9 year old critique

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
Yes. She is on the right track. Have her reach out to your mitt, on release, instead of the chicken wing that she is doing.
I don't teach the reaching across her body to tap her hip, as it does not improve the pitch. She probably has just seen someone do that.
As with most beginners, she is wanting to back up, right away to the rubber. Have her come closer to you, to receive the ball and then "walk around her circle," to see that every player gets back to their position.
The, she approaches the rubber, from behind it.
 
Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
She looks great for a 9 yr old. Agree w Amy in her points but def not overly detrimental. Imo.


Have her "stick the landing" more. Then Follow through what Amy posted.

To me, she looks good for a 9 your old, at first glance late on Friday night. :)

Edited: maybe a touch more brush on the release.
 
Last edited:

camibrian

Sponge of knowledge
Jun 2, 2016
22
0
Southern Arizona
@Amy....thank you for the reply. The chicken wing thing might be my fault. She has a really bad tendency to just stop her arm on her torso. I have been attempting to get her to just let her arm go and at this point in time, that is the arm action that she is doing. I am hoping that as she loosens up a little more and gets more comfortable with the pitching motion that the exaggerated arm will cure itself. Thoughts? Is this something that we should correct now?

The first 3 pitches within the sequence were the very first pitches that she ever threw with a full pitching motion. Everything prior to those were just progression "drills" from the I/R in the Classroom thread. It took us a little while for DD to get the body sequencing down to even be able to do a full pitch. She was very excited that she was actually able to get the sequencing correct and was hurrying herself to get onto the next pitch. If you look closely at the very first pitch, she grabs her lower abs.....they were muscles that she hadn't used to that extent before.
[MENTION=8469]4 girl's dad[/MENTION].....I agree she needs to stick the landing better. Right now we are having a lot of issues getting her to push out slightly left of her drive foot position on the plate. Just about every pitch that she throws is off to the right. As for brush, agreed, she needs a little more. However yesterday as we were throwing, I noticed that she was attempting to get more brush, but in doing so was taking her arm circle way behind her head causing her upper arm to stabilize farther back on her side.

Does her whip look okay or is she still pushing the ball at the last second?
 
Mar 8, 2017
78
8
Regarding the follow through. Had this same issue with my daughter, I have a drill that might help fix that for her.

Try having her stand close to the target, with her feet together (toes facing the target), and use the windup and whip to throw the ball without any leg action. Don't worry if the hip is moving, that's fine, but she must keep feet together and legs straight. It'll force her to speed up the arm circle and therefore, likely follow through unforced (or more natural than it is now).

You can use this drill any time you see her arm circle start to slow down.
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
One thing stuck out in that video. Her disgusted "I'm Trying" comment. Remember, she is 9.... and what you're asking her to do IS NOT EASY. My first recommendation is to tone it down. Train her to love the craft....not to despise it.
 

camibrian

Sponge of knowledge
Jun 2, 2016
22
0
Southern Arizona
One thing stuck out in that video. Her disgusted "I'm Trying" comment. Remember, she is 9.... and what you're asking her to do IS NOT EASY. My first recommendation is to tone it down. Train her to love the craft....not to despise it.

I meant to cut all of the audio out of the clip, but must have missed some. However, that was her response to me telling her to relax and take her time. She was more frustrated at herself than anything else and I believe that throw may have been just after she planted one into her thigh. Thank you for the reminder that it must be fun for her or she will lose interest.
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
She looks good for 9. Careful how much you work on at one time. Set a goal for a session and try to focus on adding that to the foundation. At 9 years old, they often lack body control....almost like a wet noodle. As you work the full motion, and she starts to develop physically, that will come together. The main focus I would have at this stage is to assure the movements incorporated in the I/R Drills remain proper in the full motion. That's your initial "foundation" so to speak. You're doing it right...in my opinion. Work the I/R drills until she's confident, fluid, and comfortable.....then add the lower half. A good drill to bridge the gap between the base I/R drills and full motion is the reciprocal adduction drill. Java introduced me to that drill with my now 15 year old, and it's been very productive working with my younger one (9 as well).

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
Not sure if it was ever talked about in depth in a thread. I'm pretty sure I have a video of my 15 yo doing it. Will look later and share with you. If I can't find one I will make one.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,478
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top