Figure 4 or Snap Finish?

What are your thoughts on the finish phase of the motion?

My DD was taught by her old PC to snap the hips closed and square up to the batter upon completion of the pitch. In the first month of learning, my DD had a tenancy to sweep the right foot behind the left foot in almost a figure 4 finish but the PC quickly got that out of her. Here we are starting from scratch 4 months later, with no PC and just the internet and a determined bucket dad for a coach so im curious on your thoughts on this. I see more pitchers utilizing a figure 4 finish than snapping square, which do you think is better?

A complete answer to your question is complicated..

Some small amount of hip snap (say 30 degrees or so, with 90 degrees being full closed and 0 degrees being fully open) is necessary. There are many pitchers who simply throw the ball, close to 30 degrees or so, and never fully close. Some pitchers do close their hips after the ball is thrown to get into a defensive position.

[video=youtube_share;qPztyxKOGLU]http://youtu.be/qPztyxKOGLU[/video]

For a newbie position, the best advice is "stay open, do not close". I've never seen a newbie pitcher ever have a problem with closing too little, but I've seen many, many newbie pitchers with closing too much.

Ideally, the stride foot should land at a 45 degree angle and it should work to resist the rotation of the hips (among other things). The shoulder can/will close more than the hips, which is fine. After release, the back foot should be on the toe with the back knee coming up to the front knee. At that point the pitcher can fall into a defensive position. Personally, I'm not convinced there is an "absolute" when it comes to the drag foot/toe, although this is what I use as a guidepost when instructing my DD's. My 11 y/o tends to figure 4 a lot more than I'd like, but my 6 y/o seems to be much more advanced relative to age and is able to keep her weight back and balanced enough for her toe to drag in a fairly straight line up to her stride leg during her follow-thru.

If I had to recommend a drill/video to you, it would be Rick Pauly's "Turn the Laces drill". Very helpful.

Thanks to Ray for the video clip of Sarah above....couple comments.
The toe drag is a follow through action and thus should not be forced. The torquing/rotation of the hips is what should create the toe drag. Remember that the hip rotation actually stops for a very brief instant just before and during release and then reinitiates......the deceleration/stopping of the hip rotation is key to generating energy......the toe drag is just along for the ride. If the pitcher has mastered this hip rotation/deceleration then what happens with the toe drag follow thru is immaterial......typically this pitcher will end with the push foot/drag foot landing slightly shorter than the landing foot in a staggered type position and about armpit width.......a very good defensive fielding position.
Forced toe drag follow throughs such as the figure 4, stork, slam the door square detract from what the real focus should be....rotation and deceleration of rotation.

Long-time lurker here.

I've been studying, and incorporating, Rick Pauly's video in my DD's training. Ever since I've incorporated "the follow-through will take care of itself" with her, everything has improved dramatically - velocity, spin, and accuracy.

Her pitching coach emphasizes closing the hips, pushing-through, and HE. Once I started to de-emphasize those, DD was able to focus more on the delivery, rather than a forced finish.