Opinions/ areas to work on

http://youtu.be/JOUgV_5mUnA

Have been reading here for over a year and learned quite a lot. My Dd is 8U, been pitching for a little over a year now. She has recently gotten better at staying back and getting some resistance. We have been working on drive mechanics which you can see with her two step off the rubber. Also working on getting left knee up to drive out. She used to swing her leg straight out. Let me know what you guys see. One thing I see is what I think is too much lean right and not enough brush. Had her on pocket radar averaging 35 max 37.

Thanks,
Darryl

Looking good. Very impressive. Keep up the good work!

Post another video of her exclusively from the side. If you have a friend who has an iPhone 6 film her in slo-motion (240fps) and post that from both the front and side. She's looking good, especially for an eight year old.

Sometimes they pitch differently when they actually pitch with a ball. Do you have a video where she is pitching with a ball?

http://youtu.be/o2pPvM1S2NA
http://youtu.be/n8DmOVFGQRA

Thanks for the responses so far. I didn't realize the clip I posted was without a ball. I added two more videos which is all I have of recent work. They were recorded with my iPad Air set at 1080p 30fps. I haven't tried 720p at 120fps. Might give a little clearer resolution. My phone is a 5s. Don't know anyone offhand with a 6.

dc73nova said:

http://youtu.be/o2pPvM1S2NA
http://youtu.be/n8DmOVFGQRA

Thanks for the responses so far. I didn't realize the clip I posted was without a ball. I added two more videos which is all I have of recent work. They were recorded with my iPad Air set at 1080p 30fps. I haven't tried 720p at 120fps. Might give a little clearer resolution. My phone is a 5s. Don't know anyone offhand with a 6.

Click to expand...

EIGHT? Crazy Ridiculously talented at 8 years old. ONLY thing I can see worth a mention is the clearing of the hips and the throwing side lean. But at this age, that's NIT PICKING. My daughter is 13, and she does the same thing to an extent....so maybe now is a great time to correct it.


Here's an excerpt from one of the resident experts (Javasource) that may help her get rid of the lean....and add a ton of value down the road.

"Perform "Rocker Walkthroughs". There is no leap... just a forward step. The key... and the MAIN FOCUS of this drill is what I call 'Big Toe Kinematics'. The heel of the 'drive' foot must only make a rocking movement over the big toe.. AND ONLY travel forward. It (the heel) cannot move in any other direction. Simply rock it up. You'll notice that this articulation (when performed correctly) creates knee flexion... which allows the throwing-side leg to be in the throwing lane. Be strict... the heel can only raise up... and ONLY TRAVEL FORWARD. Any other movement is an immediate fail."

She looks good.

If i were you, I would focus on making sure she is having fun playing softball. Find a good team and a bunch of good kids, and let her go.

sluggers said:

She looks good.

If i were you, I would focus on making sure she is having fun playing softball. Find a good team and a bunch of good kids, and let her go.

Click to expand...

Initially, I had the same reaction....she's EIGHT. But then I watched again....and I still can't believe the level of body control/awareness this kid has at that age. Once again...I repeat.....Crazy Ridiculous. She's obviously not your typical 8 year old. Why not get it right now. You see how quickly she can respond and adjust to verbal instruction? I say go for broke now....before she gets to the age where she "knows everything", which is only a few short years away.......Remember, while Tiger was cupping birdies on 400 yard par 4's at 10, his friends were at the mini golf trying to putt through the windmill for a hole in 1.

If she's having fun I see no reason not to work with her even though she's 8. Mine just turned 9 and started lessons almost a year ago. She loves it so working with her to get it right isn't a bad thing imo! She looks awesome.

I appreciate everyone's feedback. Yes, she is 8, but is absolutely ate up with softball. I honestly do not push her at all. She is very self motivated and has very good work ethics. You can even see in the video a few times I have to tell her to slow down. She has very good control of the ball and has for a while now just not the speed to go along with it. Our goal for the winter was to break some of her mechanics down and work on some of the drills from this site. We started with IR and have been working on the 2 step to get more of a drive recently. I think she is doing OK with the 2 step the only thing I don't like is the way she wants to turn her foot when she plants. She used to swing her leg out and have been working on getting her to get her knee up and out. She does lean quite a bit to create that "lane" which I know is wrong. Main reason for posting was to see if anyone saw something obvious to them that we should be working on. I appreciate everyone's advise. Didnt know a whole lot about fast pitch mechanics until she showed an interest in pitching last year. The information on this site is invaluable. We would not be where we are without it.