The Kelly Barnhill Thread

[SoftballMom2]

Holy smokes... I made it through about 18 pages on this thread...

Just watched Barnhill destroy Auburn.

I'll let all you guys argue over the crowhop she undoubtedly uses... I'm opposed to anything outside the rules that define the structure of the game that is being played. However... that's just an opinion.

What is not an opinion... after watching Barnhill:

She spins a beautiful ball at times. I would really like to see some good slowmotion of her throwing from behind the plate.
Her location has improved incredibly in one season.
She appears to throw two speeds of rise: a bullet up and out of the zone that is her 'smoking gun'.... and a slightly offspeed Level 1-2 rise that MUST be pure backspin... as you can watch that ball lift (not jump).
Her spin rates on her level 1-2 rise must be approaching 35-40 rps. Even the at the knee rise flattens... and allows her to work three different "lifts"... as a sequence against a batter. Incredible.
She AVERAGES 14k's per game. Cat Osterman was the last person to ever do that...
Jen Rocha is an absolute master at calling these pitches. IMO, she is the real gem on that staff... deserves a lot more attention than she gets...

Her name (Kelly) IS this thread... and I hope (despite the illegal pitch she is throwing) that we can all recognize the accomplishments she is making this year with that rise and location. and the true inspiration she could/should be to up and coming pitchers. You don't need to crowhop to throw locations like that... and you definitely don't need to crowhop to spin like that...

... but we can show our young athletes what a rise ball looks like... and why spinning to a location is infinitely more effective than simply throwing to one.

I guess that's my attempt at a "glass half full" mentality when watching this young lady...

Carry on.

Obviously she is a beast in the circle and very very impressive. Not to change subjects but DD and I saw Megan Good of James Madison pitch live and she was being clocked at 69- 71 and you could see and HEAR the spin. Another impressive young lady

 

[Rocketech1]

The scary thing is she is ONLY a sophomore!

 

[corlay]

The scary thing is she is ONLY a sophomore!

She's a Junior this season....

Saw her pitch for the first time when she was a freshman,
when our local BU Bearcats drew James Madison for their very first ever College Regionals two years ago.

She is one that dominates and pitches legally.
Also a decent hitter, usually batting 4th in the lineup even on days she isn't in the circle...

 

[BB875]

Just have to wonder how well she would do if she were held to the rules and forced to pitch legally? Would anyone be talking about her, or would she be just another pitcher? Conversely how well would others do if they had the same free pass she has enjoyed for years. Kind of reminds me of the MLB where some excelled within the rules while others worked almost exclusively outside the rules. While I certainly admire her physical abilities to throw hard and spin the ball, unfortunately her actual accomplishments are suspect at best.

Riseball, I completely agree with you on this thread. However, since no umpire is calling her on it, she has no reason to change, and there will be no asterisks by her stats. Unfortunately, it goes back to the question I ask my players... "What is the strike zone?" I'ts whatever the umpire is calling that day. What is an illegal pitch? Its whatever the umpire is calling that day... Like you said all along, its making a mockery of the game if the IP is not called due to fear of retaliation.

 

[Rocketech1]

She's a Junior this season....

I was referring to Barnhill being a sophomore...

 

[SBR64]

I had never seen Kelly pitch until a few nights ago when I turned on the Fla vs. Auburn game. From her first pitch at regular speed I could see that there was something wrong and not fair with her delivery. I'm a no nothing Dad of a 16 year old pitcher and if I can see this illegal double plant "ninja" move of a delivery instantly then what the heck are there any rules for. If this is the future of fastpitch, and it will be copied, then the rubber should be moved back to 55', no circle or width rule and then just let them do whatever they want. It is very disheartening to see a girl at the top of top levels allowed to pitch without a care for rules. I say all of this and I am a Gator fan. The "ninja" move: kelly barnhill pitcher - Bing images

She clearly pulls her push foot up and under her while she is IN THE AIR so that the cleats of her push foot can dig into the ground on the replant. At least she will never get the side of her cleats dirty with a drag of the push foot. http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.town...1e5-ba2d-e7409f62a26c/5705df472beb8.image.jpg

 

[riseball]

I had never seen Kelly pitch until a few nights ago when I turned on the Fla vs. Auburn game. From her first pitch at regular speed I could see that there was something wrong and not fair with her delivery. I'm a no nothing Dad of a 16 year old pitcher and if I can see this illegal double plant "ninja" move of a delivery instantly then what the heck are there any rules for. If this is the future of fastpitch, and it will be copied, then the rubber should be moved back to 55', no circle or width rule and then just let them do whatever they want. It is very disheartening to see a girl at the top of top levels allowed to pitch without a care for rules. I say all of this and I am a Gator fan. The "ninja" move: kelly barnhill pitcher - Bing images

She clearly pulls her push foot up and under her while she is IN THE AIR so that the cleats of her push foot can dig into the ground on the replant. At least she will never get the side of her cleats dirty with a drag of the push foot. https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.tow...1e5-ba2d-e7409f62a26c/5705df472beb8.image.jpg

Remember that keeping ones foot pointed down is an unnatural motion, unlike the natural motion shown in the links you provided.

 

[SBR64]

Players that are the most flagrant (KB) are replanting the entire bottom of their shoe or their cleats on the ground allowing force to be transferred up from the ground. In other less flagrant cases just the bottom of very front portion of their shoe (Cat) is replanting but you can see that some portion of the bottom of front toes are touching the ground. When you look at pitchers with a "legal" drag the entire bottom of the shoe and cleats are in the air and only the edge of the shoe drags which eliminate the ability to get much or any push back from the ground. Seems like a possible solution is to create a rule to this effect only allowing the edge of the shoe to drag once detached from the rubber making it more clear for the umpire to make a call.

Correct on what Cat does. The other move I see is players allowing the push foot to lift from the rubber and moving it forward 4 -6" to start the push. These are mainly the square to target, drag toe down pitchers. I don't think this is a huge deal as they are not using the rubber for a push and most of these pitchers don't replant as they do drag with toe down. Just bugs me when I see it.

 

[SBR64]

"hot mess" - good analogy.

She looks a lot like a pitcher who overcame some probably crazy mechanics in the past,
through sheer athleticism, strength, and lots of evolving repetition.

The vestiges are: re-plant, forward leaning posture, forward release, and leaking energy to her left.
They are all still there, and were probably much more apparent when she was younger.

Some kids are just plain strong and athletic enough to overcome all of this,
and I bet she worked VERY HARD to get where she is.

Like others have said, she's impressive as a freshman to be this effective!
(I didn't say "good" because I don't think she is a "model pitcher" candidate.)

looks like a pitcher who was never taught any basic rules but was taught to do whatever she had to do to throw the ball underhand as hard as possible. not learning proper mechanics and rules may not be her fault but being allowed to continue is the fault of all the adults that coached her and umpired her games. there is not good story of overcoming anything here. she just figured out how to throw harder than anyone else and nobody corrected her. it's actually harder to do it correctly

 

[Rustydog]

Just watched her triple play on youtube and the beginning video. She jumps off the mound (crow hops) replants then throws. She should be faster, she's throwing a shorter distance. My daughter hasn't hit 10u distance since she moved to 12u. She's learning to pitch now should I teach her to jump three feet forward then pitch? Really hard to compare the game over many years when the rules are not followed by all.