Closing Hip Too Soon

[powerhitterdad]

My dd is closing her hip too soon and is developing a bad habit. Any tips on how to stop this before it really becomes ingrained?

 

[Sparky Guy]

You can also have the pitcher drag the push off foot to the back of the front heel. That way the hip can't close.

If young girls, I often have the pitchers make arm circles in the open position, to get them used to releasing the ball rather than bowling (and to strengthen their arms). They do two arm circles and let go; then they do one circle and let go (no legs). The girls learn they don't need to close the hips to get a pitch to go (which is what they normally think).

I use that same drill and even have them throw a pitch without closing. One of the things that I add to that is tell them to step back with the drag foot. It re-enforces staying open and keeping the weight back.

One of the characteristics that I see with girls who close early is they tend to turn the drag foot over. They will drag the tops of the toes instead of the ball of the foot and side of the big toe. Also, the landing foot can be pointing towards the catcher instead of being on the 45 degree angle which helps force the hips back to the closed position too soon.

One of the verbal cues I use with them is to tell them to "Trust their release." Once they are starting to do a drill consistently I will tell them to set up like they are going to throw the ball. Then as they start the motion I tell them to close their eyes and throw the ball. It tends to give them better feedback with what their body is doing. After doing several repetitions I have them do the drill with their eyes open again. It almost always seems to help.

 

[Ken Krause]

Screwball is right on. The simplest way to teach pitchers to stay open is to have them drag the toes of the push-off foot behind the heel of the stride foot. It works like magic. The good thing about it is it's very specific.

 

[starsnuffer]

I find that a lot of pitchers that close too soon also have issues with keeping their weight back properly (they lean forward). Make sure her nose is behind her belly button for the entire pitching motion. If it's not, address that first. Many times, curing lean will fix the hip closing issue on it's own.

Great advice from Screwball if she's already centered her weight properly and still closes too early.

-W

 

[bwalk63]

great discussion, why? because it reinforces what myself and daughter have learned over the past 2 years reading and learning from this great board. There is more than one way to skin a cat. I will try and post some videos later this evening but I think Bill Hillhouse, Cat and Ueno would have to disagree, they all have the shoe laces pointed straight down the power line to the catcher as the ball is is still coming down the backside. And others such as Finch, Harre and Tincher drag the side of the big to with laces basically pointing towards the 3rd base line. All are great pitchers and they do it different. So what is right for one girl may not be right for the next. Just my opinion, but as we all know from the massive amounts a quality video here, video doesn't lie. Now before you jump all over me I agree that these are drill to help them stay open, and I am not saying shoelaces pointed towards the catcher is the best way to go. Just wanted to point out that there is more than "1" way to pitch.

 

[bwalk63]

 

[bwalk63]

 

[starsnuffer]

In all of those videos you posted, the hips are less then 45 degrees at release. While they all have their "laces" pointed towards the catcher, you can clearly see the twist in the knee/shin portion of the back leg which makes this so, and it is not the way their upper or lower bodies are lined up.

See the :01 sec mark in the Cat video, :05 point in the Hillhouse video, and the :05 point in the third video. Cat in particular is doing your classic figure 4 in this pitch.

When most people speak of "closing too early", what happens usually is that the pitcher gets the hips more then 45 degrees closed, often hits their own hip, or adjusts their release in an awkward crooked circle to avoid hitting their hip, and ends up square or nearly square to the batter.

I know that Hillhouse disagrees with performing almost any kind of drill. For the most part, I agree with this when it comes to every day practice. HOWEVER, I have seen strong merit in having a pitcher perform a drill to glean an understanding of what they need to do and why they need to do it.

Screwball's drills, for instance are great for teaching what needs to happen during the pitch. After this is done, however, there is no need to repeat the drill regularly unless the problem comes back at some point. I would never tell a girl to do static K drills as part of a warmup unless they needed to address a particular issue.

-W

 

[bwalk63]

I should have clarified my post, sorry about that, I was specifically talking about rolling over of the foot with the shoelaces pointed towards the catcher vs. dragging the inside of the big toe sorry about that.

 

[BLB]

Does the women's pro league and international play allow or overlook a pitcher (such as Osterman in this video) to become airborne then replant? I'm not necessarily against it, just curious about the rule interpretation.