Advice for 11u pitcher

[CoachFT35]

About a year ago I found this site and started reading through all the stickies. Last November, I posted a video of my 10 yo sister when we started to make the change from HE to IR. We worked for a few months, but her heart wasn’t in it. I decided to wait until she was committed to put the work in. At the beginning of August, we started up again. Which brings me to the purpose of the post... in the drills that we do I can see her starting to get some brush, but once she moves back to full pitch it’s not there. Just wondering what you guys see when she pitches full that would be the cause.

 

[Hillhouse]

My first question would be, "Have you ever really whacked your arm against your side or hip when you threw a pitch?" I'd be guessing the answer would probably be "yes". And as a result, and fear of doing it again, she's leaving her arm well away from her body to avoid contact. There is good contact and bad contact. She looks like she has experienced bad contact and is afraid of a repeat. Just a guess though.

 

[CoachFT35]

Yes, she's definitely done that before. I'll talk with her about the difference and why the brush is important.

 

[sluggers]

I hope your DD sticks with this...she looks like she could be really good.

Her body is changing and I'm sure that it is causing some issues (and, good luck with the non-sports related issues).

Follow Bill's suggestion and remind her to stand up straight, and avoid sticking her butt out when she throws. One thing that might help is to have her wear a loose fitting T-shirt and tell her to make her arm hits the side of the T-Shirt.

She really needs to work on her whip action. She is late with the IR and she really is inconsistent with the bend in her arm. On some pitches, there is no bend in her arm.

She should do this drill. It works specifically on getting the arm motion. Note the position of the hand and ball. The hand is behind the ball at 12 and under the ball at 9. Also, notice how the arm is bent.

 

[ArmWhip]

I agree with Sluggers. I stopped the video and tried to catch a view of her arm coming down the back side. Her hand is usually on the side of the ball but her elbow is not flexed/bent. Tough to get brush with locked elbow.

 

[coach james]

For me, the first thing that I'd address would be her lack of drive mechanics and how her body's poor posture and lack of stability is a result of it. She must be in a stacked and solid posture through release of the ball in order to get the desired slight brush and whip.
Here's a freebie verbal que I'll let you steal from me... "Your arm is like a semi, the upper arm is the tractor and the lower half is the trailer. Drive the truck and allow the trailer to simply follow". By staying focused on the upper arm pulling down the back half against a strong stable posture, the lower arm will whip and accelerate past the thigh at 2x the speed!

Hope this helps, Coach James