12yr old DD Pitching Critique

[HighStrung]

Figured I'd ask for one as well. DD turned 12 in late Aug, playing A/PGF ball this year. She's got good control of FB, CU and Drop. She's got decent movement on a curve and is flirting with throwing a rise (these are very much in development and she's only thrown the curve a couple times in a game). She currently cruises around 47-48, has touched 50 a few times in practice. I took a couple vid's of her last night and wanted to know what you all think, areas for improvement, or something little that we're missing. We are still working to keep her drive foot straighter and lessening her glove swim.

For some reason, it's not embedding the slow-mo of the front view (last vid). Link works though.











https://youtu.be/EBW1WEf2Ago

 

[Tango]

Just a dad. Her swing back gets out of line and causes problems IMO. Does a lot correct.

 

[djcarter1966]

I'm sure others will chime in and I'm on a time crunch.

Overall OK but I think with a few adjustments even can be much better.

She can be a little straighter and taller which will help a few thing, not sure if she is throwing a curve there but even so muscling around the ball to much versus good brush and whip. I think crossing over the line isn't helping and is causing some corrections to be made.

I'll do some more tomorrow....foundation looks OK so working out a few issues will help a lot.

 

[ArmWhip]

IR is a major source of velocity and she doesn't utilize it as much as she needs to. She muscles the ball with her shoulder and gets by on her athleticism. I would start with the 'lock it in' drill to give her a feel for IR then move on to sling shot with a focus on brush and whip. It will mean a substantial reorientation of how her motion feels. IR is very whippy and the shoulder has to stay back longer to allow it to occur. If she can 'get it' you will see a noticeable increase in velocity.

 

[sluggers]

Attached is a picture of Amanda Scarborough at 12. Note the bend in her arm. The hand is behind the ball, and the arm is bent. Also, note Amanda's right leg. The leg is bent.

At 12, your DD's arm is 100% straight up, like she is trying to get the teacher's attention in class. Also, her right leg is completely straight.

If you watch your DD's arm through the pitch, she never bends her arm.

So, the correct motion is a bend in the arm some time around 12. The hand should be behind the ball.

From there, the elbow leads the rest of the arm around the circle. That is, the arm stays bent. At 9, the ball is on top of the hand. When the elbow contacts the body, then the arm and hand catches up with the elbow.

The drill to fix the straight arm is "half frames". She puts the ball over her head at 12, bends the elbow, puts the hand behind the ball, and throws. Here is the drill:



Your DD also has a problem with lunging forward and getting her weight over her front foot. She seems to be using her torso to drag her arm around her body.

The drills to use to fix this is the "three pump" drill and the stork drill.

In three pump, she gets open she has her weight on her foot. She has the toes of her left foot on the ground. She then does three rotations of the arm. She lifts her left foot off the ground at 12. At 6 she *TAPS* the ground with her left foot. On the third rotation she throws. She will look like a reciprocating saw the first few times she does the drill.

The stork drill is simple. She gets open, and stands on her foot. Her left foot is off the ground. She then throws the ball. She is *NOT* to lower her left foot...it is to stay off the ground during the entire throwing motion. It is hard, but not impossible. My DD could throw several pitches in a row without ever lowering her left foot. It is all about core strength and balance.

 

[Tango]

Attached is a picture of Amanda Scarborough at 12. Note the bend in her arm. The hand is behind the ball, and the arm is bent. Also, note Amanda's right leg. The leg is bent.

At 12, your DD's arm is 100% straight up, like she is trying to get the teacher's attention in class. Also, her right leg is completely straight.

If you watch your DD's arm through the pitch, she never bends her arm.

So, the correct motion is a bend in the arm some time around 12. The hand should be behind the ball.

From there, the elbow leads the rest of the arm around the circle. That is, the arm stays bent. At 9, the ball is on top of the hand. When the elbow contacts the body, then the arm and hand catches up with the elbow.

The drill to fix the straight arm is "half frames". She puts the ball over her head at 12, bends the elbow, puts the hand behind the ball, and throws. Here is the drill:



Your DD also has a problem with lunging forward and getting her weight over her front foot. She seems to be using her torso to drag her arm around her body.

The drills to use to fix this is the "three pump" drill and the stork drill.

In three pump, she gets open she has her weight on her foot. She has the toes of her left foot on the ground. She then does three rotations of the arm. She lifts her left foot off the ground at 12. At 6 she *TAPS* the ground with her left foot. On the third rotation she throws. She will look like a reciprocating saw the first few times she does the drill.

The stork drill is simple. She gets open, and stands on her foot. Her left foot is off the ground. She then throws the ball. She is *NOT* to lower her left foot...it is to stay off the ground during the entire throwing motion. It is hard, but not impossible. My DD could throw several pitches in a row without ever lowering her left foot. It is all about core strength and balance.

Still trying to learn. Do you think her swing back will allow her to do this correctly?

 

[HighStrung]

I'm sure others will chime in and I'm on a time crunch.

Overall OK but I think with a few adjustments even can be much better.

She can be a little straighter and taller which will help a few thing, not sure if she is throwing a curve there but even so muscling around the ball to much versus good brush and whip. I think crossing over the line isn't helping and is causing some corrections to be made.

I'll do some more tomorrow....foundation looks OK so working out a few issues will help a lot.

These were just fastballs. Staying tall is a problem we've always fought and something she's been working on. I do somewhat feel that when she knows she's being recorded she try's just "a little bit harder" which may have been a little of the muscling (but muscling isn't new to us either, she use to pull the ball thru from her shoulder even worse, even this is an improvement from where we started). I've spent so much time catching her, I think I've started to miss the obvious stuff (like I hadn't even noticed her toes over the line, good catch).

 

[HighStrung]

Attached is a picture of Amanda Scarborough at 12. Note the bend in her arm. The hand is behind the ball, and the arm is bent. Also, note Amanda's right leg. The leg is bent.

At 12, your DD's arm is 100% straight up, like she is trying to get the teacher's attention in class. Also, her right leg is completely straight.

If you watch your DD's arm through the pitch, she never bends her arm.

So, the correct motion is a bend in the arm some time around 12. The hand should be behind the ball.

From there, the elbow leads the rest of the arm around the circle. That is, the arm stays bent. At 9, the ball is on top of the hand. When the elbow contacts the body, then the arm and hand catches up with the elbow.

The drill to fix the straight arm is "half frames". She puts the ball over her head at 12, bends the elbow, puts the hand behind the ball, and throws. Here is the drill:



Your DD also has a problem with lunging forward and getting her weight over her front foot. She seems to be using her torso to drag her arm around her body.

The drills to use to fix this is the "three pump" drill and the stork drill.

In three pump, she gets open she has her weight on her foot. She has the toes of her left foot on the ground. She then does three rotations of the arm. She lifts her left foot off the ground at 12. At 6 she *TAPS* the ground with her left foot. On the third rotation she throws. She will look like a reciprocating saw the first few times she does the drill.

The stork drill is simple. She gets open, and stands on her foot. Her left foot is off the ground. She then throws the ball. She is *NOT* to lower her left foot...it is to stay off the ground during the entire throwing motion. It is hard, but not impossible. My DD could throw several pitches in a row without ever lowering her left foot. It is all about core strength and balance.

From the bucket I guess I hadn't noticed the straight arm, and hadn't video'd her in a while. When she does throw the curve, she's been told to keep the ball above her hand @ 9 and she normally does pretty well. I'll work more on these drills and have her start pulling down on all pitches.

After being on DFP for a few months now, I've slowly been trying to make corrections and move towards IR pitching. She wasn't directly taught HE specifically, but there were definitely some characteristics of it in her early instruction (ie, she was originally taught ball toward 2nd base at 9:00 which is where I feel the muscling originated, yet also taught arm should come across the body in follow thru and not straight up). We've got her moved at least to ball toward 3rd and she's always said it felt better anyway. We've seen a 5+mph jump just in the past 3 months when we started to bring IR into it. She's just not totally there yet. These drills will be a big help and I appreciate the input. She's done the stork before, we just haven't used it in a while, we will go back to it and put some major focus on the arm bend.

 

[fanboi22]

From what I learned with my DD, brush interference is the most important thing. I notice you DD's arm is flying right by the hip. That is the biggest thing a young pitcher has to get past, is that her arm needs to make contact with body. goto the stickie on BI and if she doesn't feel BI, then stop until she feels it. In watching my DD's progression, nothing else came close to helping her progress. If her arm is too straight as it comes thru then the whole motion will stop as it will slam into her hip. A slight bend will allow the brush and continuation to happen.