how can my daughter relax when in the pitching motion

[stkevans]

My 13 year old daughter has developed the tendency to tense up after pushoff and leading up to release. It causes her head to go up and instead of her arm and body flowing forward, her movement is up and forward. I am trying to figure out a good relaxing technique during her pitching motion. Anyone been through this?

 

[2bucketdad]

I'm sorry I would like to try and help but without a video the description of the problem is just too vague for me to know what may be going or or where to start...And relaxing may or may not have anything to do with the her going what appears to be up and not forward...

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Is she breathing? I run into many pitchers that are not breathing during their pitch. 1. get set and big breath in. 2. release the breath and release the ball.

Also, in the get set position (hands together) she can sort of shake her shoulders, so that they are loose.

But, many of the greats put a lot of stress on their head and neck, during the release. Taryne Mowatt is one that comes to mind.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Pic of Taryne Mowatt and the stress on her neck.

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[ArmWhip]

The real question here is whether or not you feel that this is affecting her pitching, is she throwing a lot of wild pitches or showing a loss of control. I also have some video of Taryn Mowatt and the first thing that you notice is that in many pitches her head is tilted back, her chin is up, to the point where you have to believe that she cannot see the plate. I was at a conference where Cat Osterman was a speaker. During her talk there was a large picture of her over the stage, she was at release. Her head was tilted back, chin up, throat exposed to the hitter, just like Mowatt was. I was shocked to see her in this position, she could not have had her eyes on her target. So there are pitchers who raise up and are effective, hence my question about whether you see a drop off in the quality of your daughter's pitching.

 

[starsnuffer]

Have her shout (like a martial arts k-yah) when she pitches. Try it yourself, and you'll see that it's virtually impossible to raise your shoulder and tense up when you're tightening your abs and pushing all your air out. You can use this as a training exercise or let her keep it, as it tends to freak out a lot of young batters which isn't a bad thing.

-W

 

[SoftSocDad]

Visualize, visualize, visualize.

And are changes in her body possibly affecting her mechanics? Since it won't reverting back, if this is the case, she'll need to adjust her motion to the new body she's getting.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Have her pitch with her eyes closed. Tell her to get set up just like normal to throw a pitch. Tell her to locate her target. When she starts her pitching motion have her close her eyes. What this does is allow her to feel her body and what it's doing. Tell her don't worry about throwing a strike. Just relax and throw the ball.

Have her throw 5 or 6 like this and then have her keep her eyes open and pitch. See if she relaxes and feels what she is with her body during the motion. I use this with my students and they say it helps them feel what they are doing.

 

[stkevans]

Sorry, I was out of town. Thanks so much to all the people who replied. She is relaxing better. She has been doing several reps pitching with eyes closed, and I think she has improved her tension levels. She is understanding that her speed doesn't improve by tightening up and trying too hard to throw hard. She thinks its strange that her speed picks up by around 4-5 mph when she stays loose and relaxed through her motion.