Softball Throwing Mechanics

Here is one of Candrea's throwing videos, want to elaborate on what you don't like about his teachings?

‪Softball Instruction Infield Fundamentals Part 3 - The Warm-UP‬‏ - YouTube

I am more used to the one on SportsSkool. That one has the thrower frozen a lot more halfway through. That's what I see taught a fair amount, maybe not fair to pin it on Candrea. As I said earlier you need to be careful not to overdo drills that have kids starting halfway through.

Other than that a couple minor points. One that has been discussed much before is showing the ball to 2nd base. The ball should be shown to 3rd, or perhaps a little beyond 3rd towards 2nd. The important thing for me is if you turn it too far the wrist becomes stiff and you lose some whip.

The final point is stepping at 45'. I am not sure if others agree with this or not but I don't. First of all, why does he say 45' degree in this vid when he doesn't step at 45'? In fact, he gets his foot initially more perpendicular to the target than 45', AND then immediately proceeds to twist his foot to near perpendicular. I am not sure the point of the 45' cue.

I just watched you tube video for first time in mos. I guess there were a few thing I didn't teach her "correctly".
First, she doesn't show the ball to 2nd, more like third. Plus, I can't get her flex her wrist like he shows for 6/12 rotation.
The thing she did learn well was the step and lining her body up to where she is throwing. I believe the 45 degree step is just a set up to align the body.
The glove to chest and arm circle I think really helped. Before she was very inaccurate and threw high arching throws. Of course she put a lot of practice into learning to throw at the beginning of season, which might attribute to improved accuracy. But still can't get that crazy flick out of wrist. She has been to clinics and takes pitching and hitting(with a little defense) lessons and either no one has taken the time to change "flick" or can't. Maybe nothing is wrong with it.
Personally I like Candrea's stuff. I knew very little about this stuff before this past year, and his video's, especially the free ones, have been a big help.
Of course none of it will be worth it if she develops shoulder problems from it.

Mr T said:

I am more used to the one on SportsSkool. That one has the thrower frozen a lot more halfway through. That's what I see taught a fair amount, maybe not fair to pin it on Candrea. As I said earlier you need to be careful not to overdo drills that have kids starting halfway through.

Other than that a couple minor points. One that has been discussed much before is showing the ball to 2nd base. The ball should be shown to 3rd, or perhaps a little beyond 3rd towards 2nd. The important thing for me is if you turn it too far the wrist becomes stiff and you lose some whip.

The final point is stepping at 45'. I am not sure if others agree with this or not but I don't. First of all, why does he say 45' degree in this vid when he doesn't step at 45'? In fact, he gets his foot initially more perpendicular to the target than 45', AND then immediately proceeds to twist his foot to near perpendicular. I am not sure the point of the 45' cue.

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While no video is perfect, I do like a few throwing concepts that he demontrates in the video such as getting sideways/aligned to the target, bicep/elbow up, good grip across the seams to maximize 12/6 spin and accuracy, and having the ball facing somewhere behind you before coming forward into release.

Mr. T - probably the reason he says to step with the right foot at a 45 degree angle is that its very difficult to take the intitial step at say 90 degrees (my DS baseball coaches teach the young kids this and its very ackward and unnatural motion for beginners). Once the front foot comes down on a similar 45 degree angle, the back foot can naturally rotate more open and allows for a good push off during the second half of the motion and throw. As the player gets better, they can take a greater angle with that first step.

SoCalSoftballdad said:

Here is one of Candrea's throwing videos, want to elaborate on what you don't like about his teachings?

‪Softball Instruction Infield Fundamentals Part 3 - The Warm-UP‬‏ - YouTube

Click to expand...

He doesn't teach the most important part of the overhand throw, which is the synchronization of the front thigh and throwing arm. I don't fault him for this. I didn't teach it either until last year. Few teach it because they aren't aware of it. IMO the one knee drill is a bad drill because it removes this key component of the throwing motion. Then add in how he teaches taking the ball to the "L" position in order to throw, and you have some serious sync issues.

As soon as the arm goes to the "L" position it externally rotates. If makes no difference that the ball is facing back. Facing the ball back when in the "L" position is nothing more than twisting the forearm back. It does nothing to preserve the shoulder or elbow. If you go to the "L" position prior to the front thigh rolling over you are out of sync and will stress the arm. You are essentially starting the forward motion of the throw with an arm that has already been stretched.

I still believe he is a great coach.

If you watch the olympians, here - you will notice that they are not showing the ball to third. I had never even heard of that until I saw some baseball pitchers doing it, in recent years. But, I teach a throw that is more like this. ‪Ground Ball Work - Mike Candrea‬‏ - YouTube

Amy in AZ. said:

If you watch the olympians, here - you will notice that they are not showing the ball to third. I had never even heard of that until I saw some baseball pitchers doing it, in recent years. But, I teach a throw that is more like this. ‪Ground Ball Work - Mike Candrea‬‏ - YouTube

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They are making some advanced throws. Side-arming some balls since they have to throw out super fast runners and slappers. Short-arming some balls and some times I don't even know that some of them show to 3rd even, more like halfway down the 3rd base line.

But for basic throws what do you advocate? For their overhand throws it appears many of them indeed show to 3rd. You can see it best when they show closeups of them throwing from 3rd:

Here is Team USA's catcher demonstrating how to throw overhand down to 2nd.




Here she is actually throwing down to 2nd.



I used to teach what she says to do - first photo. Now I teach what she does when she actually throws - second photo.

The difference between the two is huge.

As a side note, the angle in the throwing arm elbow will vary depending on the distance the player is throwing. A catcher needs more of a bend in the elbow because they have a short stride. An outfielder who has a cross over step and takes a long stride, will have less bend in the elbow.

Wellphyt said:

Here is Team USA's catcher demonstrating how to throw overhand down to 2nd.

View attachment 1332


Here she is actually throwing down to 2nd.

View attachment 1333

I used to teach what she says to do - first photo. Now I teach what she does when she actually throws - second photo.

The difference between the two is huge.

As a side note, the angle in the throwing arm elbow will vary depending on the distance the player is throwing. A catcher needs more of a bend in the elbow because they have a short stride. An outfielder who has a cross over step and takes a long stride, will have less bend in the elbow.

Click to expand...

Why would she demonstrate a different way than she actually throws. Is it that she disagrees with the way it is taught or because she is still learning this and reverted back to her old ways in a hurry?

undergroundga said:

Why would she demonstrate a different way than she actually throws. Is it that she disagrees with the way it is taught or because she is still learning this and reverted back to her old ways in a hurry?

Click to expand...

Very few people can teach AND do. Most can do one or the other. Always focus on what great athletes DO. Rarely pay attention to what they say. Many have become great IN SPITE of what they were taught. They will parrot what their coaches told them but actually perform a task differently and in a superior manner.

-W