Pitcher Falling Sideways

My daughter and I are struggling with her finish balance. I'm out of ideas and the couldn't find a thread that addresses this. We've also been working on getting her to follow through and not snap her elbow back after release. Any help would be appreciated.

She looks very young. She's going to have to pitch from a static start and won't be able to drag her push off foot back like she does now. But maybe you are doing one of Java's drills in the video. Part of me wants to say just let her fly, overall she looks very good. Eventually she will smooth out what she's doing with more practice and experience.

I'm sure more front side resistance will be mentioned but I think the issue is more in her push off. She gets her weight forward at the start, which is fine, but never gets back to being fully stacked so she has a little too much forward lean when she lands. A pitcher goes from leaning forward at launch to leaning back a little at landing. Technically she is more quad dominant at launch and needs to use her glutes more, telling her this is pointless. Quad dominant pitchers tend launch 'up' and not 'out', this is what i see in her. Coming up with a cue to modify what she is doing is the challenge. If she were my student I would start by simply telling her to get lower at the start and stay lower through the whole motion, by flexing her legs, more knee bend. Her lower half needs to outrace her upper half. But I will state again that part of me wants to say just let the kid throw the ball, she's headed in the right direction and will figure it out.

ArmWhip said:

She looks very young.

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Yes...Depending on how you define very young. She's 12, but genetics being what they are she's 4'6" and 60lbs.

ArmWhip said:

maybe you are doing one of Java's drills in the video.

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Pushback drill. When she has a pitching rubber she starts fine. My current theory was that she needs to drive harder to get her hips under her so she won't be leaning forward at landing.

ArmWhip said:

part of me wants to say just let the kid throw the ball, she's headed in the right direction and will figure it out.

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This is what I was thinking also, but I wanted to check in with those more knowledgeable than I am so I don't mislead her.

Try having her take 2 or 3 steps toward the catcher after throwing a pitch during practice. Potentially creating muscle memory so her body can continue moving forward instead of veering off to the right. But she is young, and the older/stronger she gets, this will probably go away.

Teach her to play pitch and catch underhand.

No one would teach a boy to pitch until he could play pitch and catch overhand. Yet, everyone tries to teach girls how to pitch before they can play pitch and catch underhand.

Have her take the ball, go around the circle, and throw it. No windup, no exaggerated push-off. Just take the ball, circle, and throw. Pitch and catch underhand is done just like you do pitch and catch overhand. Start close, then back up to 20 or 30 feet. Loose, relaxed, with a good rhythm, preferably with a conversation about important stuff like fishing, grandma & grandpa, cousins, and whether strawberry is better than chocolate.

FYI: This is a very valuable skill for later. Once a kid gets it, they can warmup much faster.

Do not drive harder. She has momentum she can’t handle right now and wants continue forward even after release.

I see going air borne as a flaw. It’s releasing the spring into the air. And for that moment nothing is happening, just waiting to come back to earth. Your in limbo.

Instead of pushing harder, the energy needs to be focused on pushing into the ground and out. Don’t jump and release the spring into the air. It’s a give and take relationship with the ground, push into it and it pushes back.

sluggers said:

Have her take the ball, go around the circle, and throw it. No windup, no exaggerated push-off. Just take the ball, circle, and throw. Pitch and catch underhand is done just like you do pitch and catch overhand. Start close, then back up to 20 or 30 feet. Loose, relaxed, with a good rhythm,

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I will be more mindful during our warmups. This is how she warms up, but the lean/falling part doesnt happen until we transition from underhand catch to pitching.

Jumping isn’t leg drive.

sluggers said:

Teach her to play pitch and catch underhand.

No one would teach a boy to pitch until he could play pitch and catch overhand. Yet, everyone tries to teach girls how to pitch before they can play pitch and catch underhand.

Have her take the ball, go around the circle, and throw it. No windup, no exaggerated push-off. Just take the ball, circle, and throw. Pitch and catch underhand is done just like you do pitch and catch overhand. Start close, then back up to 20 or 30 feet. Loose, relaxed, with a good rhythm, preferably with a conversation about important stuff like fishing, grandma & grandpa, cousins, and whether strawberry is better than chocolate.

FYI: This is a very valuable skill for later. Once a kid gets it, they can warmup much faster.

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I've seen this suggested many times but I've yet to see anyone whip naturally this way. When I think about throwing underhand myself, I certainly dont whip. I push.

Is there something specific that needs cued or said for whip to develop naturally using this process? Or are we talking about like...very little windup to start. like not even as far back as 9:00? I certainly dont have anyone doing windmills for passing but if we're short distance, short windup, maybe that would work better.

There IS one kid I catch for sometimes and she throws better in-general if I get her talking about nothing softball related.

PJR202 said:

I've seen this suggested many times but I've yet to see anyone whip naturally this way. When I think about throwing underhand myself, I certainly dont whip. I push.

Is there something specific that needs cued or said for whip to develop naturally using this process? Or are we talking about like...very little windup to start. like not even as far back as 9:00? I certainly dont have anyone doing windmills for passing but if we're short distance, short windup, maybe that would work better.

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I don't use specific cues. We warm-up, do 3 accurate throws from "K" position. Then move to underhand catch. We'll play underhand catch for about 5-10 minutes until she's worked most of the kinks out and is throwing accurately, then we move on to pitching. See the attached video for what underhand catch looks like when someone much more skilled than I am is doing it.