DD pitching...please offer opinions
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Pre Motion
Here is Sarah Pauly. Watch what she does with her stride leg. As she begins her motion she pulls the front of her pivot foot up then moves forward keeping her back leg straight and bends the pivot leg knee. Because she keeps the back leg straight helps transfers the weight to the front leg, her pivot heel comes up , she is in a sprinting position and gets the energy going to the catcher in an efficient manner. Work on this, you will see an improvement in power.
Here is Sarah Pauly. Watch what she does with her stride leg. As she begins her motion she pulls the front of her pivot foot up then moves forward keeping her back leg straight and bends the pivot leg knee. Because she keeps the back leg straight helps transfers the weight to the front leg, her pivot heel comes up , she is in a sprinting position and gets the energy going to the catcher in an efficient manner. Work on this, you will see an improvement in power.
The squatting is a bit much but one thing that it might have promoted is that she drives off the mound well. Still, the basic issue is learning the armwhip, doing that may change some of the other actions in her motion. I would try the football drill, it is often the most effective. Buy one of smaller rubber ones, they are about 3/4 normal size often with a Nike logo on them. Generally they are not in the football section of the big stores like Sports Authority, they have a bin with variety of balls and that's where to look. You want her to throw a spiral underhanded. She will have to lead with the elbow on the downswing in order to do this. Once she learns how to get the nose pointed at the catcher she should throw it faster and faster. She may end up with a bulletspin fastball but this will get her started on the right track.
She does not to drop down. She will eventually hurt her back. Focus on her Forward Stride. It must be explosive towards the catcher and she must have an excellent wrist snap.
Here is a new video of DD pitching during Christmas break.
[video=youtube_share;Ec0Q2M8fUQk]http://youtu.be/Ec0Q2M8fUQk[/video]
still have alot to work on. please offer your opinions.
I like the 3rd pitch the best. I don't like how she pulls UP in the first two. Still working on a real good whip. I think she needs to get the ball facing 3rd base or the sky if she can at 9 O'clock.
She swims a good bit.
Would like to see the ball facing the catcher at 12 O'Clock. That should help with the whip.
Drags pretty hard on the side of her foot.
Thats my critique of my DD........as a bucket Dad.
Thanks for input.
[video=youtube_share;Ec0Q2M8fUQk]http://youtu.be/Ec0Q2M8fUQk[/video]
still have alot to work on. please offer your opinions.
I like the 3rd pitch the best. I don't like how she pulls UP in the first two. Still working on a real good whip. I think she needs to get the ball facing 3rd base or the sky if she can at 9 O'clock.
She swims a good bit.
Would like to see the ball facing the catcher at 12 O'Clock. That should help with the whip.
Drags pretty hard on the side of her foot.
Thats my critique of my DD........as a bucket Dad.
Thanks for input.
I notice two things from your latest video. The first is that her elbow is almost locked at 9
clock. (1:56) The second is her foot drag is almost sideways. It just about goes off the mat before she steps forward. These are both stopping her from getting the most out of her pitches. JMHO
clock. (1:56) The second is her foot drag is almost sideways. It just about goes off the mat before she steps forward. These are both stopping her from getting the most out of her pitches. JMHO
She needs Power Ks and lots of walk throughs. I would do those for about a week. Then, I would have her forget any pre-motion at all. Pitch from a nice tall stance. She has the power and the body, to be great. Tell her to quit imitating someone else and stay tall.
Show her that her speed is not increasing from all of that pre-motion and by the end of the game, it will cause it to decrease.
Do you have Hillhouse's video?
Show her that her speed is not increasing from all of that pre-motion and by the end of the game, it will cause it to decrease.
Do you have Hillhouse's video?
She looks to be about 12 years old. So in my opinion I think she looks super! However, there are a few tinkering details that will help. I don't have time to read all the posts, so this may be redundant.
Priorities:
1) wasted energy bending down too much. Her thighs are critical for pushoff and foundation for an entire game, or even weekend of pitching. So I would focus on not going down so much, and instead, get the bend and SIMULTANEOUSLY going into her push-off. So the two phases flow together, saving her legs. Some are simply too deep to be contributing.
2) glove swimming! First let me say that I don't like her windup. I would have her bring her glove to her right-side with the pitching hand and ball. If she insists on an arm "drop back", the pitching arm and hand should leave the glove with a bent elbow, and not be too exaggerated. The timing and effect is the same, she just won't be giving away pitches later. Her arm swings behind her back, but she recovers nicely on her arm swing coming forward into the windmill. At some point it could screw up her arm swing, but right now I don't see it. IN FACT, her arm revolution or swing is very clean from the hip through finish except one small point (3). During push-off, she should throw her glove directly over the catcher and pull it down through the catcher (you can tell her to know the catcher's mask off with her glove), or be pulled back into a tuck position next to her left side.
This technique also brings her left shoulder around into the "power-line", or line of force which makes her stride mechanics less complicated. During push-off, that front shoulder should already be close to going down the power-line. It saves energy and promotes clean mechanics.
3) when throwing a fastball she should keep her elbow in against her side. One technique to give her a physical cue is to take a piece of masking tape and make it into a horseshoe that can be taped to her ribcage, under her jersey, right where her forearm would brush against her. Her job is to feel her arm try to peel it off. This will help keep her arm close.
Some will disagree, but I have the pitcher follow through to the left ear. This helps create a long follow through like extension in hitting, and also keeps the elbow from locking up at the side and just lifting the forearm.
I noticed in this last video something joemcq51 mentioned, and that is the foot drag is like an anchor. It may go away of its own accord through developing comfort. The toe should be down, but not the foot dragging like a plow. It would be the last thing I worry about right now, but if it doesn't go away after fixing the other things I would work on it.
I also would emphasize forearm whip. See video #3 on this link at this website:
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/5208-model-pitchers.html
The arm whip can add much more speed than any emphasis of wrist. I don't forget the wrist, but it is a bonus, not a basis of speed. It also adds to ball spin which is important. So working on the wrist is great! But on a pure increase in speed basis, the forearm is more important. So she should be pulling the ball down on her backside. The pitching hand faces the 3rd baseline when it gets behind her head over the top. This allow the elbow bend, and the upper arm pulls the bent arm down to the release point, emphasizing whip! It is exactly the same principle as in hitting! Think bull-whip and breaking the sound barrier with the tip at the end of the snap.
She has the build. She has really nice coordination. I think she looks super!
Priorities:
1) wasted energy bending down too much. Her thighs are critical for pushoff and foundation for an entire game, or even weekend of pitching. So I would focus on not going down so much, and instead, get the bend and SIMULTANEOUSLY going into her push-off. So the two phases flow together, saving her legs. Some are simply too deep to be contributing.
2) glove swimming! First let me say that I don't like her windup. I would have her bring her glove to her right-side with the pitching hand and ball. If she insists on an arm "drop back", the pitching arm and hand should leave the glove with a bent elbow, and not be too exaggerated. The timing and effect is the same, she just won't be giving away pitches later. Her arm swings behind her back, but she recovers nicely on her arm swing coming forward into the windmill. At some point it could screw up her arm swing, but right now I don't see it. IN FACT, her arm revolution or swing is very clean from the hip through finish except one small point (3). During push-off, she should throw her glove directly over the catcher and pull it down through the catcher (you can tell her to know the catcher's mask off with her glove), or be pulled back into a tuck position next to her left side.
This technique also brings her left shoulder around into the "power-line", or line of force which makes her stride mechanics less complicated. During push-off, that front shoulder should already be close to going down the power-line. It saves energy and promotes clean mechanics.
3) when throwing a fastball she should keep her elbow in against her side. One technique to give her a physical cue is to take a piece of masking tape and make it into a horseshoe that can be taped to her ribcage, under her jersey, right where her forearm would brush against her. Her job is to feel her arm try to peel it off. This will help keep her arm close.
Some will disagree, but I have the pitcher follow through to the left ear. This helps create a long follow through like extension in hitting, and also keeps the elbow from locking up at the side and just lifting the forearm.
I noticed in this last video something joemcq51 mentioned, and that is the foot drag is like an anchor. It may go away of its own accord through developing comfort. The toe should be down, but not the foot dragging like a plow. It would be the last thing I worry about right now, but if it doesn't go away after fixing the other things I would work on it.
I also would emphasize forearm whip. See video #3 on this link at this website:
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/5208-model-pitchers.html
The arm whip can add much more speed than any emphasis of wrist. I don't forget the wrist, but it is a bonus, not a basis of speed. It also adds to ball spin which is important. So working on the wrist is great! But on a pure increase in speed basis, the forearm is more important. So she should be pulling the ball down on her backside. The pitching hand faces the 3rd baseline when it gets behind her head over the top. This allow the elbow bend, and the upper arm pulls the bent arm down to the release point, emphasizing whip! It is exactly the same principle as in hitting! Think bull-whip and breaking the sound barrier with the tip at the end of the snap.
She has the build. She has really nice coordination. I think she looks super!
Last edited:
halskinner
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- May 7, 2008
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What everyone is seeing in this video is called 'A FORWARD DIP'. This exact pitching motion has been named by Ortho Surgeons at the exact cause of SPINAL STRESS FRACTURES IN THE LIMBAR SPINE. iT HAS BEEN CONSIDERED AN UNSAFE / DANGEROUS MOTION FOR MANY YEARS.
Any time a pitcher bends forward at the waist to around 90-degrees and then starts their forward drive AS they are standing back up, this is what does the damage to the spine.
In many cases, when asked, instructors teach this motion believeing it will hide the ball from the batters more.
I strongly advise you to stop using that motion. If she has been doing that for awhil and has back pains, keep this in mind when she goes to the doctor. If she was taught this by an instructor, please make them aware of this.
Good luck.
Hal
Greg, who convinced you to do the squatting? I think she should put the ball in the glove and not swing back like she does. It will take a couple of weeks to get used to but will solve a lot of her problems. She has a nice live arm and doesn't need to keep experimenting with all kinds of new things.
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