Switching to IR

My dd(12)decided to start pitching about 3 months ago. I was browsing the internet for tips, drills, etc...when I came across these forums. I read every post I could find on IR and started working with her. She showed a lot of progress so me and the wife decided to put her in some lessons. Her really good friend is a starting pitcher in the age group above her so obviously she wanted to go to the same PC. Problem is, they teach the Hello elbow style. I would like her to switch and she is open to the idea but....her team coach is letting her pitch in pool games now and I would hate to mess that up for her. Here is her pitching after doing a round of the drills from the "IR in the class room" thread. I would like to get some opinions on if we are doing the right thing by switching or if we should just stay with what she is doing (as long as she is showing improvements). Also, I would like to get opinions on how much work she needs to get the mechanics down. I see some flaws from what little I know but I don't believe it's anything major. Thank you for reading.

P.S. She has been going to her current PC for about 2 months now. She is def showing progress from when we started, I just don't want her to learn one way only to have to relearn another way later.

https://youtu.be/qeqSLX4zOXU

Couple things to address....
1. Love the dog chillin in the background!
2. Get a rubber to drive off of
3. Don't turn the body open until the ball is coming up towards 12:00
4. Get a glove on her and get BOTH arms working together, in sync

Study more than just I/R threads.... Drive mechanics, Brush contact, and Resistance are all equally as important.
She looks like a strong, athletic kid and has a ton of potential....
Don't be fooled by short term success she may be having while utilizing HE mechanics, I promise it'll be short lived, and typically results in a plateaued speed of around 50mph, the inability to throw most movement pitches, and some lingering shoulder pain to boot...

You have to think long term. Who cares if she's pitching pool games today at 12u. You want her to be the varsity SP when she's a junior!

She definitely gets it! Reinforce with lots and lots of underhand catch. Increase distance and work on pitching right from the pocket using an upright posture. The catcher should be looking for zero gap between the ball/hand and thigh:


Spend some time reviewing the http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/24862-brush-inteference.html thread.

Overall, really nice start!

My DD is about 2 months back in to pitching and we're working really hard on Brush Interference/Contact. When DD gets that brush, everything clicks and it's such a great pitch (fastball). When the brush is missed we go all over the place. DD has described brush interference as her "secret weapon" lol. To me it looks like your DD's arm flows right through the release point.

Check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK2opycNSOI

Right around the 11 second mark you'll see Cat's bicep and forearm contact her torso and thigh at release. That's the Brush. My DD and I also focus on the posture of Cat's back leg and how it's "Stacked" with the shoulder, hip, and knee aligned. When my DD loses this stack she misses her brush and we're throwing all over the everywhere.

Just some thoughts because I noticed it's hard to progress past a certain point with consistency when these two items aren't fully ingrained.

Thanks for all the feedback. I have taken a few more videos of her pitching today (with the glove). I will try to get them posted tonight. When she brushes her hip, her release looks very awkward. It's hard to describe but maybe you will see what I'm talking about in the videos I took today.

This kid looks awesome. Awesome job with her transition. My advise is continue the transition. She's quite a natural.....

Here is a video of what we worked on today. It still looks like she is trying to move her hips out the way for the pitching arm to come through, I assume that is going to be a hard habit to break. I also see that her arm is doing this weird looking twist towards the end. It doesn't look right but I am having a hard time figuring out exactly what it is she is doing different/incorrect. If anyone has additional thoughts, comments are drills that we can work on in order to get her where she needs to be I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

[video]https://youtu.be/fY6QzVfCPvY[/video]

This is the video of her release in slow motion (looks like she is side arming it). You can use the settings in youtube to slow it down even more if needed.

https://youtu.be/FWydh0pBCSs

Looks really good in the first video. Keep the ball outside of her body when back chaining it. I get the sense that she was just throwin it in the first... And over thinking in the next two. Careful not to counter rotate when taking it back. Stability leads to Mobility.

Sorta confused as to the timeline... is she going to this HE pc? The major difference between the first video and the next two videos... is that she had the dog chillin and illin' with some tunes. Do whatever you were doing in the garage... making sure not to coach the naturalness out of her.

BRUSH CONTACT!!!!!!!!!!! or lack there of...
She is inconsistent in her accuracy due to no reference point. Combo this with not stabilizing the hips and torso into the whip, is your biggest issues to fix first.