Lazy Leg

My DD is 10 y/o and pitches for travel and rec. She is the third in the rotation for her travel team. Trying to get a higher spot. ��
We have been working with a PC for a few months and she has made a lot of progress. Best thing I have done for her as a pitcher. The latest issue I am concerned with and her PC points out regularly is her lazy leg.
She knows she is supposed to be stacked at release. But she fails (regurlarly) to pull her pivot foot under her. Which results in the right knee being left out of the stack. She just simply leaves it straight on the drag.
In lessons and in practice she can be coached into getting the back side in order, but in a game, for get about it. She is much more concerned about throwing strikes. I emphasize mechanics during the game but to no avail. If I really point it out in games she gets frustrated and it adds to the stress of the game. Then I get another "daddy / coach of the year award"
Her stride is about 100-120% of her height. Front side resistance seems to be good, usually.
Here's my question: How important is the drag leg / stacking the knee at release? Any suggestions to correct it if it is a major concern? We have tried the towel drag drill and focus on the drag leg in warm ups at the k and full position.
Pic below I can get more if needed. Thanks in advance.

I would suggest getting a squeaky pet toy and attaching it to the toe of her drag foot with duct tape. Then get her to practice finishing with the top of her drag foot hitting the calf of her plant leg and making the toy "squeak". Start by throwing into a tarp so she can concentrate on her mechanics and making the toy "squeak" vs. throwing strikes. One she has mastered it try throwing to a catcher.

she looks good and has a nice stride. have her focus on trying to keep the shoe laces down toward the dirt on her drive (right) foot during her drag. So that she drags more on the top of her toe. This will enable her knee to come farther forward under the hip at release adn her hips to close more at the same time. However, if you posted a video it would be easier to tell exactly what is going on.

I think not leaving that back leg "anchored" behind is very important.
I also believe that most young (8U, 10U) pitchers just don't have the core strength/stability to make it happen.

Lots of folks push young pitchers to stride out - probably too far.
I would suggest shortening her stride to a point, to where she can start bring that rear leg forward with release.
Get the stride out and down FAST, but not necessarily try to reach too far. (shoot for 80%-100% of height, vs. 100%-120%)
Also, as suggested above, work to get that rear leg/ankle articulation with "laces pointing forward".
You might see some immediate improvement.

That's a question I have as well. Is there an absolute on the drive/drag foot as to where it should be pointing? I see a lot slide on the side of their toe and some are saying to get the laces to the catcher. Is this an absolute? Is there an absolute? Talking 10u, 9yr old.

Sorry to hijack but this is one of the things I am working on with my pitcher.

i dont think its an absolute to have the laces down and drag on top of the toes, however it becomes an issue more so when the laces are pointed back towards SS or second base (for rhp). Its more of a cue to use to get the hips to close "some" at release as opposed to having the hips wide open. You lose a lot of power by not using your legs/hips. Same as you would by swinging a bat flat footed or throwing.

Generally I find that when the back leg is getting left behind it means the pitcher is not using the pivot leg (right leg on a RHP) to push. Instead, she's doing more reaching with the stride leg and pivot leg is just getting dragged along. Or not as the case may be.

Take a look at when (or even if) she is pushing from the back side. She should be starting her push as the stride leg goes by the pivot leg. You can tell her to think of throwing her butt forward instead of reaching her foot forward.

Another thing I do to help demonstrate the timing of the push is to have the pitcher skip, or do the "high knees" warmup. Then I ask her when she was going for maximum elevation, when did she start using the leg on the ground - when the knee was already up or when it was just starting to go up?

Getting the push timed properly seems to be a challenge for many young girls. Until they understand it, and feel it themselves, it can be a struggle.

As my DD's pitching coach says, "games are a destroyer of mechanics". You're just trying to survive. It will all come together in time.

TMoney said:

As my DD's pitching coach says, "games are a destroyer of mechanics". You're just trying to survive. It will all come together in time.

Click to expand...

I had this talk with one of my 9yr olds last night. She had been making some good progress, until she started pitching games.
For every one step forward we make, she loses 2 steps with each game. So I just told her to be aware of that and not to get too hard on herself.