Come up the front side of the arm circle as fast as possible?

[abbygale]

Should the front part of of the arm circle resemble a high speed crash or a smooth acceleration? My DD is hitting toe touch/ plant right between 1 and 2 but seems like she could be getting around quicker. She is consistently throwing 45's with a spin rate of 16 to high 17's. This is with her showing the ball to the catcher and then the sky throughout her arm circle. Her stride is right at 6 foot lengths. 11 y.o. and skinny.

Fantastic improvements compared to fall (38/41, 8's to 12"revs) and the start of learning how to really throw per Boardmembers IR descriptions but it seems as if she should be throwing quicker. Any suggestions ? Thanks

 

[abbygale]

I did a bad job of describing it. She is 5'4" and her stride is 5'4" to 5'5". I'm wondering if she should be exploding up the front of the circle faster which would make her foot plant at 2-3 o'clock . Seems like she just can't get the speed like many on here. Also, I've been having her do the "hip bump" drill described on here. The only thing lately I have changed is on her walk thru's I have been having her run thru instead of walk thru. Seems to get her to move quicker.

 

[ifubuildit]

Abbygale,

Let me give you a couple of simple cues that might help. Tell her that as she strides out and feels herself falling to speed everything up. Another one I use is fast feet, fast hands. Both work and often you will get a positive result with either one.

Hope this helps.

Dana.

 

[sluggers]

What are your goals? Do you want a good 12U pitcher or do you want a good 16u/18u/HS/college pitcher?

Your DD is 11 YOA. Obsessing about her speed now is a waste of time. When she matures (probably in 12 to 18 months), she will have to adapt to her new body. Focus on getting her form as good as she can get it now, and then when she matures, her transition will be much easier.


While there are some variations between "good" pitchers, there are some things that they all do. One critical element is the body/arm position at 12 o'clock. Attached is Osterman at 12. Work on your DD's form and body position now.

At 13, then you can start trying to squeeze a few more MPHs out of her.

 

[abbygale]

The reason for my question is when she does not have a long enough leap, then she doesn't get fully opened. I am wondering if maybe she should be working on getting opened faster than she is, and if shortening her leap could be one way to accomplish that? I have had her stride off a 3" platform in order to get her feeling her backside driving in better and she does think that it is easier to feel her backside drive when she does this. I don't see much at all of the backside drive when she does a regular leap which makes me think that she might be overstriding even though she is striding her height. However, if she doesn't leap as far, she gets better backside drive but then she doesn't get opened in time. A vicious circle. Hopefully this makes sense and as joe-blow dad, I don't have the answer for her speeding up the front side. Thats for all the input.

One other thing I think that I am seeing in those Siggy clips is that many of those pitchers are hitting stride plant at somewhere between 2-3

 

[abbygale]

As far as my goals. Teach her how to apply "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast" in life. If that thought process is obsessing, then color me guilty. I've been working on smooth with her. She earned a meal out at her choice when she consistently hit 15's on spin rate and now she is working towards another meal out for 18's. Tons of 16's and 17's but not enough consistent 18's to count. Then it will be 20's.

On a side note, sometimes one has to approach " out of control" in order to affirm what is smooth. It's all good

 

[Hustle Coach]

Sounds like she driving so hard forward her weight is probly getting to far foward. Her stride foot is not in the air long enough for arm to get threw circle. We tell girls rhythm to power.Concentrating on getting open all the way and keeping weight back over the back leg. Getting open and stretching it out. This willl give her time to get threw her circle and make power with her body. Where is her arm when her stride foot hits.

 

[ifubuildit]

Abby,

Have her step heal to toe for 6 steps from the middle of the pitching plate on the front side. Where her last step is should be where she is trying to stride out to with comfort. Tell her to draw a line across the dirt at that point. Any further and she is probably over striding. Any less and she is not pushing off as much as she should.

It works well with all of my students. Let me know how it works for you.

Dana.