14u pitcher struggling with mechanics. Advice welcomed.

[Faspitch10_LI]

Hello as this is my first post. DD is in her third season of pitching. It has been a roller coaster with her velocity and finding the strike zone this year. In the spring during school ball she lost 7-9 mph and strike zone. Fixed some arm circle issues before summer TB and she wound up probably having best TB season pitching. Unfortunately this fall the third baseman on her TB was injured so DD filled in there. That combined with picking up 2 really nice pitchers limited her to 2 innings in fall for which she pitched well.

After 7 or 8 weeks off after fall TB we started back throwing during the holidays. It seems DD has reverted back to her spring form which is concerning. I smashed my tib/fib 3 weeks ago so I've had a bunch of time to read the drive mechanics and IR thread. My gut says DD is a HE pitcher after reading those threads and watching the attached videos. Would love to get some input on how to go forward as DD really enjoys pitching.

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

Your gut's right.
Fortunately, all is not lost!
This is a pretty good position, her arm has some bend, the ball is facing sideways which isn't the worst thing.
If I saw this still I'd think not bad, a couple of things to tweak here. Ignore the "glove swim", she's getting some great separation and clearly has some shoulder mobility.


But the next frame things go wrong
Here she starts to lean forward to push the ball, the front leg starts collapsing, the arm straightens out, and that back leg turns into an anchor.


And then the finish she's clearing her hips and snapping her wrist.



Definitely not the worst I've seen though if you're ready to make the conversion. She's not totally open at release which is a major plus, you won't have to fight that. In fact at release her posture isn't totally terrible except the forward lean.

Where to start? I'd start with the 'lock it in' drill from Javasource's video. Gotta lead with the elbow, not the ball.
Then clean up the posture by working the opposite of all those things I said - Stand proud through the finish, throw against a strong front side, that back leg should glide on toes, and the bend stays in the arm until the upper arm meets the ribs.

 

[Hillhouse]

. Unfortunately this fall the third baseman on her TB was injured so DD filled in there. That combined with picking up 2 really nice pitchers limited her to 2 innings in fall for which she pitched well.

I have a question, why would you let this happen? I'm not questioning your parenting skills, but I simply do not understand. I'm going assume you guys see a pitching coach, and pay for those lessons. But even if you don't see a PC or pay for lessons, if your DD wants to be a pitcher and this position is her goal in life, then why wouldn't you guys push back a little on that? I mean, it sucks the 3rd baseman went down. That's really unfortunate. But if your kid is the ONLY one that can play 3rd base (aside from the injured kid) then that team may have more problems than just one injury!!!! lol. Anyway, if she wants to be a pitcher and really pursue this, then what happened to your kid is very sad. She's gotta advocate for herself. Believe me, I understand the whole "good teammate" thing and doing what's right by the team, etc. etc. However, if nobody else on the team offered to step up and take 3rd so your kid can pitch, then it could mean your kid is the only selfless one on the team. Which is something to be proud of as a parent but, at some point she's gotta advocate for herself too.

 

[Faspitch10_LI]

Your gut's right.
Fortunately, all is not lost!
This is a pretty good position, her arm has some bend, the ball is facing sideways which isn't the worst thing.
If I saw this still I'd think not bad, a couple of things to tweak here. Ignore the "glove swim", she's getting some great separation and clearly has some shoulder mobility.
View attachment 29383

But the next frame things go wrong
Here she starts to lean forward to push the ball, the front leg starts collapsing, the arm straightens out, and that back leg turns into an anchor.
View attachment 29382

And then the finish she's clearing her hips and snapping her wrist.
View attachment 29381


Definitely not the worst I've seen though if you're ready to make the conversion. She's not totally open at release which is a major plus, you won't have to fight that. In fact at release her posture isn't totally terrible except the forward lean.

Where to start? I'd start with the 'lock it in' drill from Javasource's video. Gotta lead with the elbow, not the ball.
Then clean up the posture by working the opposite of all those things I said - Stand proud through the finish, throw against a strong front side, that back leg should glide on toes, and the bend stays in the arm until the upper arm meets the ribs.

Fluid Fastpitch thank you for the insight. LOL on the glove swim as i've been ignoring it this year as I know there are bigger issues at play. Yes once the arm hits about 11 things falls apart as she rotates the ball toward second and the arm gets stiff.

I’m definitely going to have her work on the lock it in drill to address the arm as it's a big issue. Worry about DD getting hurt. Yes DD front side resistance is not good and everything seems to collapse once the front leg lands. She has probably grown 8-9 inches in the last 2 years, combined with a core that could be stronger has not helped. She started up strength and agility training 3 weeks ago which should help address the core.

 

[Faspitch10_LI]

I have a question, why would you let this happen? I'm not questioning your parenting skills, but I simply do not understand. I'm going assume you guys see a pitching coach, and pay for those lessons. But even if you don't see a PC or pay for lessons, if your DD wants to be a pitcher and this position is her goal in life, then why wouldn't you guys push back a little on that? I mean, it sucks the 3rd baseman went down. That's really unfortunate. But if your kid is the ONLY one that can play 3rd base (aside from the injured kid) then that team may have more problems than just one injury!!!! lol. Anyway, if she wants to be a pitcher and really pursue this, then what happened to your kid is very sad. She's gotta advocate for herself. Believe me, I understand the whole "good teammate" thing and doing what's right by the team, etc. etc. However, if nobody else on the team offered to step up and take 3rd so your kid can pitch, then it could mean your kid is the only selfless one on the team. Which is something to be proud of as a parent but, at some point she's gotta advocate for herself too.

HIllhouse it’s a fair question. What happened this fall was unusual due to multiple injuries, weather and the fact we now have depth at pitching with 4 starters. TB team added two pitchers in August who, to be honest, are more polished pitchers than DD. DD is way better bat and fielder then the two added pitchers. I really don’t fault the coach, she played to her strengths and apologized to DD that she did not get more innings.

With that said she wants to pitch, enjoys pitching and in reality she spends probably 60 percent of her practice time on it. She is frustrated with her pitching right and yes we probably need to move on to a new PC.

 

[Gags]

Is the ball (and ensuing arm circle) too far left-of-center - maybe it's camera angle? Seems like it's almost past her left shoulder. Would this affect the ability to stay palm up longer on the back of the circle?

 

[MidwestFastpitchDad]

Those arms should be straight. She’s either going to overcompensate to the right or throw this ball way left of the strike zone. Is this every pitch? Or a fluke?

 

[ArmWhip]

i've been ignoring it this year as I know there are bigger issues at play. Yes once the arm hits about 11 things falls apart as she rotates the ball toward second and the arm gets stiff.

I would not ignore the glove swim, it's no coincidence that the swim is at it's worst when her arm action starts to break down, the two are connected. Throwing the glove out that much can force or keep the shoulders from getting open enough to allow the elbow to lead further into the downswing. That doesn't mean that you have to address the glove swim as a separate issue but it will have to change if she's going to improve her arm action and utilize IR. I would start with changing her throwing arm action to IR, this should also modify the glove swim. But keep in mind that as she moves from the IR drills to full motion the glove swim may be an obstacle to making the changes that are necessary because it takes place earlier in the arm motion sequence.

 

[Faspitch10_LI]

View attachment 29384
Is the ball (and ensuing arm circle) too far left-of-center - maybe it's camera angle? Seems like it's almost past her left shoulder. Would this affect the ability to stay palm up longer on the back of the circle?

I do think DD arm does get a bit left of canter at times, thought the camera angle is making it look worse.

 

[Faspitch10_LI]

I would not ignore the glove swim, it's no coincidence that the swim is at it's worst when her arm action starts to break down, the two are connected. Throwing the glove out that much can force or keep the shoulders from getting open enough to allow the elbow to lead further into the downswing. That doesn't mean that you have to address the glove swim as a separate issue but it will have to change if she's going to improve her arm action and utilize IR. I would start with changing her throwing arm action to IR, this should also modify the glove swim. But keep in mind that as she moves from the IR drills to full motion the glove swim may be an obstacle to making the changes that are necessary because it takes place earlier in the arm motion sequence.

ArmWhip that makes sense regarding glove swim impacting DD getting open. I have to imagine the glove getting that far back is pulling the throwing shoulder towards home plate.