Bucket dad help

[chalknuts]

Hello. First time poster looking for help in the next steps for my daughters pitching journey (13yo) as I'm only a bucket dad.

My uneducated assumption is that her drive leg is lacking as it should be leaving the rubber when her arm/ball gets to 3 o'clock but this doesn't occur until the ball is well over her head. Is this a correct assumption? And if so what could we work on to improve it? If my assumption is wrong what would be the next thing we look at?

Thanks in advance.



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[Mike-Coach Q]

I used Amanda’s mechanics as a measurement. With the ball straight out from the shoulders the drive leg should be detached from the plate.

 

[Mike-Coach Q]

The other measurement I use is where is the ball when the stride leg is down and loaded. The drive mechanics Java wrote has a lot of great informatio.

 

[quincy]

I would work on her posture 1st, she needs to stand tall. She is too short if that makes sense.

I am not to sure about the reitivly new pitch rules but I think they allowed too start with their feet together and then step a foot off the plate, That will help her get her weight back behind the plate ready for her drive.

 

[Mike-Coach Q]

We try to maintain these checkpoints.

 

[tomorrow]

Hello. First time poster looking for help in the next steps for my daughters pitching journey (13yo) as I'm only a bucket dad.

My uneducated assumption is that her drive leg is lacking as it should be leaving the rubber when her arm/ball gets to 3 o'clock but this doesn't occur until the ball is well over her head. Is this a correct assumption? And if so what could we work on to improve it? If my assumption is wrong what would be the next thing we look at?

Thanks in advance.



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I think you are correct in locating a major issue at the 3 o'clock point.

I would look into the quad dominate vs glute dominate discussions on this board.
She needs to be driving her hips forward using a different set of muscles than she currently is.
This will help her get into more of a stacked alignment as the stride leg firms up as shown in Amanda Scarbough pic.

Currently, her weight and thrust are through her big toe on her right leg (during the push-off) this is a sign that she is using her quad muscles. She will need to move more of her weight over 4th and 5th toe as she pushes out. Watch the heel turn on the right leg during push out as a sign of how she is pushing.

This is not an easy fix IMO. She might have to gain more muscle and or tendon rigidity to be able to perform this properly.

 

[Tatonka]

The other measurement I use is where is the ball when the stride leg is down and loaded. The drive mechanics Java wrote has a lot of great informatio.

Just have to reinforce this...to the OP if you have not looked at some of the threads (Dirve Mechanics being #1) pinned to the top of this forum do it. Set aside some serious time and really study it - you will be light years ahead in your journey.

 

[ArmWhip]

in my mind the cause and effect of ball circle position and foot placement is not well defined because it is largely dependent on the speed of arm/hand/ball. If you back chain from release using different hand/ball speeds the ball position will be different depending on the speed because of the different distances traveled. So while the ball position markers may be useful they are not determinants or causative. Yes, a faster pitcher will have the ball in a different spot than a slower one but that is because she is a faster pitcher. What I am not sure of is how the age/size of the pitcher affects all this.

What I would work on is improving her drive off the rubber, she goes up rather than out a little too much. This had already been suggested. It doesn't mean she has to get further off the rubber, this would lead her to focus on her stride leg/foot. Rather she should focus on pushing off/out through the hips for a more upright posture. But this is a tweak. The main thing that I see is that she is not open enough to fully utilize IR. Her glove arm swims out too far too early and she is not open enough, this keeps her from getting her arm into a fully loaded whipping position. For pitchers with this issue I like to use the small ball circle drill. Have her stand in the release stance, shoulders about 45 degrees open, and shorten the circumference of her arm/ball circle. When she brings the ball up and over makes sure she opens fully. This will force her to flex/bend her arm more. Do it slowly at first until she gets a feel for it. Sometimes I have to ask them to make the circle really small to make sure they execute it properly.

 

[chalknuts]

Thank you for the feedback.

We try to maintain these checkpoints.

Those are the points that I am also trying to line up with but that is easier said than done not knowing the general cause and effect of things.

I'll give the drive mechanics thread a deeper read but there is a lot of information in there that makes it a little overwhelming.

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[Mike-Coach-Q]

Thank you for the feedback.
Those are the points that I am also trying to line up with but that is easier said than done not knowing the general cause and effect of things.

I'll give the drive mechanics thread a deeper read but there is a lot of information in there that makes it a little overwhelming.

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You are absolutely correct. I've spent over 26 years studying and teaching 100s of players as a lot of others on this board. Looking at the video of your daughter someone has done an excellent job with her. A few refinements can go a long way.