Elite pitchers at 12 O'clock

[halskinner]

Hal,

I don't think my DD (just turned 12) will have a 5-6 foot stride length any time soon...she's 5'1'.

I also see different motion for all these pitchers so that is why I am asking when where how for the timing.

Right now she is out of wack....trying to get her back so we can work on more speed. She has pretty good control, hits corners well.

I realize that there is no quick fix....but something positive would be a good thing for the motivation right now.

We don't have a lot of help in this area right now ....

Thanks for the help

Is she a step style? Leap and drag? Does she use a double pump wind up?

Does the ball come forward straight from the hip with no backswing?

]All these things have to be taken into consideration before any advice can be given.

Hal

 

[fivepotsogold]

12 oclock 12 yr old

Much better pitches today...she was so much looser and relaxed...laughing...

Wind up:
Sets ball in front at waist, each arm goes (rocks) to side (facing catcher with arms at side for a brief second)(as she rocks back slightly.) Both feet start on rubber, does not move rear foot back from the rubber, stays on rubber. no step back.

Then both arms go up. Glove hand at 3pm, ball hand at 12. (approximate clock), she turns / opens. Belly faces around the mid point of 3rd - home.

Left foot goes forward, back leg stays on gound....back legs follows. We wer taught that foot drags and has to stay on the ground.

She's very good at making sure her foot lands in front of home plate
Pitch is released with her mostly open to catcher ...

She was double pumping, but we've moved away from that. When she just rocks back loose with both arms (around the hip, more pendulum then sharp stop) she pitches much faster.
The stopping arm motion when pumping back seemed to tense her up.

At times her glove hand may go out a little.
Getting better, but still something we see once in a while.

She will bend forward more than she should.....working on staying back more today...

Pitching arm follow through was a bit shakey...but today she was much looser and it was better ...

She definitely isn't using her legs enough. When she thinks about it (like today) her pitches are much quicker. Not consistent yet....

Pushing off, driving her body forward and all that timing is not there yet.
She is still acurate with all this going on.

I will do another video in a few days.....she was so off in the ones I posted. But it helped to get us going .. sometimes instruction from others is taken better (not your parents).

Actually doing that was incredible helpful ....so we keep going!

Thanks.

 

[Rick Pauly]

A couple times I have seen the verbage "keep the weight back" relative to timing/landing. I'm certain that these posters know what they are trying to convey, but I would be careful with that teminology. I hear the same terminology being used in hitting and subsequently misinterpreted by novice instructors. What the pitcher is really attempting to do is to "brace themselves for the landing foot plant". The intent is to stop forward linear momentum-----the weight is actually traveling forward and then driven into the landing leg---you are not attempting to keep your weight back. In order to best brace for foot plant the body should be tilted behind verticle.
Do the test yourself---perform a running long jump but attempt to stop at landing and not fall forward----what angle is your body at?
The use of cue words is very beneficial--but ensure the reciever of the cue understands what it really means.

 

[bruiseddad]

5pots,

Having been where you are I know how tough it is. One of the things we did that helped was making sure she planted consistently.

Have her throw her fastball. When she strides out make sure her stride foot lands in the same place every time. 5 pitches one foot print. This is something she should be able to achieve quickly and provide her with a sense of success, improvement and control.

She can also use her foot print to check herself when she is in the circle. At her age it can be a valuable tool to help her make adjustments on her own during the game.