12u DD pitching...constructive criticism, advice is welcomed

[Fulltime bucket mom]

This is my first attempt to post video so I hope I did it correctly. Sis is 12 and has been pitching for a few years. When she first started out, she took pitching lessons for about 9 months and the result of that was a sore shoulder and an inability to pitch without pain. I sought out answers and found this forum. I can't thank all of you enough for this forum and the wealth of information you have freely given to parents like myself. We've been on our own for well over a year and have relied solely on this forum. I hope we have laid a decent foundation to build on, but to be honest, I don't know enough to be certain. Thanks again.

 

[Fulltime bucket mom]

Here's another

 

[grcsftbll]

I'm not good at the pitching analysis. Just a hi from another bucket mom. Everyone says bucket dad; they forget that moms do this too

 

[Fulltime bucket mom]

Hello! And YES, I have spent many hours on that bucket! Though I must confess... I don't do it as much now simply because she throws so hard and has lots of movement on her pitches. She's hit me a few times and, frankly, it HURT!! Lol!

 

[coach james]

For only 9 months and no formal instructions, she's not that bad.
Decent overlap, drive, stabilizing front leg, and what looks like a very forced I/R...
Her drive foot detachment at around 2:00 is good, however she tends to drag her inner ankle bone. Get on the tip toe off the rubber and stay on the tip throughout the pitch. This will put her in a more desirable hip angle to allow the brush to occure. She looks to avoid brush. Try to get her wrist to brush into her quad muscle, and her tricep should brush her ribs.
She does however fail to to stabilize her hip, torso, and upper arm. This lack of stabilization in the torso and upper arm combo'd with the forced I/R is most likely what's causing the shoulder issue. The kinetic chain has to move from one link to the next by firming up the upper link in an effort to accelerate the next link. To keep it as simple as possible, pick out a reference point at about a 45 degree angle between the rubber and the catcher, do not allow her belly button to continue to rotate past that point, and certainly not pointed at the catcher. This will be a start in firming up the torso.

 

[sluggers]

Coach James makes some good points. Her biggest problem is that she is "flopping around" at the end of her pitch.

1) Your DD (darling daughter) needs to *STOP* after she throws the ball. You can see that she releases the ball and then walks/stumbles around. She is supposed to *STOP* after release.

The GIF shows the footwork of Jenny Finch. Finch is one of the finest softball pitchers ever. Look at her feet. Notice specifically how the left foot does *NOT* get ahead of her right foot. Now, look at your DD's footwork--or the lack of footwork.

<iframe src="//giphy.com/embed/26tn9YHkjClK1qS1G" width="480" height="360" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://giphy.com/gifs/pitching-softball-26tn9YHkjClK1qS1G">via GIPHY</a></p>

2) Please, for the love of softball, tell her to stop the crazy arm swing wind up. All she needs to do is to take the ball back.

 

[Fulltime bucket mom]

For only 9 months and no formal instructions, she's not that bad.
Decent overlap, drive, stabilizing front leg, and what looks like a very forced I/R...
Her drive foot detachment at around 2:00 is good, however she tends to drag her inner ankle bone. Get on the tip toe off the rubber and stay on the tip throughout the pitch. This will put her in a more desirable hip angle to allow the brush to occure. She looks to avoid brush. Try to get her wrist to brush into her quad muscle, and her tricep should brush her ribs.
She does however fail to to stabilize her hip, torso, and upper arm. This lack of stabilization in the torso and upper arm combo'd with the forced I/R is most likely what's causing the shoulder issue. The kinetic chain has to move from one link to the next by firming up the upper link in an effort to accelerate the next link. To keep it as simple as possible, pick out a reference point at about a 45 degree angle between the rubber and the catcher, do not allow her belly button to continue to rotate past that point, and certainly not pointed at the catcher. This will be a start in firming up the torso.

Thank you so much for taking the time to watch her videos and give me your thoughts. Sincerely, thank you. You are absolutely right about her avoiding brush and I believe some of that comes from hitting her hip in the past. We have relied solely on Boardmember's I/R drills and she will stabilize her upper arm and gets more brush contact during drill work. But, at full speed she reverts back. I don't know if I made it clear in my original post but those first 9 months she was taught to pitch like she was bowling a ball and if I heard the PC say it once, I've heard it a hundred times.... "Elbow at the catcher!!" Her PC taught her fingers behind the ball at 9:00 and that's what led to her shoulder problems. Since we have been working on I/R, she's not had shoulder pain and it hasn't hurt her to pitch. She's not where she wants to be but we are in a much better place than we were this time last year. I do have a question... what drill or what speed should we start off when working on firming up her torso? I saw a Rick Pauly clip on a different thread where he demonstrates exactly what I interpret you are saying. It's in the top 10 drills thread. Is that what we should start with? I just want to thank you again for taking the time to give us some advice.