The magic four for speed:
-Posture
-Whip
-Brush
-Drive
You left out front side resistance...no FSR, no speed.
The magic four for speed:
-Posture
-Whip
-Brush
-Drive
As the dad of a pitcher with average velocity, I feel you. When it comes to speed my DD is a hard gainer. She’s only about 5’4”, 120 lbs. at 14yo. Done long toss and other speed drills. Physical maturity has helped and I hope will help some more. We’ve not really worked the strength and conditioning part of it yet. Even so, I am not sure my DD will ever break the 60mph barrier. We are working hard to optimize her mechanics, but...
After sweating it quite a bit (and there are still days that I find myself saying WTF), I’ve decided to focus on my daughter’s strengths as a pitcher. She is a control pitcher with very good and increasing command of the ball and has the ability to keep the ball down and change speeds, inducing a lot of weak contact. Would she be better if she cruised at 55mph+ rather than 50-52mph? No doubt. But she is what she is and she is pretty effective at a relatively high local/regional level. We’ll keep chipping away at velocity while we keep enhancing the strengths she does have.
Based on the video, I think your DD looks good. I think I see a couple of things in her mechanics that, if addressed, should allow her to pick up some velocity (along with her just getting more mature physically):
1. She looks like she is bowing at her push off rather than getting into a sprinters lean. Better drive off the rubber could add velocity. Her knee should be 2 or 3” in front of her toe as starts to drive off.
2. I think her arm looks pretty straight as it comes around the circle. Better bend in her arm (target is 135 degrees) would lead to better arm whip and higher velocity. This is an issue my DD also has and we are working on.
3. It’s a little hard to tell, but it looks like her arm is also sliding through rather than getting a good brush trigger. Better brush (combined with better arm bend) should also help increase her velocity.
Two cents worth.
Doh!!! Definitely!You left out front side resistance...no FSR, not speed.
@fistafury17
This isn't rocket science. Your DD has a fundamental flaw in her motion. She doesn't throw very hard because she has *ZERO* front side resistance. She skips forward. She has developed a nasty habit somewhere, and it is killing her speed.
This is the end of the thread right here. You don't need any more advice or resources. No matter what you do -- drills you try, strength workouts you get her to do, hours of long toss -- her speed will remain low and increase very slowly until her front side resistance problem is corrected. That should be your #1 and only priority right now.
Developing an explosive drive into her FSR should be goal #2.
Correct those two things and her velocity will explode.
@fistafury17
We've disappeared into a speed trap. No matter what anyone says, your DD is going nowhere throwing 45MPH at 14U.
This isn't rocket science. Your DD has a fundamental flaw in her motion. She doesn't throw very hard because she has *ZERO* front side resistance. She skips forward. She has developed a nasty habit somewhere, and it is killing her speed.
Simple example: Suppose you put a brick on the dashboard of your car, and you want the brick to go through the windshield. Are you going to come to a slow stop or are you going to slam on the brakes? Basically, pitching is momentum transfer....the body goes in a nice straight line toward the target, then the body stops and the arm continues moving.
Your DD's body needs to stop moving forward after release. Rick Pauly did a whole thread about this: https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/front-side-resistance.19828/
Here is Samantha Show. Look at her footwork. She isn't moving forward, and she is throwing 65MPH.