4 short clips from each angle of Makenzie from Sunday the 6th of October

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Feb 3, 2010
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@Ken B. I wish I could find her a pitching coach closer than Little Rock. I would love to see her pitch with great mechanics. I will have to say she has came a long ways since we started this process, with no pitching coach. She is topping out at 48 at 10, With better whip how much more speed, revs would it make that much difference?

I missed a key part of your post. 48 at 10 is pretty good. I wonder if the lower quality of the video is disguising some whip. Can you can bump up the quality settings on your camera, or borrow something a little nicer and post another video from the side?
 
Jul 17, 2012
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I think she looks pretty good as far as what she's doing... just looks like her timing is off a bit so she's losing all of the negative resistance of the front side. Is it just my eyes, or is her arm circle ahead of her lower half? Looks like she plants and sets a firm front side to throw into...but the ball is already gone so it's thrown with all arm. Just thinking out loud. Teach her the concept of acceleration. DD struggled wth that as well. It's not 0-60 instantly... it's 0-60 through acceleration. Start powerful... finish fast. On a side note... I'm reading that she was gunned at 48? If there was a gun on the rear view pitches she's throwing in your original post.... 40 would be a stretch.
 
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Jul 17, 2012
1,086
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Definitely do the I/R drills that Ken/Board Member posted......don't be in a hurry to throw full motion from full distance. Most young kids break down mechanically when they do that.........start short and slowly progress to full distance/full motion. Most young pitcher compromise mechanics when they are over stressed.
One big correction she can make is to get the glove hand to follow up to 2 o'clock when the ball is at 12 o'clock. That way the ball hand and glove hand can "pull together" (when the ball hand advances downward) in a more balanced fashion. This simple change will make a big difference in several areas for her.


The arm circle looks fine from the back. The issue is whip. Start there, get it down, then add it to the circle and full motion.

3 Steps to Whip with I/R


Ken
 
Feb 3, 2010
5,752
113
Pac NW
One big correction she can make is to get the glove hand to follow up to 2 o'clock when the ball is at 12 o'clock. That way the ball hand and glove hand can "pull together" (when the ball hand advances downward) in a more balanced fashion.

I really like this. It doesn't seem to get much attention, but I think it adds to the delivery and is an easy piece to add. For me, swinging out hard and pulling down adds to both a good drive and whip.
 
Feb 28, 2013
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@FrozenRope, thanks for the advice, not overly concerned with speed, but she throws in 40's every pitch. 48 is her personal best, she has hit it like 5 times and that's with a 900 dollar Juggs pro model gun. That is what the gun says. The times she has hit 48 have all been low and in, just landing half way between top and bottom of plate. Next time I gun her I'll record it with gun in hand and show camera after every pitch. I'm not "worried about speed" but I was just wondering, first year pitching, NO pitching lessons, and cruises 41-45, and has topped out at 48, and she just moved up to the big ball, and is STILL 10. I just wish there was, or that I knew of a good pitching coach to teach her, and with good to great mechanics, I wonder what she would hit. Thanks again
 
Feb 28, 2013
77
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Yes sir @Ken B, The shot from the back, I'm going to post it again in a new post, it looks to me she is using I/R, but I really don't much about it, do I may be talking out of my butt. lol
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,086
38
@FrozenRope, thanks for the advice, not overly concerned with speed, but she throws in 40's every pitch. 48 is her personal best, she has hit it like 5 times and that's with a 900 dollar Juggs pro model gun. That is what the gun says. The times she has hit 48 have all been low and in, just landing half way between top and bottom of plate. Next time I gun her I'll record it with gun in hand and show camera after every pitch. I'm not "worried about speed" but I was just wondering, first year pitching, NO pitching lessons, and cruises 41-45, and has topped out at 48, and she just moved up to the big ball, and is STILL 10. I just wish there was, or that I knew of a good pitching coach to teach her, and with good to great mechanics, I wonder what she would hit. Thanks again

48 is awesome for a 10 year old... especally for a first year pitcher. I wasn't being critical... just observing that it didn't "Look Like" 48. Video can be deceiving with regard to velocity that's why I was asking. Cruising at 41-45 is also very good in my world.

I think everyone here has given some great advice. The only thing I might add is that as soon as she starts to "get it" in the drills, I would have her finish up her session with some full pitches, with the goal of incorporating what she learned during the drills. Not 50 pitches... just a dozen or so. That said... I would NOT do it with ANY OTHER goal beside incorporating the proper mechanics into the full motion. What I mean is, don't catch for her when she's doing the full pitches. That will bring "Hitting the Glove" into the mindset as a goal. She needs to concentrate on the proper arm circle. Have her stand 10 feet away from a net, tarp, fence...whatever, and practice incorporating the proper arm circle into the full pitching motion. (I would do the drills like this as well--get rid of the goal of location for now and concentrate on the feel of the whip) There is a timing factor that needs to be learned with the proper arm circle and release that will not happen with the drills. If you don't start to incorporate what she's learning into the full motion, she'll have a GREAT arm circle/release from a static position and then she'll tense up and go back to what she knows in the full pitching motion. Just like hitting... ever see the kid that has a text book swing off a tee... then goes back to the horrible "just put the ball in play" drop and drag swing with live pitching? (living this right now..so It's fresh in my mind :) ) With the swing...the intermediate step from Tee to Live pitching is soft toss, or front toss. In my opinion, with pitching, the intermediate stage is doing the full moton into a close target with no regard for the end result..meaning where the ball goes.
 

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