12u pitcher advice

[bmd]

Hey softballcoach! I think the second clip you posted looked better. In this clip, her palm is facing the sky (under the ball) and she seems to push the ball down. My dd had the same issue. In an old thread that has been brought back to live "ball up at 9" boardmember talks about the thumb turning out too far at 12 and how that effects the bicep....check it out. My dd went through a total rebuild....we learned that back chaining fixes a lot of things. after dd could whip the ball from 9 the turning palm at 12 stopped without needing to be addressed. Good luck! and keep working....it will come!

 

[DNeeld]

I don't mean to sound harsh, but at not time in this motion was she in the correct positions.



At 12:00, she already has the ball turned toward third. Notice her thumb on the bottom. She needs to rotate that thumb to where it is pointed at first. Her hand should be on top of the ball in this position. If she were to drop her hand to her head in her current position, her thumb would hit her head. The ball should hit her head. Rotate the entire hand to where the ball is completely facing the catcher. From the catcher's perspective, the hand should be hidden by the ball. Like she is giving someone a high five. Also, bring that glove arm into symmetry with the throwing arm. Notice the glove is pointed straight at the catcher. Bring that position up to somewhere between 1:00 and 2:00. Getting in that habit now will save you headaches down the road.



At the 9:00 position, notice the thumb pointing towards third. Notice the point of the elbow pointing towards first. This is classic "get behind the ball and push it down the circle" positioning. Notice the fingers on top of the ball. The ball is pointed at the ground. She needs to externally rotatate her entire arm so that in this position her thumb is pointing towards first, the point of her elbow is pointing at the ground, and the fingers are under the ball. The ball needs to be pointing to the sky with nothing on top of it. Also, notice her glove arm is not adduction into the body, but just limply dropping down. Bringing the glove arm into the pitch with forceful adduction will greatly improve the performance of the pitching arm.



At release, she looks pretty good, when take in isolation. Her upper arm does stabilize and other than being a little forward with the release point, if just taken from this picture, it doesn't look bad. However, combined with what we saw in the 9:00 position, we know it is incorrect. Because the ball lead the elbow down the entire circle, when her upper arm stabilizes, there is no whip action. There is no angular acceleration of the lower arm. The upper arm stabilizing instead becomes a weak pendulum which results in her tossing the ball to the target rather than throwing the ball. In other words, she is basically doing nothing more than a glorified wrist flip. In an ideal motion, the elbow will lead the arm down the circle with the ball lagging behind. As she pulls into release, the upper arm will stabilize and create an achor for the lower arm and ball to accelerate and whip through.

She needs to learn the proper way her arm is to move. Utilize the bat drill to accomplish this:

https://youtu.be/a_FavDhtGa8

Also review the images in this post:

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/17133-what-do-i-mean.html#post210975

And this awesome video from Coach Pauly:

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/27761-pitching-lessons-rick-pauly.html#post385546

Aside from the footwork Coach Pauly is talking, watch how the ball explodes out of his hand in the sample pitch. The velocity of the ball doesn't seem to match the effort he puts into the throw. That is a hallmark of a good whip action. Explosive action with little apparent effort.

 

[Classof2020]

Hey softballcoach! I think the second clip you posted looked better. In this clip, her palm is facing the sky (under the ball) and she seems to push the ball down. My dd had the same issue. In an old thread that has been brought back to live "ball up at 9" boardmember talks about the thumb turning out too far at 12 and how that effects the bicep....check it out. My dd went through a total rebuild....we learned that back chaining fixes a lot of things. after dd could whip the ball from 9 the turning palm at 12 stopped without needing to be addressed. Good luck! and keep working....it will come!

Could you clarify just a bit. I feel like the part that I bolded is saying that it's good if she is pushing the ball . . . which is generally the opposite of I/R. Just wanted to clarify for the OP because if I was confused thought he might be too and want him to get what you're referring too.

 

[jsoftballcoach]

I understand that she needs to have her palm facing the sky as much as possible at 9 o'clock, thank you. We are working on it everyday. It's been difficult to erase 4 years of doing it incorrectly.

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[Doug Romrell]

I give her this..... She's definitely getting the brush-assist (a.k.a., "brush contact") part down.

 

[bmd]

Could you clarify just a bit. I feel like the part that I bolded is saying that it's good if she is pushing the ball . . . which is generally the opposite of I/R. Just wanted to clarify for the OP because if I was confused thought he might be too and want him to get what you're referring too.

Yes sorry for the confusion. I was trying to say that at the beginning of the drill she starts at 12 with her hand under the ball at 12 and pushes down. Instead she needs her palm facing catcher at 12 and pull down to achieve Palm up at 9.

 

[bmd]

Could you clarify just a bit. I feel like the part that I bolded is saying that it's good if she is pushing the ball . . . which is generally the opposite of I/R. Just wanted to clarify for the OP because if I was confused thought he might be too and want him to get what you're referring too.

Yes sorry for the confusion. I was trying to say that at the beginning of the drill she starts at 12 with her hand under the ball at 12 and pushes down. Instead she needs her palm facing catcher at 12 and pull down to achieve Palm up at 9. In the second clip her palm wasn't in that position at 12

 

[Doug Romrell]

LOOSE/FLUID MOTIONS

 

[jsoftballcoach]

Thank you all for all of the help and learning material, I really appreciate it and the fact that I can come here, ask for help and get it!

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[jsoftballcoach]

Ok, I think we've been making progress... thanks again to all for the advice and suggestions.

https://vimeo.com/197566712


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