Feedback on pitching mechanics 14 yr old

[coachdan]

amanda pitching 9 16 11 - YouTube

Would like feedback on video of my daughter's pitching mechanics. She just turned 14 yrs old this month. Video is of fastball. Little back ground on her.....she has outstanding control played tournament this past weekend and she pitched maybe 12 innings all weekend and only allowed 1 walk in those 12 innings. Her speed is about average for 14u "A" bracket pitchers she throw around 57-58 mph. She does throw other pitches but for now just want feedback on any improvements she can make.

 

[joemcq51]

I am sure you will get many suggestions on improving. She honestly looks pretty solid. Two things I notice are the hop in her pivot foot would be called illegal, and she needs a little more resistence in her front side. I think if you were to work on long toss, she would get her weight back more and fix the front side issue. I would maybe get her off the top of the rubber before she pitches and more off the front. That could help her push more and fix the little hop.

 

[coachdan]

Two things I notice are the hop in her pivot foot would be called illegal, and she needs a little more resistence in her front side.

Don't see what you are calling a hop and she has never been called for an illegal pitch. She does long toss when warming up everytime she throws overhand and when she pitches. Thanks for the feedback

 

[joemcq51]

Don't see what you are calling a hop and she has never been called for an illegal pitch

Her pivot foot comes off the rubber and loses contact with the ground. I do not have the video software, so I can't copy the exact spot on the video. It happens at the 9 sec mark. Surprised you haven't been called yet.

 

[coachdan]

Her pivot foot comes off the rubber and loses contact with the ground. I do not have the video software, so I can't copy the exact spot on the video. It happens at the 9 sec mark. Surprised you haven't been called yet.

I do see her foot loosing contact with the ground but thats not a hop....its more of a leap and will not get called becasue 1 there is a hole just in front of the rubber and 2 her pivot foot toe is pointed to the ground and is not replanting.

 

[nanotech14]

her foot is loosing contact with the ground.Her foot also is draging on the side to much ,she needs to get more on her toes.Yes she might not be replanting,but she is loosing contact with the ground.Also both feet need to have contact with the rubber at the start.

 

[timrya]

I do see her foot loosing contact with the ground but thats not a hop....its more of a leap

I've seen leaps like that cause problems for pitchers. May not get called illegal, but it will get the opposing coaches nagging the umpire until he gives a warning and then the pitcher get out of sinc anyway. I would have her work on keeping contact with the ground to avoid issues.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

1) The leap is illegal. It's OK if you don't think it's a big deal, just don't be surprised when she is called for it in 16U and up. fix it now.
2) In ASA (and most other associations aside from HS) her back foot needs to be in contact with the rubber at the start of her pitch.

coachdan, your DD looks solid and looks to have potential. When you come here asking for opinions you will get exactly that, arguing about the comments/opinions will only get less comments/opinions. Take 'em or leave 'em, it's what we see.

 

[darken]

First. Nice work on the video. Really shows the detail well.

Second. She has a pretty nice arm whip going. She could lead with the elbow a little more on the downswing.

Third. I agree on the stride foot being off the plate to start and the leaping. She should look to fix these.

Fourth. She starts to lean forward on the backswing. She should try to stay upright or rock back slightly until her arm starts moving forward into the windmill.

Fifth. Her glove hand swims off of the powerline towards first base. She should try to keep that hand moving directly towards the catcher.

Finally, On the positive side, she gets a nice long stride and lands her stride foot firmly which is great. She doesn't let herself lean forward on release which is also very good.

 

[sluggers]

Generally, she looks good. You asked for suggestions, so here they are:

1) She is off the ground a little, but it could be because of a trench. I don't know.
2) As darken said, she is leaning forward. Her weight needs to be back a little more.
3) Her arm is never straight. At 9, she needs to have both arms fully extended and pointing at the target. The idea is to have the arm straight as possible at the top, then bend at the elbow, and then throw. Your DD gets a bend as soon as she finished her backswing and never straightens her arm out again.