Another Pitching Video

[DB1]

Take a look and let me know what you think! Second year 12U player.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lozza]

Is she making a fist at the end? If yes, I would read the threads on internal rotation.

Other than that, I'm not seeing much wrong at all. Congrats to her!

 

[coachdan]

DB1....Her mechanics look pretty solid. I would work on being more explosive off the rubber and making a faster arm circle. This is the perfect time of the year to do speed work without having to worry about control. Looking good keep up the good work...

Lozza, she is getting good IR before she makes the fist at the end.

 

[Jojo]

She looks really good. She is throwing with internal rotation. Along with the explosive push off have her work also on more resistance at release.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Take a look and let me know what you think! Second year 12U player.

Not bad.

One thing I see is that she gets on top of her front foot rather than staying behind it through the release point.

That's going to cost her velocity and may cause control problems (with the way she rises up through the release point).

Contrast what she does with what you see in these clips.

P.S. In baseball, I teach firming up the front knee but not locking it out completely because locking out the front knee can cause knee and hip problems. I don't know how big of a problem this is in softball, but you've got to wonder.

 

[ArmWhip]

Very good for a 2nd year pitcher. I would work on keeping the right shoulder back a little longer. She is not fully utilizing her IR move because her shoulder is coming forward too early dissipating some energy/speed. It often takes pitchers a while to fully trust IR to create speed, they will still tend to 'force' the ball by pushing or closing the right side too early.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Get the feet wider (further apart) initially and get a balanced athletic stance. Her feet are kinda in the way of each other. Another thing that I notice is that her elbow is bent too far when it reaches 12 o'clock. I call this "lassoing the ball" over her head. Doing that eliminates some of the arm whip that she is trying to create and screws with the arm circle.

I miss those fall colors in the trees, but not the cold weather.

 

[go4fpsb]

Overall to me she has good mechanics. Her timing is good on the back side. The one thing I would suggest is to have her stack her glove hand over the ball hand on the upswing, it wouldn't hurt to make her glove side more active so her glove side could get a bit more involved during the pre-release and release part of her motion. If you are familiar with Boardmember's 9 o'clock drill I see an unloading of both scapula's during that drill. Think of those wine cork pullers with the two arms that get pulled down to pull the cork out of the bottle, same sort of action. Not that ever uncorked a bottle of wine. ;-)

 

[BoardMember]

Leg drive isn't bad........I/R is not bad...........Glove arm could work better on the downswing..........

BUT.........None of that will matter until you fix this arm circle.........

Any of you who are pitching coaches.........Pitching parent helpers..........Coaching assistants helping with young pitchers........If you see this...........Correct it immediately.............If not sooner............

DO NOT allow your pitchers to internally rotate the arm on the way up the circle..........Do not allow them to rotate the ball OUTWARD on the way up the circle..........DO NOT "WIPE THE WALL WITH THE BALL" up the circle.........

Keep the ball behind OR inside the hand on the upswing..........See O'learys clips above.........

 

[halskinner]

Get the feet wider (further apart) initially and get a balanced athletic stance. Her feet are kinda in the way of each other. Another thing that I notice is that her elbow is bent too far when it reaches 12 o'clock. I call this "lassoing the ball" over her head. Doing that eliminates some of the arm whip that she is trying to create and screws with the arm circle.

I miss those fall colors in the trees, but not the cold weather.

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What is happening in her arm circle, you call it lassoing and I have always called it 'The Criss Cross' and having the feet too far apart is one of the biggest causes of this. If the feet are spread wide apart, when you go to push off you are having to transfer your weight way to the right (RHP). Then you stride out and have to shift your weight way to the left. Then you shift it back to the right to keep from falling off to the left. Right, left, right, left!

You want keep your arm circle going straight towards the target. How can you do that when the rest of your body is bouncing to the right and left?? If you were at a rifle range and was walking toward your target, but stepping way to the left, then way to the right, back and forth like that, think you would hit your target? Same thing applies to pitching.

Here is an extreme example of the criss cross;

[video]http://youtu.be/3vPM9vyaKEA[/video]

I will disagree with Amy on the foot position on the rubber, they are perfect. The closer they are together, the less balanced you will feel while you are just standing there before the pitch starts. However, the closer together they are WHEN THE PITCH STARTS, the more likely you will push off straight towards your target, the more balanced you will be during the pitch. You will see many of the top pitchers start with feet wide but, they slide that pivot over close to the other and THEN start their motions. This is so well known and understood there is even a written allowance in the pitching regs saying it is legal to do that.

If the feet are wide at the start of the motions, you will start that side-to side motion as you shift your weight over a long way.

Her glove is coming over to the right of the powerline as the ball is coming up and way over to the left, she would fall over to the left if she did not do this. She is using the glove as a counrerbalance to the pulling force the arm circle makes as it tries to pull her to the right. This is very similar to how a tightrope walker uses that long pole he holds and shifts it slightly left and right for balance as he walks that rope.

If her arm circle was a hoola-hoop, hers is leaning way in at the top and then must come out at the bottom. Problem is, it is never simply two moves to correct that, they always overcompensate. In at the top, out at the bottom but then in again and usually out again before release. THESE ACTIONS ARE A SPEED KILLER AND AN ACCURACY KILLER. I would guess she already realizes she is NOT throwing as fast as she knows she could. She is probably a little frustrated with that too. I would also guess her accuracy is not what it should be.

Notice how both pitchers are striding way to the left of the powerline. The first pitcher is pishing off and landing on a steep angle leaning to the throwing side. Why? Because she is having to push off straight and way to the left. So, then the right foot has to quickly shoot out to the right side and keep her from falling off to the right. Terrible balance.

She needs to do the mirror drill to take the kinks out of that arm circle.