- May 13, 2008
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- 16
was working with my daughters pitching coach and i asked about her overhand throws during warmups. he recommended the common glove pointing to target then slamming glove back to chest (elbow now pointed out) as you rotate shoulders and following thru with throw.
I asked Austin Wasserman about this recently, here is his reponse:
Lead arm integrity and movement will be determined by the situation, play, intensity, direction etc. The lead arm must fold, clear, pull in order to allow trunk rotation to occur. Catchers and infielders will have a tighter, shorter lead arm movement, where pitchers and outfielders will have a more exaggerated pull/fold towards the rib cage/ or hip. Just depends on intensity, play, direction the athlete is throwing etc.
If you tuck your glove, this inhibits trunk rotation, which then also inhibits velocity and forces the posterior rotator cuff to work harder. Trunk rotation is critical for youth athletes as their posterior cuff is weak to begin with and we need to train them to move efficiently, without restrictions. Tucking the glove directly restricts an athlete.
Of course, if the arm swings fully out to the side and the athlete does not have quality command, this has to be worked on. Observe first, see if it's an issue, and then apply a change.