Exercises to make backswing more consistent/ straight?

[4Martini]

My daughter has been getting crooked on her backswing. Her coach has her trying no backswing- but she says she likes the backswing + headbob set up she does. She is working on both ways but her preference is to improve it.

So, how does she straighten out her backswing/ get it consistent so she can keep it?

ETA - coach is fine with either- just giving her options to explore.

 

[Sonerai]

My DD just went through a very similar experience. Seems it started a bit last summer and was more pronounced in the fall. One college coach commented in feedback to her after a camp that she should work on resolving that. We also worked with her pitching coach who tried to get her to change to no backswing. She could do it, but she didn't like it. Thought it reduced her speed and she said it didn't feel natural. I showed her video of herself to make her more aware of what was happening. I am not sure which if any of the drills the pitching coach gave her really helped. He worked with her on making sure she was getting open. At this point she has significantly improved the issue and I think most of it came from her being aware of what was happening. She also made an adjustment to her backswing to reduce the amount of backswing, which I think helped a lot. Before she was taking her backswing to the height of just below her head and now it's about 30-45 degrees behind her hip.

 

[tomorrow]

My daughter has been getting crooked on her backswing. Her coach has her trying no backswing- but she says she likes the backswing + headbob set up she does. She is working on both ways but her preference is to improve it.

So, how does she straighten out her backswing/ get it consistent so she can keep it?

ETA - coach is fine with either- just giving her options to explore.

crooked in which direction?

 

[4Martini]

crooked in which direction?

Towards her spine.

 

[Northball]

My daughter has been getting crooked on her backswing. Her coach has her trying no backswing- but she says she likes the backswing + headbob set up she does. She is working on both ways but her preference is to improve it.

So, how does she straighten out her backswing/ get it consistent so she can keep it?

ETA - coach is fine with either- just giving her options to explore.

First make sure there aren't other parts of her wind that aren't causing the inconsistency.
Is there a back step? If so, is it consistent?
Is there variation in her spine/torso tilting to one side or another?
Does her hand consistently face the same way during backswings?
Is there torso rotation as she swings back, and is it consistent?

Wherever I can, I have my students simplify their motion; fewer sources of variation.

 

[4Martini]

First make sure there aren't other parts of her wind that aren't causing the inconsistency.
Is there a back step? If so, is it consistent?
Is there variation in her spine/torso tilting to one side or another?
Does her hand consistently face the same way during backswings?
Is there torso rotation as she swings back, and is it consistent?

Wherever I can, I have my students simplify their motion; fewer sources of variation.

Thank You! She’s pretty consistent on her step back and set up. I think she just has very flexible shoulders and her arm is able to go behind her (I swam butterfly and have freakish joint mobility - so it’s probably my fault).

She definitely is better when thinking about it- but when it crosses over then her elbow likes to get stuck ahead of the release. Looking for how she can cement more going straight back rather than her natural cross over motion.

Maybe even strengthening her triceps would help so she can use those rather than twisting and using back muscles. (She’s a tall skinny 8th grader so, some muscles still need to catch up with the growth spurt she had last summer).

ETA her pitching coach has recommended Pilates to increase core strength/ awareness.

 

[tomorrow]

1. Do you have access to a full-length mirror? I have seen this instant feedback work very quickly compared to telling a pitcher what they are doing.

2. Drills and Pitching (70%) very close to a solid wall. It is amazing how close underhand pitching can get to a solid wall and still throw without touching.

3. Pool noodles (for crooked) and Laser pointers (for going backswing) are good tools to give feedback if a plane is being crossed.

YouTube search: Fast Pitch Wall Drill, Softball pitching Mirror

 

[ArmWhip]

Having an out of line back swing isn't always a bad thing, if it's wildly inconsistent then there is an issue. Pitchers, especially ones that are new to pitching, often associate a fast back swing with throwing fast. I like to get a young pitcher to experiment with a more deliberate back swing, a smooth, slow loading, a gathering of energy for the forward move into the pitch. A fast back swing followed an equally fast change of direction is going to magnify any errors in the ball/arm circle.

 

[PJR202]

A few years ago, my daughter went behind her back pretty badly as part of a double-rocker backswing. I tried to get her to take out the backswing entirely, but she resisted, so I had her to do it more gently. Once she went a little slower she had more control and it straightened out. Recently, I had her try pitching out of the glove so she would stop folding over, and she prefers out of the glove now. She's a sophomore now and kinda understands the reasoning behind it. I think it's better for overall body stability too.

 

[Tazman]

My daughter has been getting crooked on her backswing. Her coach has her trying no backswing- but she says she likes the backswing + headbob set up she does. She is working on both ways but her preference is to improve it.

So, how does she straighten out her backswing/ get it consistent so she can keep it?

ETA - coach is fine with either- just giving her options to explore.

While I think it's better to eliminate it altogether under the fewer moving parts philosophy, when my DD had that issue she transitioned to a very short backswing...maybe 6-9 inches behind the hip. Shortening it would eliminate the space to get way out of line.