Arm Sync

[jaysz280]

Guys, I am really having a hard time getting my daughters arms synced up at the time of release. The glove hand is always late and is usually left up at 3o'clock at the time of release. At 25% she can sync them but as soon as she steps up to 50% pitching speed she gets out of sync. I have said things like make your glove hand win the race as you are pulling down together but it doesn't seem to be working and she is starting to get frustrated.

 

[knightsb]

I would suggest backward chaining, with emphasis on "up together" "down together".


JS and RP said it better than I ever could:

A pitcher with good arm whip can generate 90% of her top speed simply throwing from the 12 o'clock/"K" position----no step and throw and no leap and drag.
Rick

The K-drill is static in nature... usually having the ball around 11ish (for rhp). From this position, you can get 80-90% of the speed.

Timing is critical-----period.
Some pitchers have difficulty getting timing correct when using the full motion.
Backward chaining to a point where they can get the optimal timing is a good thing. Groove in the timing then move a little closer to the full motion----groove in the timing----etc. etc.

Throwing from the "K" position(called slingshot in the old days) is the single best method I know for developing good timing. When girls get good from this position they can hit 90% of their top mound speed. Subsequently, their mound speed increases because of better timing.

Henry & Erica,

I/R = Internal Rotation. The arm, and its segments internally rotate. This takes place in the last quarter of the "circle".

Ken pointed out that your daughter NEEDS more bend in her elbow. Must young pitchers push or pull the ball (and their hand) down the circle. This is NOT correct. How did Ken know? Her arm was straight, with very little, to no bend. That... and he's just that good.

The circle is often referred to by the face of a clock. I have put a picture of Erica, with a red "clock" over her picture. In it, her hand is almost at 9 o'clock. The numbers in RED refer to the times on a clock. I've only included 3, 12, 9, and 6 - as they are the most referenced by pitching instructors.

You can see that in this picture, her arm is completely straight. It should be bent at the elbow from 12 o'clock all the way through to release. She NEEDS to lead the back part of the circle WITH HER ELBOW (from 12 o'clock down...). There are many ways to accomplish this, but you may have to try a few different descriptions... until she can figure out what you mean.

When I teach it, I have a cloth squishy ball that I velcro to the underside of the upper arm (just below the triceps, but above the elbow). I start them at 12 o'clock, and tell them to pull their elbow down until the squishy ball contacts their side. I find that the visual really helps with younger pitchers... they forget about their hand, and the ball in it. It's also important that the hand with the ball in it, remains palm-up, the whole time.

Why? This is REALLY IMPORTANT. Flexion - or the bend in the elbow - allows the pitcher to transfer power from the body, through the shoulder, through the elbow, through the forearm, and into the ball. Getting the most power from your upper arm to your forearm is NOT POSSIBLE unless the upper arm slows down as it approaches the side. Watch the video below.

As the upper arm slows down (decelerates), the forearm receives the power and speeds up (accelerates). During this process the upper arm bicep will rotate inward (toward the body). As such, so will the forearm. This motion is called pronation. You now have two large FORCES acting on the speed of the ball - the energy gained by slowing the upper arm/accelerating the forearm AND pronation. Adding these forces is called coupling, or force coupling. Knowing this and using this is what seperates pitchers into two groups: cute rec pitchers that plateau in the 40 mph range, and cute tb pitchers that throw fire in the 50-60 mph range and at times, pursue college level pitching.

Here's a cool illustration showing the HUGE difference in speeds when allowing for flexion (loose bend) versus keeping it straight:

This doesn't include pronation... just flexion! Adding pronation would make it even greater.

Now, let's look at that picture again...

You'll also notice that the picture has the letters A, B, C, D. These are the four quadrants of the arm circle. I teach pitching backwards (as do many on here), focusing on the arm whip (release zone) first... and then progressing only after you master the drills in quadrant A.

My recommended plan... Stop pitching. No full-motion circles. No Striding, dragging, etc.

Start with showing her arm bend as referenced above.
After she gets this, tell her about the upper arm/lower arm relationship (slowing the upper arm to allow the power into the forearm). Show her.

Now, using what she just learned, apply it by using BM's bat drill.

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/15432-i-r-bat-drill-2.html

Now, work on BM's "Lock It In" drill. Her upper stays still (except for pronation). This is mainly a forearm drill.

Then work on BM's 9:00 drill. Her upper arm is slightly involved, moving until it reaches her side, and the rest of the motion is essentially the "Lock It In" drill.

Lock It In and 9 o'clock drill are located here:

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/10321-i-r-classroom.html

ALL OF THOSE DRILLS ARE IN QUADRANT A - which IMO - is the most important part in ALL of pitching.

ONCE SHE HAS BECOME VERY COMFORTABLE WITH THESE, VIDEO HER AND POST IT ON THIS BOARD, IDEALLY THIS THREAD.

Very comfortable = the ability to play catch with you consistently. Read BM's threads and follow his directions... My quick little blurb does little justice to his original thread.

Java Source has done a great job of describing "Backward Chaining". This term came up in a post recently so I thought I'd just reinforce it here. JS.....great post!!

"You'll also notice that the picture has the letters A, B, C, D. These are the four quadrants of the arm circle. I teach pitching backwards (as do many on here), focusing on the arm whip (release zone) first... and then progressing only after you master the drills in quadrant A."

Again, to reinforce what JS has said......the A quadrant is the most important followed by the B. This is a foundation of why pitchers can throw 90% of their top speed from the start of the B quadrant ("K" position). My theory is that if A+B=90% I'm going to spend a lot of time in those quadrants.

 

[Ken B]

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[jaysz280]

Great post guys. How ever we were able to get the timing down during the K drills. Once we went full motion at only 50% the timing started to fall off. I will try and post a video to show you what I am talking about.

 

[jaysz280]

https://youtu.be/yqjSjNr8idI

 

[spleen1015]

I'm interested to see where this goes since this is something I've never paid attention to with DD. Her timing is about the same as your DD's and we have never talked about it with a PC or otherwise.

 

[knightsb]

Guys, I am really having a hard time getting my daughters arms synced up at the time of release. The glove hand is always late and is usually left up at 3o'clock at the time of release. At 25% she can sync them but as soon as she steps up to 50% pitching speed she gets out of sync. I have said things like make your glove hand win the race as you are pulling down together but it doesn't seem to be working and she is starting to get frustrated.

 

[knightsb]

Have her throw into her glove.

Do it, starting by back chaining.

Throw into her glove from the T position.

Throw into her glove from the K position.

Throw into her glove from a full pitch.

If she misses her glove, her timing is off.

 

[Rocketech1]

Hillhouse does a great drill where you throw the ball into the glove from a K position, which makes it impossible to be late with the glove otherwise the ball will be long gone before the glove is there to receive it. I believe Java also has a video on this drill. Sometimes you will see pitchers do this in the circle before they take the pitching plate. She needs to think "pull both arms down together". Right now she looks good at 9:00 but then rotates the glove arm instead of pulling it down which throws off her timing (i.e. she is late with the glove slap).

Overall, I like her mechanics and I love lefties!

 

[jaysz280]

Great advise guys. We started at the T position throwing into the glove. We also did the K position throwing into the glove. However we have never thrown into the glove during full pitching. This is great idea I hope it works!