Weird spin on fastball!

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Mar 19, 2019
7
1
I am new to posting, but read and use alot on here. Anywyay My 11 year old daughter has been pitching almost 2 years. Played 10U TB and always REC. In her first year of 12U TB now. Amongst the tons of drills we do for speed and mechanics, the one problem she has the most consistent problem with is her spin on her fastball. Her snaps and L's her spin is great, but as soon as she goes into full pitch more times than not she has a weird spin on the ball. Only way to describe it is counter clockwise if that makes any sense. Can not find anything on how to fix it. Does this need to be fixed? Or is this natural? She does spin drills off her fingertips and about 50 snaps a day along with her practicing. Any help on this would be fantastic! We can't figure it out.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
I assume by "Ls" you mean that her arm comes up in an L shape after she throws. If so, then she is being taught to pitch incorrectly.
Also, if you mean "wrist snaps", then she is wrong. Wrist snaps and L finishes are simply wrong.

During a game, her body is trying to pitch correctly, but she is being taught incorrectly. So, her body is pretty confused right now.

This is the drill she should be doing. Hand behind the ball at 12, ball on top of the hand at 9.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B6PW4DCqbW8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Feb 3, 2010
5,767
113
Pac NW
Nance,
Without seeing her in video and seeing her mechanics, it’s difficult to offer suggestions. If her mechanics were solid, it might be as easy as asking her to rotate the spot where she brushes her forearm across her thigh at release. My guess is she’s brushing the pinky side. Have her try brushing the middle of the flat area and see what she thinks. It might be more fun to ask her how she thinks she could change the axis (you might start with this and see where it goes.)
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,613
113
Curious what an L drill is. I know of Ts and Ks, though I've abandoned using either and have adopted better IR drills and warm ups. Wrist snaps never made sense to me and we don't do those.

The spin might be what's called "Bullet Spin". When my daughter is getting a little sloppy her 12-6 spin on the fastball turns into bullet spin (though I think it would be clock-wise, not counter clock-wise). She's new to Tincher, and she sometimes does the "Princess Hand" finish too early, during her whip/snap and that makes her come over the top a bit and changes the spin. Coach tells her to finish the whip/snap to get the 12-6 spin and then finish with the "Princess Hand".


The video above shows "Princess Hand" at finish if anyone is curious about that term.
 
Last edited:
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
Like Ken said, its just a guess without video, however I'm betting it's happening for 1 of 2 reasons....
a late release making the ball come off the fingers throughout the pronation process, or she has a feathered finger release. (the ball comes off her fingers in a sequential manor, rather than across 3 fingers evenly)
 

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