14u new to pitching and looking for feedback

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Oct 4, 2018
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Her arm action looks much improved. It looks like she's throwing bullet/gyro but that is not a concern for me at this point and just a statement of fact. The next area to work on is her posture. She has a strong launch but my feeling is that she leans forward a little too much at takeoff. The effect of this is that her hips never catch up and get ahead of her shoulders. A pitcher should feel like she is leaning forward a little at takeoff and back a little at landing. If you look at this video of Amanda Scarborough you will see what I am talking about.




Compare your daughters spine angle when she has the ball at 6 o'clock (windup not release) with Amanda's spine angle and you will see a significant difference. Amanda bends over at a lot but straightens up at takeoff. Notice how when Amanda lands she is tipped back. Try standing a little taller at launch and see what happens. This should also help keep her back foot down. Note: look at the ball after Amanda releases it and you will see bullet spin.


Always a great video to compare to. Now not many do the same backswing as her, but just about every other part of the pitch is worth emulating.
 
Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
Her leg drive looks good and she looks like an athletic kid, but she needs to do a whole bunch of work. Her IR is not good, her front side resistance needs work and it looks like she is monkey-butting.

Your DD looks a little like Samantha Show, so take a look at Samantha's motion...



Here is what your DD should do:

1) Go to the IR in The Classroom thread. It is one the first threads DFP. The thread discusses a series of drills Start at the beginning and work through each drill suggested by @BoardMember. https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/i-r-in-the-classroom.10321/ I attached pictures showing "the magician finish" for pitching....palm down and arm extended.

2) Front side resistance. Your DD should not a step forward after she throws. The thread you need to read is the Front Side Resistance thread, which is also one of the first threads here. https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/front-side-resistance.19828/ My guess is your DD will pick this up quickly.

3) Your DD seems to be monkey-butting. The pitcher should keep her butt under her shoulders and over her legs when she throws. Your DD appears to be sticking her butt out when she gets open.

Monkey butting is related to brush interference. Your DD's arm should be brushing the side of her hips when she throws.

Your DD has some talent, but she has to go to work to fix this stuff now.

never noticed it before but Show doesn't have much bend, if any, in her arm. The elbow is not really leading the forearm.
 
Feb 6, 2020
105
28
Her arm action looks much improved. It looks like she's throwing bullet/gyro but that is not a concern for me at this point and just a statement of fact. The next area to work on is her posture. She has a strong launch but my feeling is that she leans forward a little too much at takeoff. The effect of this is that her hips never catch up and get ahead of her shoulders. A pitcher should feel like she is leaning forward a little at takeoff and back a little at landing. If you look at this video of Amanda Scarborough you will see what I am talking about.




Compare your daughters spine angle when she has the ball at 6 o'clock (windup not release) with Amanda's spine angle and you will see a significant difference. Amanda bends over at a lot but straightens up at takeoff. Notice how when Amanda lands she is tipped back. Try standing a little taller at launch and see what happens. This should also help keep her back foot down. Note: look at the ball after Amanda releases it and you will see bullet spin.

Thanks, there are some large differences leading up to release. We'll start working on this as well.
 
Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
Show throws a lot like Jennie Finch. It's no coincidence that both are 6'0". When you have long arms your circle can supply a lot of velocity.
you're right, they do throw a lot alike. Neither are a prime example of perfect IR mechanics. IMO both use their God Given talent to supply most of their velo instead of max efficiency derived from good mechanics.
 
May 15, 2008
1,925
113
Cape Cod Mass.
you're right, they do throw a lot alike. Neither are a prime example of perfect IR mechanics. IMO both use their God Given talent to supply most of their velo instead of max efficiency derived from good mechanics.
There's lots of ways to get it done and nobody posts the weird mechanics. About 10-12 years ago I went watch 2 mid majors play each other, Stony Brook vs Boston U (not BC). The SB pitcher had a serious monkey butt posture, relied on a very fast arm circle with no brush and very little IR. She whipped her arm and undercut the ball to produce a decent riseball in the 62-65 range. The BU girl was just as weird. She was tall and leaned way over to her pitching arm side, her arm was bent at a full 90 degrees, but it was camouflaged by her extreme lean. She looked like Kent Tekulve with more lean to the side. She alternated drop and rise spin and threw in the low to mid 60's. At the time I used a video camera with high shutter speed and when I looked these pitchers in slo-mo it was eye opening.
 
Last edited:
Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
There's lots of ways to get it done and nobody posts the weird mechanics. About 10-12 years ago I went watch 2 mid majors play each other, Stony Brook vs Boston U (not BC). The SB pitcher had a serious monkey butt posture, relied on a very fast arm circle with no brush and very little IR. She whipped her arm and undercut the ball to produce a decent riseball in the 62-65 range. The BU was just as weird. She was tall and leaned way over to her pitching arm side, her arm was bent at a full 90 degrees, but it was camouflaged by her extreme lean. She looked like Kent Tekulve with more lean to the side. She alternated drop and rise spin and threw in the low to mid 60's. At the time I used a video camera with high shutter speed and when I looked these pitchers in slo-mo it was eye opening.
Christa Williams had some monkey butt but managed to win 2 Gold medals at the Olympics.

christa-williams-of-the-united-states-throws-a-pitch-during-the-picture-id1196661
 
Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
Her leg drive looks good and she looks like an athletic kid, but she needs to do a whole bunch of work. Her IR is not good, her front side resistance needs work and it looks like she is monkey-butting.

Your DD looks a little like Samantha Show, so take a look at Samantha's motion...



Here is what your DD should do:

1) Go to the IR in The Classroom thread. It is one the first threads DFP. The thread discusses a series of drills Start at the beginning and work through each drill suggested by @BoardMember. https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/i-r-in-the-classroom.10321/ I attached pictures showing "the magician finish" for pitching....palm down and arm extended.

2) Front side resistance. Your DD should not a step forward after she throws. The thread you need to read is the Front Side Resistance thread, which is also one of the first threads here. https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/front-side-resistance.19828/ My guess is your DD will pick this up quickly.

3) Your DD seems to be monkey-butting. The pitcher should keep her butt under her shoulders and over her legs when she throws. Your DD appears to be sticking her butt out when she gets open.

Monkey butting is related to brush interference. Your DD's arm should be brushing the side of her hips when she throws.

Your DD has some talent, but she has to go to work to fix this stuff now.

This is an old post but very accurate.
 

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