closed hip

[Rick Pauly]

Rick,

So I guess my question is do you think pitchers are deliberating trying to snap their hips in that way? Or do their hips snap as a matter of making more powerful and deliberate movements elsewhere?

Compare it to the whipping action of younger, weaker pitchers v. elite pitchers. The latter tend to have much shorter and more violent arm whips, which I'm sure is deliberate. That action could cause other things to change from the actions of the former. It's not that they're trying to do those things, they just occur because of the energy level being applied.

What I would argue/wonder is whether it's something you teach, or is it merely something you look for to confirm that the body is being used properly? Did Sarah have to learn to do that and work on it, or did she just start doing it as she got bigger/stronger/better?

Ken

How about this answer--Both. I think the hip snap is a natural athletic move that the body instinctively does. People that don't have this natural athletisism can develop a hip snap----Sarah did. Lots of work throwing from the "slingshot motion" and emphasizing a hip snap will help.
Yes, I think you should incorporate the hip rotation/snap into your warm-up drills from the very beginning of teaching a pitcher. It is very difficult to impossible to get the body to do this later.
I do like lhowsers rubber band description and Marks transfer or energy description. This is what I percieve as happening. Focusing on the core muscle groups to create hip snap works best for my teaching.

 

[barneysdad]

At the 1996 Olympics, a study/analysis was done on the pitchers (One of the Steadman-Hawkins Reports Softball Pitching at the 1996 Olympic Games).
It determined that the optimum power position for the hips at release was 45-52 degrees. If you will carefully notice the CatO pitch segment you referenced, it shows her hips closing and stopping at this referenced point. She hardly closes any more than this. In the JenniF video she does not close her hips. In the Ueno video she closes her hips because of the pitch she is throwing but the release is at the 45 degree angle.
There is nothing wrong with closing the hips but the timing of this mechanic is crucial to prevent shoulder stress and it depends on the pitch being thrown.
What I use with my students to help cure too much or too quick closure is a drill called Step-Back.
At about half speed, the student starts a normal pitch but finishes with the whole body aligned straight behind the plant foot in the open position as if they were having to walk sideways between two partitions only a few inches apart. That means the arms have to stay in line with the torso and the legs have to stay in alignment toward the target; no banana drag with the pivot foot. The actual body angle is such that the pitching arm can finish the release but is very tight to the front of the body.
The step-back portion is accomplished by a slight lean backwards at the plant/release point, pull the pivot foot up to the plant foot then step back to have to catch yourself from falling backwards.
This will allow the body to get used to less closure. Don't be afraid of the over exaggeration of this mechanic in the opposite direction. After some time of getting used to this drill then pitch normally and monitor the hip closing angle to 45 degrees. It will usually end up right where it should be.
Also, have her close her eyes at times while doing this drill and make her FEEL where hips are. This is quite effective in the learning process.
Added caution - striking the hip on a regular basis can cause the forearm muscles to separate from the bone.

Thanks for the drill Rex
I will get her to try it.
Is there a way that you know of to post video here instead og you tube.

 

[Ken Krause]

Looking back on the original question, I think it's different than the question we've been debating. If I recall correctly, the question was should you teach the pitcher to close her hips. If we define that as rotate the hips around the front side so they wind up completely facing the plate, my answer would be no. I am guessing that Mark and Rick would agree with that. That particular movement is going to cause way more problems than not getting enough hip snap, i.e. it's going to cause the pitcher to throw inside, hit batters, get taken out of games a lot and eventually quit pitching.

So that leaves the more subtle movement we're calling hip snap. Based on my experience of working with pitchers, especially young ones, I wouldn't tell them to consciously try to snap the hips closed part-way. With everything else going on it's more likely that they'll close all the way than part way. I've just seen too many kids making that movement and struggling as a result. But I do like Mark's description of telling them to throw the living @#$@^ out of the ball, which will likely result in that hip snap. Seems like the effort of pulling the ball down with the big muscles in the shoulders and chest and driving the legs would naturally lead to something like that at some point. Perhaps the reason elite pitchers do it is because they feel it, and it gives them that little extra they can't get anywhere else.

 

[Mark H]

Yeah. I'm good with all that.