Looking for a little more speed... who isn't I guess. :)

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

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

Mar 22, 2019
29
8
Illinois
There are a couple of things going on.

The fastest movement a body can make, other than blinking, is the internal rotation of the dominant hand.

Try it...If you a rightie, extend your right hand in front of you with your thumb pointing to the right. Then rotate the hand quickly so that the thumb is pointing to the left. Pretty fast, isn't it?

There is a game you used to play where you put your hand under another kid's hand. You flip your hand over and slap the top of the other player's hand. The other player tries to pull his hand away. The rotation of the hand is quicker than pulling the hand. (If you want to have your hand beaten to a pulp, play this game with a D1 pitcher. You don't have a prayer.)

Next, get open, put a ball in your hand, and put your arm behind you at 9. Put the ball facing down. Now, flip the hand so the ball is up. Feel the biceps stretch when your hand is under the ball as opposed to the hand being on top of the ball?

Essentially, the bicep becomes a rubber band for the arm. To propel rapid internal rotation of the arm.

The whole thing about "ball up at 9" is to stretch the bicep so that during the release phase the forearm rotates as fast as possible. If the timing is right, the ball is thrown with greater velocity.


This is good info on IR Sluggers. Thank you!
 
Mar 23, 2011
492
18
Noblseville, IN
In my opinion, her biggest speed improvement will come from improving her explosiveness off of the rubber. Late developed speed comes from improvements in hip thrust like explosiveness off the rubber.

I'd recommend verifying she's not quad dominant hard to tell from the video angle, but my initial thought is no. Then work on strength and conditioning improvements that will improve thrust (speed and explosiveness, not necessarily strength).

I would also recommend checking out the post I made on correcting sprinters posture and how activating the feet and doing quick work like hops and jumping rope can improve glute responsiveness. Advance into short sprints with active feet.

You can also check out my post on the model pitcher database to compare her mechanical speeds and key checkpoints to high level college pitchers. At the end of the day, the fastest pitchers get off the rubber quick. So there is no real downside to improving explosiveness and it has other benefits such as all around athletic improvements, it nicely supplements the great feedback from the experts on this forum, and since it's outside of pitching, it's something she can improve with minimal specialized supervision.

Good luck to you both!
 
Oct 6, 2015
55
8
I am very intrigued by this Quad Dominant subject as I have never been happy with her drive off the rubber. I will read through your threads this evening but initially I have some questions:

1. Are you saying that quad dominant is a good or bad thing?
2. How do I determine if she is (or isn't) quad dominant?
3. What drills should be done if she is (or isn't) quad dominant?

I am guessing that your threads answer these questions but those are the ones I will be looking for answers on.

Thanks
 
Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
There are a couple of things going on.

The fastest movement a body can make, other than blinking, is the internal rotation of the dominant hand.

Try it...If you a rightie, extend your right hand in front of you with your thumb pointing to the right. Then rotate the hand quickly so that the thumb is pointing to the left. Pretty fast, isn't it?

There is a game you used to play where you put your hand under another kid's hand. You flip your hand over and slap the top of the other player's hand. The other player tries to pull his hand away. The rotation of the hand is quicker than pulling the hand. (If you want to have your hand beaten to a pulp, play this game with a D1 pitcher. You don't have a prayer.)

Next, get open, put a ball in your hand, and put your arm behind you at 9. Put the ball facing down. Now, flip the hand so the ball is up. Feel the biceps stretch when your hand is under the ball as opposed to the hand being on top of the ball?

Essentially, the bicep becomes a rubber band for the arm. To propel rapid internal rotation of the arm.

The whole thing about "ball up at 9" is to stretch the bicep so that during the release phase the forearm rotates as fast as possible. If the timing is right, the ball is thrown with greater velocity.

So from where she is at now to where you suggest she should be, which seems ot be about a 1/4 ball turn, what type of velocity improvement would you expect, everything else staying the same? I ask because my DD essentially is about where this DD is and I have never pressed very much to change it as there have always been bigger things to focus on IMO to get more velo. But maybe I've been wrong, pending your answer! ha ha.....
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
The big picture: Your DD knows the basic pitching motion. From here on, it is refinement.

The "ball on top of the hand at 9" is something she should know about. If you tell her, "Hand behind the ball at 12, hand under the ball at 9", she'll probably get there with a little work.

Her biggest problem is lower body mechanics. She isn't "firing off the rubber" the way she should be. She could probably pick up 2 to 3 MPH there.

Look at the thread entitled "Drive Mechanics". [MENTION=8694]javasource[/MENTION] did an incredible job explaining everything. It is a tremendous resource.

Knowing what I know now, if she were my DD: I would contact javasource and get some professional help to fix her lower body mechanics. She is very close to being "at the next level".
 
Mar 23, 2011
492
18
Noblseville, IN
I am very intrigued by this Quad Dominant subject as I have never been happy with her drive off the rubber. I will read through your threads this evening but initially I have some questions:

1. Are you saying that quad dominant is a good or bad thing?
2. How do I determine if she is (or isn't) quad dominant?
3. What drills should be done if she is (or isn't) quad dominant?

I am guessing that your threads answer these questions but those are the ones I will be looking for answers on.

Thanks

Sorry for slow response, have been out of town and not much computer access.

1. Quad dominance is super bad
2. There is a lot of info in this thread (link). The bottom has an index to help you search it and there is a link for an assessment test.
3. If she is QD, the thread above is the best resource at the moment. If she is not QD and just needs more explosiveness, I recommend drills that focus on quick movements. Lots of jumping and loaded jumps, short sprints. Basically things that improve jumping and sprinting speed. Watch her feet and make sure her heels don't hit the ground. We want the lower leg to stay locked and loaded so that all the force resonates up the posterior and into the glutes. It would also be good for her to learn to "active her hyper arch (see the thread)" as "activating" while doing these exercises should further enhance her gains.

There's only so much you can get out of arm speed, but explosive moves off the mound will add directly to her pitching speed (assuming her mechanics are solid).
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,477
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top