Advanced Stone Skipping for softball pitchers to learn IR?

Uhhh....I totally don't see "spin the ball right." Does that mean try and spin the ball in a clockwise way?? I have a left-hander. Does that make any difference. Sorry to be so dense.

BoardMember said:

Ideally, this is what I mean from a catchers view from a RH'd pitcher......The spin would look opposite (spinning forward) with the same tilted orientation from the pitchers prospective.

I don't mean FLAT HORIZONTAL spin like a helicopter spin screwball........Which I don't think is possible anyway......

Another TRAINING spin would be bullet spin which is CLOCKWISE looking from the pitchers prospective.......Like a football spiral underhand..........

Maybe I should film the spin with a striped ball..........I don't have a high speed camera, but we should be ablt to see the stripe orientation and spin..........

If the weather clears by this weekend I'll see what I can do..........

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Thank you. I was unclear due to the thread this was in (skipping a rock would be a screw spin to the right from a RHP) and your strong statement "Spin it to the right". So, really we are looking for a 12-6 spin with the axis turned slightly away from the midline (to the right for a RHP), just like always. I was just making sure there wasn't something I missed along the way.

GatorGirl said:

Uhhh....I totally don't see "spin the ball right." Does that mean try and spin the ball in a clockwise way?? I have a left-hander. Does that make any difference. Sorry to be so dense.

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ROFLOL..........Everything I've said would be opposite for a LH'd pitcher..........

GET THE BALL SPINNING TO THE LEFT BUT THROW IT STRAIGHT AHEAD.............Don't over think this.........Lead with the PINKIE finger........GET THE BALL SPINNING TO THE LEFT BUT THROW IT STRAIGHT AHEAD........

This is FROM THE PITCHERS PROSPECTIVE..........

I take a sharpie and draw a nickel-sized dot in between the narrows. Using a four seam grip, I have the girls try to throw the pinky-side dot at the target. Pretty similar to the football idea.

Thanks for your patience guys. I have learned to understand a lot of the terminology on here, but I still have a ways to go.

How does having her try and spin the ball get her closer to palm up and the IR method and away from bowling the ball?

I feel like we are so close and know that once she has the "feeling", we have it! I know it will still need major tweaking, but hopefully the feeling is like riding a bicycle in that you never loose it. Just trying to keep her palm up for is long as possible. We have our pitching lesson tonight and hopefully this will put a lot of my stress to bed.

GG

GatorGirl said:

Thanks for your patience guys. I have learned to understand a lot of the terminology on here, but I still have a ways to go.

How does having her try and spin the ball get her closer to palm up and the IR method and away from bowling the ball?

I feel like we are so close and know that once she has the "feeling", we have it! I know it will still need major tweaking, but hopefully the feeling is like riding a bicycle in that you never loose it. Just trying to keep her palm up for is long as possible. We have our pitching lesson tonight and hopefully this will put a lot of my stress to bed.

GG

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In and of itself it has nothing to do with I/R, It is an indicator of a good release point and hand position while using I/R however. It is the feedback point that tells you that you are "catching the whip" and releasing very close to the right position with the hand correctly oriented to the ball and the ball is coming out of the hand correctly. You could get to this position while bowling as well and simply slightly externally rotate the wrist, lead with the pinky and create the exact same spin. It's value as a feedback point is only as it pertains to the release position and timing of the hand. What you will notice when you see this spin is that the ball is at or near the maximum velocity for a given pitcher compared with other spins you see from a beginning pitcher doing this drill.

if you try this yourself you will see that it is one of the easier parts of the equation.

How does having her try and spin the ball get her closer to palm up and the IR method and away from bowling the ball?

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Can you say more about your question?

Briefly ... it encourages an inside/outside path.

GatorGirl said:

How does having her try and spin the ball get her closer to palm up and the IR method and away from bowling the ball?

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Squeeze summed it up nicely...........I'll repeat what I said originally..........When I have a student who just can't seem to get it........I place training emphasis on the most important position. Just before release..........In order to get the ball spinning away from you while throwing it straight..........Your hand MUST BE INSIDE THE BALL just before release..........



You can start palm up until the cows come home.........If you can't stay inside the ball as you approach release, you have little chance of "catching the whip"............

I never said "spin the ball"........I said "get it spinning"........You don't have to do anything special with the fingers/wrist to spin the ball except stay inside the ball..........When you release the ball it will obviously spin.........GET THAT SPIN spinning away from your body vs. INTO your body...........The best way to accomplish this is to make sure your hand is INSIDE the ball..........

Thanks guys. I do now have a much better understanding.