Help with forward lean.

[NorthMS]

We've been working religiously on DD's forward lean every since it was pointed out to me on this forum. (Much appreciated.)

During lessons and practices, she usually gets her weight behind the ball. She notices the extra speed she gets. She knows why she needs to do it. Never complains about it. After the first couple of days, she's MORE accurate with the new mechanics.

When she gets back in the game, all her mechanics goes back to the old way. I fully understand muscle memory and the need for reps, but I believe it's more than that. She can go Sunday through Thursday with decent weight distribution, but as soon as the 1st games comes, it's back to the old lean.

Should we just spend a week or two on walk throughs? Any other drills y'all recommend?

Thanks in advance.

 

[sluggers]

Every pitcher has an "Achilles heel"...something they struggle with during their career. So, she has to do drills to remind her body what it is supposed to do immediately before the game and even in the middle of the game.

My DD had the same problem. So, I found that there were two different issues: (1) Knowing what drills to do to fix the problem, and (2) having the mental maturity to do the drills.

So, the drills for this particular problem are "walk throughs with the trailing foot off the ground until the ball is returned" and "the stork". You already know the drills, but make sure *she* knows the drills.

The "mental maturity" part is a little bit more difficult. Unfortunately, pitchers are not taught to self-diagnose the problem. They tend to wait for someone to tell them what to do. So, your DD has to learn to fix it, even in the middle of the game.

She has to be willing in the 3rd inning to grab a teammate and do the drills, even though she is hot and tired. What helped my DD was for me to explain to her that the team needed her to pitch well. So, they were OK with her practicing between innings if she needed to.

 

[cuzmail]

Every pitcher has an "Achilles heel"...something they struggle with during their career.

True statement there !

 

[CoachScott]

Unfortunately, pitchers are not taught to self-diagnose the problem. They tend to wait for someone to tell them what to do.

I agree with this statement and why I always ask my pitchers when something doesn't go quite right why do they think that happened. I don't accept "I don't know?" I try to get them to think about it and give something. I then praise them for thinking and giving an answer. Most times they are not that far off on what went wrong. Then I ask them how do they think they can fix it. Again, don't accept "I don't know?" I tell them I may not always be around to help you correct. They need to understand how to self correct at times. I start this with the 10U athletes. Do I expect them to know everything and understand completely, no. Just want them thinking about their actions.

 

[coach james]

A verbal cue of mine that I use when Sally is leaning a bit is to "stay behind your front leg"... its quick and easy for her to then make the nesc adjustments.

 

[NorthMS]

I agree with this statement and why I always ask my pitchers when something doesn't go quite right why do they think that happened. I don't accept "I don't know?" I try to get them to think about it and give something. I then praise them for thinking and giving an answer. Most times they are not that far off on what went wrong. Then I ask them how do they think they can fix it. Again, don't accept "I don't know?" I tell them I may not always be around to help you correct. They need to understand how to self correct at times. I start this with the 10U athletes. Do I expect them to know everything and understand completely, no. Just want them thinking about their actions.

Last weekend, our TB team had a terrible game. Just one of those where we couldn't make a play. When we did field the ball, we didn't know where to go. Bad base running. Just a complete mental shut down. Afterwards, the coach was talking to them and asked them specific questions as to WHY they did "X". Everyone would answer "I don't know". The coach told the parents that the phrase "I don't know." is no longer allowed. His words were "They preformed an action and they need to give a reason to why they did so."

I think it's really made a difference. I can see my DD verbalizing her mistakes. It's making her think about what she's doing.

Seeing these girls talk out things where, before they'd say "I don't know.", has really been fun to watch. One girl was talking through WHY she made a mental error and half way through the explanation, you could see the light go off and she stopped and said, "That was just stupid."

 

[javasource]

That's awesome Coach Scott & NorthMS. Asking the kids to think about why always makes them better. Just letting them "play the game" is not enough, IMO. There's always a fair share of Q&A at practice... and this really validates their experience. If a kid hasn't sorted that out by gametime... you'll repeatedly see them make the same mistake. These kids are much more capable mentally than we usually give them credit for... it's good to see you respecting their ability.

As far as the OP... this is a mental barrier for her. Sounds like she is guiding the ball in games... and not trusting the better mechanics. Find ways to show her the improvement in practice... so she has the confidence to use it in the game. Show her the difference in speed... show her footage of players sending meatballs to the yard... or maybe get her in a few "friendly" games so the pressure isn't there as much, etc...