10U Pitching Critique

It's been over a year since I asked the resident DFP experts for input so here's a new one. How's she doing? The videos were during warm up, she was striding less than usual because she wasn't fully warm yet. I didn't get a chance to video her after she was warm so these will have to do.

Fast ball:
https://youtu.be/aT780B-tVoE

This is the drop curve she just learned. I know, don't teach 10 year olds a bunch of pitches. But her location on a fastball, change, and drop are good and she loves learning new things, so we let her learn it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGaLsdPRUAs

Here are a few stills while pitching a fastball. I used the fast setting on my camera for this. It missed 9:00.

Last two pics it wouldn't let me post:

She looks like a leg slapper with the glove. Pet peeve of mine, I hate when the kids do that.

Snotbubbles said:

She looks like a leg slapper with the glove. Pet peeve of mine, I hate when the kids do that.

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She's always done that. I thought about trying to break her of it but it always seems like we have bigger fish to fry.

grcsftbll said:

She's always done that. I thought about trying to break her of it but it always seems like we have bigger fish to fry.

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Yeah, my DD did it too. Only took about two weeks of glove drills to break her of it. Now if I could fix her damn lean I'd be happy.

1) Her leg slapping is correct. If you are telling her not to slap the leg, then you are wrong. Obviously, she shouldn't be beating her leg. But a light slap on the inside of her leg is preferred. Watch any video of Cat Osterman or Jenny Finch, and you'll see the leg slap.

2) She should not be taking a step after release.

3) The drop curve is messing her up--which is why you are told not to try to teach other pitches. She is not supposed to take a step after she releases the ball. In this pitch, it is clear someone is telling her to step across her body after release. That is *NOT* how you throw a drop curve. After a kid has a good drop, teaching the drop curve is trivial.

Her is Whitney Canion. She was the best pitcher in the NCAA a few years ago. Notice (1) the leg slap and (2) how well she stops her body after release.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-czxt7uUvXw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A few more comments:

At 12, her hand should be behind the ball. Note that her hand is at the side of the ball.

At 9, her hand should be *under* the ball. Note that her hand is more on top of the ball than under the ball.

The concept is that Grace should be pulling the ball until right before release.

Finally, as in the previous post, Grace does not have good front side resistance. Notice that her left leg bends at around 8. As soon as the leg bends, she loses all of her speed.

Notice her head position in the different pictures. Note that she is moving her upper body forward as she throws. Again, she is losing speed.

The concept: The pitcher creates a lot of forward momentum toward the target, and then stops the body, causing the ball to "explode" from the hand. Grace's front leg is acting like a shock absorber, taking away all of that forward momentum.

The last picture shows she is developing the dreaded "butt out" disease. So, she is supposed to be standing up right, with her butt tucked in, not sticking out. She is supposed to brush her hips with her arm as she throws. She is not. She is sticking her butt out so that her arm avoids hitting her hips.

Yes, the butt. I have noticed that before. Any tips on working with that? As for the ball position, I thought so, but I always doubt myself on these mechanics issues. I'm sure I can find info with search on working on front side resistance, not sure the best search terms to use for working on doing better about pulling the ball, if you have any tips. Thanks for the input!!

Thanks Ray! I know a lot of our DD's are struggling with similar issues.

sluggers said:

1) Her leg slapping is correct. If you are telling her not to slap the leg, then you are wrong. Obviously, she shouldn't be beating her leg. But a light slap on the inside of her leg is preferred. Watch any video of Cat Osterman or Jenny Finch, and you'll see the leg slap.

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Just watched Jennie Finch video. She didn't leg slap here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JlItx-6acY or here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VteVUAXgaGI

Monica Abbott - no slap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXeaakhWOCg

Angela Tincher - no slap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIxN41iQM3I&t=11s

Keilani Ricketts - no slap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0g4R4svIpo

Danielle Lawrie - no slap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOf-zGWyOXk

Three of the top 4 strikeout leaders in D1 history.