Dropping the Hands

[PEPPERS]

Howard talks a lot on teaching throwing, I was told by a division one coach that the one thing they feel that cannot be taught at the college level is proper throwing mechanics. If you do not have proper throwing mechanics you will not be able to play a complete season without a throwing arm injury or your arm being so sore that it affects your playing time, If you cannot throw with proper mechanics at the HS level then they consider it’s too late to learn.

I tell my kids that any wasted motion from load to contact can work against them when facing a fast pitcher. The hands come straight back about 2 inches or hands and front foot separate. The hands take a path as direct as possible inside the ball to have the barrel contact the ball at the exact point to drive the ball, or barrel awareness. Once contact is made you hit threw 3 balls, stay on the ball for as long as possible, give the ball direction. You should be good enough to hit the average pitcher, the better pitchers you need no wasted motion. To win at the higher levels you need to be able to hit the best pitchers. Short to the ball then long through it.

One coach in at a D2 school told us he was able to increase his team batting average 20 points by doing 2 drills 50 times a day, one was hands on hips load stride and hip rotation, the other drill was have a partner stand in front a batter, no bat, with an open palm the partner moves the palm to different locations. The batter takes the lead hand balled in a fist to the palm from the loaded
location.

Howard, I had a Spanish Teacher in HS that told us he ordered a book titled “What Men Know About Women” all 400 pages were blank!!!!!

Howard glad your OK my mom had the same problem she took her meds and lived a long qualty life.

 

[Hitter]

Howard talks a lot on teaching throwing, I was told by a division one coach that the one thing they feel that cannot be taught at the college level is proper throwing mechanics. If you do not have proper throwing mechanics you will not be able to play a complete season without a throwing arm injury or your arm being so sore that it affects your playing time, If you cannot throw with proper mechanics at the HS level then they consider it’s too late to learn.

I tell my kids that any wasted motion from load to contact can work against them when facing a fast pitcher. The hands come straight back about 2 inches or hands and front foot separate. The hands take a path as direct as possible inside the ball to have the barrel contact the ball at the exact point to drive the ball, or barrel awareness. Once contact is made you hit threw 3 balls, stay on the ball for as long as possible, give the ball direction. You should be good enough to hit the average pitcher, the better pitchers you need no wasted motion. To win at the higher levels you need to be able to hit the best pitchers. Short to the ball then long through it.

One coach in at a D2 school told us he was able to increase his team batting average 20 points by doing 2 drills 50 times a day, one was hands on hips load stride and hip rotation, the other drill was have a partner stand in front a batter, no bat, with an open palm the partner moves the palm to different locations. The batter takes the lead hand balled in a fist to the palm from the loaded
location.

Howard, I had a Spanish Teacher in HS that told us he ordered a book titled “What Men Know About Women” all 400 pages were blank!!!!!

Howard glad your OK my mom had the same problem she took her meds and lived a long qualty life.

Peppers

Yes it was a little scary when your heart is going 140 beats per minute and you are just laying there...Thank You for your concern.

I will share with you what another D1 coach had to say when I first started working with him," Howard most people think the greatest distance in softball is from home to first and he pointed to his ears and said this is the greatest distance, between your ears as when you stop learning about the game it is time to walk away!"

Mike Larabee was the head coach at Wright State University and we worked together on his throwing technique first and his hitting second and started in August. When the next season rolled around he made a few improvements, went from 22 to home runs to 67 and double his offensive out put and his team batting average I think was .316 and they played in the WCWS playoffs for the first time. His throwing technique and the relationship to if they do not hit well they probably do not throw well was confirmed and corrected. He is now the Arkansas Head Softball Coach so maybe you can change the college players if they are willing to be changed.

I am looking forward to how his first season will go this year knowing he has to use the players he has however I would love to be a fly on the wall for what he has already changed!

We have tried to make this as simple as we can so all the kids, parents and coaches can use it and have fun.

Thanks Howard

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Get a female into their stance with the lead elbow in a lower position like a boy. Now ask the female to raise their hands and you will usually see the elbows go up as a unit with the hands.
For the most part the girls get tagged with throwing like a girl because they do not understand how to use their legs to throw or hit. Try it yourself and soft toss three balls inside, middle and away and make a judgment as to if she uses a weight shift and or goes over her front leg. Now where are you going to make up the difference in trying to make up the momentum that the legs did not provide such as ground reaction force? How do we gain the momentum when the legs are gone and the female does not take her hand back to throw a ball properly so why now would they or anyone think they would understand separation at or during toe touch? This is exactly why we teach how to throw first and hit second. This is why we teach a weight shift in throwing so it can be related to hitting.

It's funny that you bring this up.

I helped coach my 1st grade daughterl's team this year and handled hitting and throwing. I have taught boys how to throw before, and thought I had it down, but when working with the girls I found I had to add an explicit "shift (backwards)" phase to my instruction because most weren't doing it naturally.