leg-slap bruising

CoachFP,

No one is forcing you to read this forum...

SoftSocDad,

I agree I see a lot of slapping in the younger age groups, but they seem to loose it or get rid of it as they get older (Pain may have something to do with it). I also see several girls banging their hips as they come through almos like they are using it as a stopping point to their pitch.

This is a great thread. I have been working on my DD to stop the slap this fall. It is a work in progress. One thing that has been effective is having her pitch without a glove on. The other is the noodle. Started her off going 1/4 speed and have worked back up from there.

When she was young she thought it was cool, and sounded like she was real fast. Now I think she uses it for a crutch to swim her arm out. The fast downward motion let her keep her correct power line during some poor mechanics. Working on those too.

She has seen the videos of College Pitchers and wants to change. She gets real mad when she goes back to slapping now.

She still has a slight touch. Like Cat.

Put sandpaper on the back of your daughters glove and have her practice with shorts. She'll stop the slapping in one session.

-W

Watching college ball last year, I saw more change-ups thrown then in years past. The truth is that with the super-hot bats, the fast pitches go a long way when the bat touches them, and the change-ups become pop flys if they are hit. Some batters know how to reload on a changeup and hit it a long way, but most batters seem to be told to "lay off the change", so when they have 2 strikes, they've no idea what to do other then foul it off, and the pitcher can use this to setup their next pitch (that inside rise or drop looks a lot faster after that outside changeup).

If a pitcher does not have a good changeup with a good late drop and throws a "floating" change-up, then yes, they're probably afraid to throw it, and they would be right in being afraid. A good change-up is an awesome pitch to behold. Remember, in the hierarchy of pitcher tools, first is location, second is speed variation, and third is movement, in that order. Master them in order before worrying about the next.

-W

According to Hillhouse, former (and current) men's fastpitch players are entering the women's college game in huge numbers. He cited about a dozen head coaches that he has played with/against over the years and there's even more assistant coaches. These coaches are implementing the men's game into the women's game more and more: picking pitchers, pitching styles, etc.

The year that Mowatt captured the WCWS for UofAZ., she was completely spent, after throwing so many innings. She had to rely heavily on the CU. There is a YouTube of her somewhere and Nancy Evans is giving the signals.

I find a lot of hitters can't hit a slowly pitched ball. That is why slow pitch can be difficult to transition to.

curiousgeorge said:

According to Hillhouse, former (and current) men's fastpitch players are entering the women's college game in huge numbers. He cited about a dozen head coaches that he has played with/against over the years and there's even more assistant coaches. These coaches are implementing the men's game into the women's game more and more: picking pitchers, pitching styles, etc.

Click to expand...

We have one in our state, Larry Hineline. He has done amazing things at Coppin State.
Not a "fully funded" program ... but on the up-swing in the MEAC !!!

I believe that ASU's pitching coach is from the men's game.

So after watching a video of Cat and my DD, specifically in the segment of the video from the "power-X" to release of the ball, I see some pretty strong differences. Is there an "accepted" norm of what the glove-hand does from the power-X to release? Cat appears to really keep it targeted towards the batter. My DD keeps it initially higher and then swings it a bit around to the first base side to finally whack the thigh. (right-hander of course).

I think I can maybe kill two birds with a stone if I can get my DD to keep the glove hand pointing towards the batter,....right?

<or> does it really matter ?

John T said:

CoachFP,

No one is forcing you to read this forum...

SoftSocDad,

I agree I see a lot of slapping in the younger age groups, but they seem to loose it or get rid of it as they get older (Pain may have something to do with it). I also see several girls banging their hips as they come through almos like they are using it as a stopping point to their pitch.

Click to expand...

John T, thanks for the kind remark. I don't believe you got my point. Not everything on this Board is nonsense but some of it is off the wall. Joan Joyce was a fantastic pitcher. Years ago women's fastpitch was big in my area (almost non existent now) and I used to go to the games to watch. The form of the women was much different then than it is now. A lot of these women by the way were in their 30's and still playing at a high level. I believe that as fastpitch became a much bigger sport at the younger ages for girls that's when the "fathers" got involved and started tinkering with everything. I am being critical of a lot of the fathers. I see it all of the time. That's how a lot of things that go on today with the girls got so out of whack. The 9 pitch comment I made is certainly a problem when developing pitchers. I believe that one is definitely the result of daddy looking for the edge for his daughter and making sure she can throw all kinds of pitches when in fact she should concentrate on 2 or 3 at the most.