52 with bad mech, 49 with better mech

[yelloball20]

first of all im not whining. im trying to help her.
im trying to get her to understand that when she leaves her foot behind she is leaning over and aiming. yes i want her to try and correct this when she is 11 not 16 mainly due to the fact i don't want to put any more stress on her body than already is.
i could care less about the speed change, i was just asking a question as to what to expect.

I've said the simple physics statement at least a dozen times, that the 5 feet and the extra weight would take something off of it so thank you madsdad and amy.

the good thing my younger dd just turned 9, she started with this pc in jan. so we started with the better mechanics rather than trying to fix the bad ones. she's throwing 41 and SHE thinks SHE IS A STUD!!! it's almost effortless for her to pitch with the mech he is teaching her. it seems like it takes everything out of 11 yo just to pitch.

sorry for the whinebag thread, thought i was just trying to help my kid

 

[yelloball20]

one more thing i have also watched numerous videos of finch and cat pitching i see the hip, if my dd hip, foot drag was even relatively close i wouldn't be asking.

 

[Ken Krause]

Something to keep in mind is while she's making the adjustment she's not going to be able to go 100% into it. There will be some level of "hesitation" for lack of a better word while she tries to get comfortable with it. Once she can go fully after it she will likely improve with the better mechanics.

One other thing to keep in mind is many pitchers' parents focus way too much on how many walks they give up. I see that all the time -- she pitched 20 inning and only walked three people. Did she challenge anyone? Did she work the corners or try to move the ball? Or did she merely throw the ball over the plate and the other team couldn't hit very well?

As hitters improve, walks will likely go up as you have to be more careful about where you throw the ball. And as pitchers improve, they're more likely to throw a ball the umpire doesn't quite see correctly. So don't sweat more walks. As they say, it's a marathon, not a sprint. She'll get there.

 

[yelloball20]

wow ken thanks i have actually not even considered that, her hesitating not being confident about the change. would sure answer as to why her warm up pitches the foot comes up great, and stands tall. batter steps in foot stays back, with the lean. pc was at her 14u games this weekend says she either completely leaves it back leaving the ball in the dirt, or drags it up quick then its high. he told her that if she could just find some middle ground with batters she would be way better off, of getting it to come up completely next year.
it's not the number that bothers me of walks, its the why factor. she's a corner pitcher anyway but right now cant even do that. all i ever tell her is drag up, when shes pitching to batters. i would catch myself saying it at least twice an inning until i saw her saying it to herself between pitches. so i shut my mouth, know she knows it so really no need to say it.
i'm thinking about taking her off tb and just leave her to play 14u league, do you think it would help as to the point of limit batters during this transition so we can focus more days a week on drills and mechanics solely. right now she's pitching at least one game (sometimes 2) 2 nights a week, then tb playing 2-3 weekends a month. the problem seems to only be there with batters, would this move help or hurt her?
her league games are usually only 3 innings sometimes 4 due to time limit factor

 

[Goobie]

Back up 10 feet, does it slow down, of course it does. What I have read is, you can gain 3mph for every foot closer to the batter. Don't forget the weight of the ball. It is just about an oz. Add an oz. to one of the balls and see if it is not slower. It is simple physics.

Just some more physics... A pitcher's speed is measured as the maximum speed in flight using dad's radar gun. The maximum speed of the pitch will be when the pitcher releases the pitch and then the pitch will slow down due to air resistance as it moves towards the plate. Moving the pitching rubber closer or farther from the plate will not affect the actual maximum speed of the pitch on dad's radar gun. The speed of the pitch as it crosses the plate will be slower or faster depending upon how far it is from the plate when thrown, but again... radar guns measure maximum speed.

The Xmph for every foot closer is usually used in reference to "perceived" speed from a batter's point of view or speed when crossing the plate NOT the maximum speed which appears on a radar gun.. If a pitcher leaps 6 feet closer to the batter then releases the ball they are throwing the ball 34 feet versus 40 feet. A ball pitched at 55mph from 34 feet versus 40 feet will "appear" faster to the batter (less reaction time and it will be faster crossing the plate) however if pitcher's dad is clocking her it will still only read 55mph on the radar gun.

It would be interesting to test the 1oz heavier ball. You are probably right in that a pitcher probably would show slower on the radar gun due to the extra mass... however in considering reaction time or speed crossing the plate, the 1oz heavier ball would be affected less by air resistance (assuming same size balls) so the ball may cross the plate at a quicker speed than the lighter ball (think about pitching a normal softball and a light plastic one... the heavier ball will cut through the air while the plastic one will slow more).

 

[Amy in AZ.]

it's almost effortless for her to pitch with the mech he is teaching her.

That is it, exactly. I tell my students that the pitchers that are heaving themselves all over the circle, will not pitch long. Their pitch should be effortless.

Do Hal's whiffle ball drill, after your DD is warmed up sometime. If the whiffles are flying all over the place, she will have to adjust.

 

[yelloball20]

Just some more physics... A pitcher's speed is measured as the maximum speed in flight using dad's radar gun. The maximum speed of the pitch will be when the pitcher releases the pitch and then the pitch will slow down due to air resistance as it moves towards the plate. Moving the pitching rubber closer or farther from the plate will not affect the actual maximum speed of the pitch on dad's radar gun. The speed of the pitch as it crosses the plate will be slower or faster depending upon how far it is from the plate when thrown, but again... radar guns measure maximum speed.

The Xmph for every foot closer is usually used in reference to "perceived" speed from a batter's point of view or speed when crossing the plate NOT the maximum speed which appears on a radar gun.. If a pitcher leaps 6 feet closer to the batter then releases the ball they are throwing the ball 34 feet versus 40 feet. A ball pitched at 55mph from 34 feet versus 40 feet will "appear" faster to the batter (less reaction time and it will be faster crossing the plate) however if pitcher's dad is clocking her it will still only read 55mph on the radar gun.

It would be interesting to test the 1oz heavier ball. You are probably right in that a pitcher probably would show slower on the radar gun due to the extra mass... however in considering reaction time or speed crossing the plate, the 1oz heavier ball would be affected less by air resistance (assuming same size balls) so the ball may cross the plate at a quicker speed than the lighter ball (think about pitching a normal softball and a light plastic one... the heavier ball will cut through the air while the plastic one will slow more).

and this is what the pc tells me, so much for my physics

 

[yelloball20]

That is it, exactly. I tell my students that the pitchers that are heaving themselves all over the circle, will not pitch long. Their pitch should be effortless.

Do Hal's whiffle ball drill, after your DD is warmed up sometime. If the whiffles are flying all over the place, she will have to adjust.

i will do that, its unreal actually how effortless it is. younger dd could pitch for an hour and not even break a sweat, older dd 20 minutes and its pouring off of her. he said this off season he is going to take away some of her leap, get her knee higher. he dislikes the leap a lot!

 

[Poseidon]

Hi Goobie,

We actually tried this experiment (pitching speed with a slightly heavier ball, 10% of mass: 20g roughly 7.7 Ounce) in my lab with 2 intermediate level pitchers. Surprisingly, the pitching speed was faster with the slightly heavier ball. We also calculated the centripetal forces but were not getting the same results than Werner et al, 2006. One disclaimer is that this was just a pilot study so a lot of work still needs to be done.

Michel

 

[Ken Krause]

Not sure if I'd take her off of travel ball. Maybe if you talk to the coach about limiting her innings for a little while it will help.

From what you're saying the problems show up when she's pitching to hitters. That won't change until she faces a sufficient number of hitters. In my opinion she just needs to work past it, a little at a time. Getting her a few innings here or there in travel ball will likely help as she'll be facing better hitters, which should be a better measure of her progress.