hips are a little closed. Individually neither is necessarily a problem but together they are creating the conditions for the collision down at the release point. Her unusual glove arm action keeps her open, her soft landing pulls her hips a little closed. I would work on the landing. I see you have a couple of videos on your channel for front side leg action, 'step backs', I would try those first. If you wanted to bend the rules a little and try for a quick fix simply have her experiment with closing her landing foot more, this might keep her hips from closing as much.
I'm not sure how I feel about her unusual glove arm action, it keeps her from closing. Normally I see overly active glove arms swimming way out and I'm trying to tone it down. It's possible that it's costing her a little velocity.
I'm not sure how I feel about her unusual glove arm action, it keeps her from closing. Normally I see overly active glove arms swimming way out and I'm trying to tone it down. It's possible that it's costing her a little velocity.
