Just wanted to get a thread rolling discussing glute activation issues.
DD still can't get off the rubber before 3 o'clock... We've been digging in working on leg strength and stronger drive leg pushing for a long time, and we just can't move the needle much. Pushback and two step drills are great, but still there is something missing.
After a lot of prayer, research, watching video, talking about "feels", I am confident that DD has a definite "glute activation" problem. She is completely quad dominant and is getting minimal assist from the glutes during drive mechanics. Now that my eyes are opened to the issue, I see glute issues holding her back in sprinting and vertical leaps.
It seems to me that using quads to sprint off of the rubber is a slow movement pattern and degrades the pitchers ability to keep her legs from getting too spread out. Using the glutes to "unfold" yourself is a much more explosive movement and does not require long lumbering pushes off of the rubber.
We are now working on finding and utilizing the glutes when pitching. It is much harder to do than expected as it appears to be a part of a much larger, systemic problem.
I wanted to get a thread out as a thought starter to kick around. I think there are lots of girls who are not utilizing their glutes effectively, and they will not find higher levels of success until they change. I also think that it is a problem that will not correct itself on its own. We've worked on harder, explosive push-offs probably a hundred to two hundred times by now. Doing the same thing over and over isn't working.
FWIW I don't think there's much middle ground here. I think you use them or you don't. Yes, you can use them better, but if they are "off", they'll stay "off" till actions are taken.
It maybe time to re-think the mechanics of drive mechanics.
DD still can't get off the rubber before 3 o'clock... We've been digging in working on leg strength and stronger drive leg pushing for a long time, and we just can't move the needle much. Pushback and two step drills are great, but still there is something missing.
After a lot of prayer, research, watching video, talking about "feels", I am confident that DD has a definite "glute activation" problem. She is completely quad dominant and is getting minimal assist from the glutes during drive mechanics. Now that my eyes are opened to the issue, I see glute issues holding her back in sprinting and vertical leaps.
It seems to me that using quads to sprint off of the rubber is a slow movement pattern and degrades the pitchers ability to keep her legs from getting too spread out. Using the glutes to "unfold" yourself is a much more explosive movement and does not require long lumbering pushes off of the rubber.
We are now working on finding and utilizing the glutes when pitching. It is much harder to do than expected as it appears to be a part of a much larger, systemic problem.
I wanted to get a thread out as a thought starter to kick around. I think there are lots of girls who are not utilizing their glutes effectively, and they will not find higher levels of success until they change. I also think that it is a problem that will not correct itself on its own. We've worked on harder, explosive push-offs probably a hundred to two hundred times by now. Doing the same thing over and over isn't working.
FWIW I don't think there's much middle ground here. I think you use them or you don't. Yes, you can use them better, but if they are "off", they'll stay "off" till actions are taken.
It maybe time to re-think the mechanics of drive mechanics.
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