Arm out early

My dd seems to be early with her arm when driving. I've included a Scarborough screen shot, but having compared her to several others on YT, she is generally around 3:00 when others are at 6:00-4:30. She pitches without a backswing. I'm wondering whether this is just an idiosyncrasy or a flaw that requires correction. If it's the latter, what problem(s) does it cause (assuming her arm is in the proper location at plant)? Slower arm speed? Has anyone used a drill or cue to correct it?

Thanks

Yes, it is a flaw. The arms and legs need to be in certain locations to allow for maximum efficiency. This efficiency comes by way of the front side resistance and hip location being able to transfer the ground energy into the pitching arm at the right moment.

Usually, this flaw is a result of an improper leg drive(quad domanice vs glute domanice).

It is hard to suggest a possible drill without seeing the entire motion.

Her arm isn't early. Her legs are late. I'd bet a donut that her back leg drags hard on the side of the foot. This causes the hip to not close back for power transfer into the release.

She needs more speed on the drive. At the point she's at with her arm, her back leg should be fully extended and all the weight should have transitioned off of the drive leg. Her foot should be turning over at that point. A slo mo video will help, but ultimately, someone will tell you she needs to work on driving from a sprinter stance (rocking back then forward into drive may help since she pitches without a backswing). Knee ahead of toes and chin above the knee at the point she pushes off with the right foot, with the left leg and torso in a line that you could hold a broom handle from neck to the back of the foot and her body would mostly line right up with it. Keep an eye out for her to be suddenly shooting upright as she begins the drive. That kills her launch.

Push with the left foot (starting up on the foot ball/toes) a split second before the right to get momentum and drive that left knee forward. There are some drills or "feel it" type stuff (like casually short-stepping off the rubber and just letting the back foot drag along on the toe) that will help.

You'll know she's getting when you start seeing extension at 3:00. That Scarborough video is a beautiful example of leg extension and the back foot turning over because she has tremendous drive speed. You'll also likely begin to see her front leg plant as it comes down in an arc, first hitting on the ball of the foot. Conversely, with flawed drive you'll see the front shin almost vertical as the foot drops and lands flat, and typically that front leg will bend/collapse anywhere from a little bit to a whole lot. That means her energy transfer has ended mid-air and she's now dropping straight down instead of transferring the power to the front leg, where front side resistance will allow that power to move up to the upper body and hips for release.

That back leg and front foot can tell you so, so much. I have worked and worked on it with my daughter and she's finally starting to feel it. Some of it will just come down to how much natural explosivity your daughter has. Mine is more of a slow-twitch kid so it's taken longer to get there.

I think it's too early in the motion to draw a conclusion, you need to see where her arm is located upon front foot plant. She might be a little early in the picture but a little slow over the top.

Thanks for the responses. Here are a few pitches from different angles, though not in slo motion.

How long has she been pitching without a backswing? Is this a newish change?

tomorrow said:

How long has she been pitching without a backswing? Is this a newish change?

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No, it's been for a while now....probably a year or more.

I would try the STFG drill from Javasource's Drive Mechanics.

ArmWhip said:

I would try the STFG drill from Javasource's Drive Mechanics.

Drive Mechanics

Stagger of the feet helps, no doubt. Try sprinting with feet beside each other, vs staggered. The latter is infinitely more efficient. Rocketech1... Stagger creates more space to develop momentum. The giant bend at the knees is not efficient. The stretch shortening cycle says otherwise. A...

www.discussfastpitch.com

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Okay, thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a try. At the end of last session we worked on syncing for a couple minutes. She spontaneously introduced her backswing and the timing fell right into place. When I asked if she could time it the same way with how she usually throws, she insisted that was how she usually throws (after thousands upon thousands of pitches!). Almost didn't want to believe the video I showed her.

Bottom line is I'm not sure how it'll translate without backswing. On the one hand, the backswing seems to resolve the issue, but she wants to maintain her current no backswing mode and I don't want to try to force her....it's a dilemma.

Thanks again for the drill.

Veryzer said:

Bottom line is I'm not sure how it'll translate without backswing. On the one hand, the backswing seems to resolve the issue, but she wants to maintain her current no backswing mode and I don't want to try to force her....it's a dilemma.

Click to expand...

There is a bottom line question to ask, does it affect her velocity? Or her control?