Glove hand

[mothgirl]

What exactly should the glove hand/arm be doing? I've watched videos of the best and it seams no one does the same thing with the glove arm? I'm sure there will be varying opinions on this. I think what my dd does hinders her ability to move freely, her glove arm/hand is very stiff, tight goes straight out then down to slap. I think if she let it move a bit more it would give her some more momentum and allow her throwing arm to circle better? I don't want her to be swimming but she could allow some movement. Idk, what do you guys think is best for glove arm?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JJsqueeze]

Other than getting it strong, meaning not having stay low throughout the motion, but letting it get up so it doesn't weight the torso forward, and letting it adduct to mirror the adduction of the throwing arm, I don't see any absolutes.

Taking that mirror concept further, I also like to see it have a little elbow bend and be loose so it is not sending "tighten up and be straight" signals to the brain that can result in throwing arm tension.

I do not view swimming as a negative unless it is actually resulting in a lot a pitches being pulled to the swimming side.

 

[Ken B]

I like to see both hands driving out hard to the target together and pulliing down into release together:

 

[abbygale]

Keep in mind that the line your glove takes when going out can help or hinder the arm circle and timing.

 

[TMoney]

Glove hands purpose is to provide lift. It should gently fall in a postition where the palm is facing the batter and the nails are facing the pitcher just below the chin. Now, most don't do it, but that is optimal.

 

[JAD]

To maximize velocity you want the glove hand to raise up, with a slightly bent elbow, and come down as the throwing arm is coming forward. Similar to what you would do with your arm during a standing broad jump. Avoid "swimming" with the glove out to the side.

 

[Rick Pauly]

IMO, the glove should perform a fluid "whirling" movement similar to the video clip below. I am not a proponent of driving the glove/arm straight at the catcher like you are trying to "stab a piece of meat". Additionally, I don't think it should go straight out/up and then have to make a sudden stop and reverse its direction to downward. Another point I believe is that there should be some flex in the glove arm on the way up and at least for the initial movement down.....kinda want it to have some whip. I don't get over worried about what some would call "swim" unless it causes the shoulders to over rotate. For those who can't seem to get their shoulders to rotate enough, this "Glove Whirl" may be the help needed.

 

[Boomers2012]

When my DD first started pitching her natural tendency was to slap her leg with her glove. Numerous people convinced me to coach that out of her. Being the amateur pitching coach that I am, I listened to the masses and coached it out of her. It was recommended by a highly respected pitching coach to try to get more out of the glove arm by slapping the leg. This will assist with adduction/pulling the arms in close to the sides. I could not believe the difference between slapping the leg and not slapping the leg with the glove. The whole sequence looked more powerful and more importantly DD felt it. She immediately felt the difference. My point is, the glove arm is an integral piece of the puzzle of correct mechanics. Don't "wimp" out on incorporating that glove arm by not adducting powerfully.....if slapping the leg helps with that then go ahead and slap away!

 

[Madsdad]

I would agree that the glove arm plays an important roll. It can also be very challenging to get young ones to use it correctly. My swimmer took years but it was a learning curve for both of us to find the cue that would work best for her. There is a little whirl now but several things helped. Not going to high was important. Making certain that the student knew what "to the target" would do for getting the shoulders open was the biggest.