13yr old pitcher analysis any suggestions

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Sep 28, 2015
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She looks very good with her IR at that angle and the timing of the release seems like she is getting plenty of brush. I think the lag in her arm is perfect!!!!

My suggestion is to work on the overlap going into the drive. The no back swing motion (my DD does this) is a great style but it is not as obvious to get the negative motion going into the legs. It will mess with her timing a little bit but is a fairly quick adjustment.

Research some pitchers with a similar motion and notice the details of how they gather (rolling into the lower half) and moved their hands to get that overlap and have her try them.

Give her a couple practices to figure it out then start to incorporate some Java 2-step drive mechanics and get that IR super charged!


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The two things I have been working on is the overlap at the beginning and keeping the hand behind the ball she keeps letting it twist out towards 3rd base between 3 and 9 Im also telling her to try leading more with elbow cueing limp noodle but so far this is as close as we have got.
 
Nov 8, 2018
774
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Can’t find an IR coach in my area so learning all I can on DFP always looking to improve anybody got some suggestions.



She is definitely ball out at 12 vs ball at catcher and not ball up at 9. Awesome whip at the bottom and hand works medial as well on followthrough.
Get that ball position fixed and she will are spin and pace.


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Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Honestly there is so much going right here I'm not sure I could contribute much, she has all the basic foundational mechanics down and none of the obvious big flaws that are easy to spot. I think you are really in the refining and working on different pitches and movement realm now...not my strong suit....keep up the good work.

As far as her ball position from 1 o'clock to 9 o'clock maybe just give her a cue to see if she can hold the ball position towards first base as it comes out of the glove longer and then make that turn of the ball a little slower. She comes out of the glove and turns the ball really quickly towards third. Few stills of Amanda pitching might help here notice at one o'clock how you see the back of Amanda's hand and Skylar has begun turning her hand open past even pointing at the catcher....and let's go back to that part about her doing A LOT right here; honestly she looks really good what age group? I really like the still I should have finished it through release....sorry...takes a while to set up and I took everything down if you are interested and remind me maybe I can try and finish it later
 

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She is an 06 just starting 14u. I realize she has pretty good form but when the only thing I am cueing is keep the ball straight. I feel lime Im missing the forest for the trees. Just wanted some different eyes looking for flaws. Thanks to everyone trying to help.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
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Dallas, Texas
Can’t find an IR coach in my area so learning all I can on DFP always looking to improve anybody got some suggestions.

She looks like a real athlete. If she loves to pitch and wants to play in college, you and she have to go "all in" on pitching.

You've done a great job with her. But, she needs a PC now. Tweaking lower body mechanics or her arm motion will not get her where she needs to go. That will get you some minor incremental gains, but that isn't going to be enough for her to be a top D1 pitcher.

She has to learn rise/drop/change. It is going to be a real struggle without some expertise.

Learning the pitches is a different process than learning the basic motion. The pitches are more unique to each pitcher. There are no absolutes, and there are at least ten different ways to throw each pitch. Your DD has to find the methods that work for her.

Also, she needs someone (not a Daddy) to evaluate the pitches. Does her drop ball really drop? Is she slowing her arm down? Is she giving the pitch away? Daddies don't always see "the truth" about their children.

She doesn't need to see a PC every week to learn the pitches. Usually, it takes a couple of weeks to fully process what the PC taught her.
 
Last edited:
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
She looks like a real athlete. If she loves to pitch and wants to play in college, you and she have to go "all in" on pitching.

You've done a great job with her. But, she needs a PC now. Tweaking lower body mechanics or her arm motion will not get her where she needs to go. That will get you some minor incremental gains, but that isn't going to be enough for her to be a top D1 pitcher.

She has to learn rise/drop/change. It is going to be a real struggle without some expertise.

Learning the pitches is a different process than learning the basic motion. The pitches are more unique to each pitcher. There are no absolutes, and there are at least ten different ways to throw each pitch. Your DD has to find the methods that work for her.

Also, she needs someone (not a Daddy) to evaluate the pitches. Does her drop ball really drop? Is she slowing her arm down? Is she giving the pitch away? Daddies don't always see "the truth" about their children.

She doesn't need to see a PC every week to learn the pitches. Usually, it takes a couple of weeks to fully process what the PC taught her.
Agreed! I was going to say the same say thing but got distracted with making sure you understood what everyone was talking about with her hand/ball position. I think given where she is at you could find a coach that is willing to work with her on pitches...I would however be careful if they start discussing changing her mechanics. Coming back here and asking PC said "xxxxxxx" is that OK, is just fine. On some pitches especially the rise she may alter just a little how she does things to really get the rotation right since it is more than just a change grip and ball pressure type thing. To that end once the PC starts explaining how different pitches work she should feel free to work on different grips and finger pressure with the ball at see what that does to her pitches, this should help her with movement on her pitches but the change and the rise are just different animals.
 

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