76 mph

[Fluid Fastpitch]

What does the sound barrier have to do with anything here?

You asked if the arm was more a whip or a catapult. Just saying that if I have to choose between emulating the action of a whip and the action of a catapult for acceleration, I'm gonna pick the whip. The analogy isn't perfect, but if an 8ft bullwhip can take your arm input and accelerate it to mach1, I'm interested. I don't think you were suggesting that a straight arm like a catapult is the most effective way to accelerate an object, but I don't think muscling the arm during the throw is efficient. Accelerate the arm rapidly, compress it against the body to stop it. Let the ball eject itself, don't need to force it.

The sling on top of a trebuchet is not a whip, it stays perfectly straight during the throw.

I concede that the tension pulls the sling portion straight. It's more the linkages and transfer of energy between the segments that is interesting. And the arm doesn't just have just one linkage, we have linkages all the way down the shoulder, elbow, wrist and knuckles. A whip has basically infinite linkages. Which is why I like referencing their physics.
I think my point in sharing is I find it very interesting that it was pointed out in both videos that the transfer of energy is initiated by the stop (whether the hand or the weight).

Agreed, but lag and BI are two different things. There's lag when you throw overhand but no BI.

You would have a better argument if you equated the BI to the pivot point in a catapult or trebuchet.

I think there's two concepts that get conflated on this site, as someone in this thread said BI for 'control and improved velocity'. Those are two distinct things in my head, maybe I'm not on the same page as others, interested in feedback -

• Brush Interference of the forearm against the hip/thigh for release point control. Same reason that if you're setting a glass of water down on a coaster without looking at it you're probably going to use your pinky/hand to touch the coaster to spatially orient yourself. If I practiced this often enough, I could probably reliably set that glass down without the reference, but would still be more reliable if I oriented myself.
• Compression of the upper arm against the ribcage to stop the arm and initiate transfer of momentum (a la whip or trebuchet) for velocity.

The compression of the upper arm is a must in my book, and Pickens is getting some compression, but doesn't appear to be a full momentary stop like most pitchers get (which I'll be thinking about for a while).
I believe this action is necessarily different from the overhand throw (extension toward the target vs tight to the body), but that's probably for another thread.

I also teach BI of the forearm for control, but less for finding the release point so much as a reference for the position of the hand and arm when it gets to the release point - keeping the arm tight to the body and teaching which part of the forearm brushes to indicate I/R is happening at the right time. If they lose the BI as they get older and have good I/R, I may not sweat it so long as accuracy isn't impacted (hasn't happened yet). As soon as a student says they're having trouble with accuracy my first thought is let's look at the consistency of release, and BI is a part of that.

 

[RADcatcher]

Brush Interference of the forearm against the hip/thigh for release point control. Same reason that if you're setting a glass of water down on a coaster without looking at it you're probably going to use your pinky/hand to touch the coaster to spatially orient yourself. If I practiced this often enough, I could probably reliably set that glass down without the reference, but would still be more reliable if I oriented myself.

Nice post/read!
That is an interesting analogy!

My thoughts to it,
As a pitcher develops and greater understands the abilities of their entire body~

Could also be that once a pitcher is comfortable with the orientation of their pitching arm, that they may then be able to use the rest of their body in ways to try and produce more energy or results while knowing where the orientation of their arm is already going to be.
Aka~ they have found the results of a good angle and positioning of their arm. And then may change body slightly to utilize their body to produce more while keeping the arm in its orientation they have found.
( they may no longer need to feel the brush)

Versus the difference of a beginning pitcher needing to find how to pitch. How to functionally orientate the arm with their body. ( might learn to use the brush as an orientation)

 

[CoachJD]

You're saying they face the ball to the rear at 11:00 or so? I've never seen that with a new thrower. They'll stiff arm and shove the shoulder as high as it'll go, but I've never seen then point it toward the back at any point. They most definitely all bowl though...lol

I have seen some point the ball toward second base (it's possible that they looked up a video on YouTube before actually trying it, so maybe that was learned behavior), but no, they don't all turn it that early. But they do get their hand behind the ball and push through/bowl. No whip/IR at all. Usually no brush because that, also, is not intuitive.

 

[El Oso]

• Brush Interference of the forearm against the hip/thigh for release point control. Same reason that if you're setting a glass of water down on a coaster without looking at it you're probably going to use your pinky/hand to touch the coaster to spatially orient yourself.

I don't think this is a good analogy for several reasons. Primarily because setting down a glass of water requires trying to determine when to stop your movement. Determining when to release the ball isn't trying to determine when to stop your movement because movement doesn't stop at the moment of release.

 

[uncdrew]

I don't have a link, but she is all over Facebook and has a website.

bsbs is right she wants hips to stay square as long as possible and landing toe more at a 45 than perpendicular to the power line. She is also very much anti-HE and uses term IR. For while thought she might be a poster on here .

My DD has recently been instructed to push off more square and delay opening up (from what she had been doing). It makes sense to me. If you fly open as your first move you won't have as much forward momentum.

Then again, what do I know?

 

[uncdrew]

Whenever a person throws something for speed, whether it's a softball, baseball, javelin, bowling ball, etc, the front leg stops the body from moving forward. The idea is that you want all the momentum created prior to the throw to be transferred to the object. On DFP, we refer to this as FSR (Front Side Resistance).

Some softball pitchers hop after release. Pickens has FSR with the front leg stopping the forward body movement. In the attached picture, you can see the front leg straight as an arrow. After that the front knee unlocks and she does a hop forward.

It's like getting the sour cream to fall off the spoon and on to your taco. You bring it back, fling it hard, and stop hard.

 

[Shawn]

It’s not brush contact itself. It’s the arm spirals turning or cornering, the same as the back leg cornering. Instead of trying to clear the hips you release around the hip/leg, possible by internal/corner/spirals rotation.

Brush contact is functional reliant on the fact that nothing is linear. The spirals run from your feet out to your fingers.

 

[BucketDud]

My DD has recently been instructed to push off more square and delay opening up (from what she had been doing). It makes sense to me. If you fly open as your first move you won't have as much forward momentum.

Then again, what do I know?

Agree I think that idea makes perfect sense. But I also know from other sports a concept that improves one part of the motion can have other negative effects downstream. So yes they do produce more forward motion, but it also isn't a broad jump competition.

That's why I'll be curious how some of her takes will hold up over time. Personally I really like her approach and communication style so hope it is successful.

 

[Shawn]

My DD has recently been instructed to push off more square and delay opening up (from what she had been doing). It makes sense to me. If you fly open as your first move you won't have as much forward momentum.

Then again, what do I know?

Amanda Scarborough teaches to glide at the start of the drag. Don’t rotate open right away, have a little drag forward. There’s a drill for it where you drive/stride without opening and stop the arms at 3. Good drill.

 

[uncdrew]

Amanda Scarborough teaches to glide at the start of the drag. Don’t rotate open right away, have a little drag forward. There’s a drill for it where you drive/stride without opening and stop the arms at 3. Good drill.

Fortunately for us it was one of those pitching instructions that DD just heard and then did.

It's nice when some are such easy fixes. My DD does have good body awareness and can incorporate instructions pretty quickly.