How much should I try to fix?

[sdsoftball]

I coach my DD's 13U travel team. Here in South Dakota they have 3 classifications, competitive A, competitive B and Rec. We are a B team. My DD is one pitcher and our other pitcher moved out of state after last season. We added another pitcher who previously has pitched on a rec team and hasn't received much coaching. She doesn't throw with great velocity but she does throw consistent strikes and seems to be able to hit spots pretty well. There are 3 problems with her motion. First, she is a legit 5'10" but doesn't use her length to her advantage. My 5'6" DD explodes off the rubber much further than this girl does at this point. Second, her circle is a mess (part of the problem with her velocity I'm sure). She gets to 12 o'clock in good shape but from there her arm goes straight towards 3rd base and then just sort of drops to 6 o'clock. In other words her circle totally breaks down and is pretty much non-existent from 12 to 6. Finally, from 6 o'clock she finishes with classic HE. My question is this...how much and in what order should we attack these problems?

In South Dakota with our lovely weather we don't have a tournament until the week of May 9-11 so we still have some time. For the most part I will have her twice a week between now and then. My thought is to fix the circle first since I'm pretty sure if we get her in a full circle even with HE she will throw a lot harder. Next tackle the stride since that should be fairly easy to fix as well and should also add velocity even with HE. Then attack the HE problem which I assume will take the longest. I'm a little concerned about trying to fix HE at this point for this season at all. Do you think we have enough time to fix HE before May? In short any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[sluggers]

I would tackle the HE and the circle at the same time.

You would do the drills outlined by BM in the "IR in the classroom" thread, and then work on the circle when she throws with full motion.

I wouldn't mess with leg drive. You won't get as much speed out of her as you might think.

 

[coach james]

Agreed with sluggers. Attack the circle along with making sure the timing is good first, the explosive stride is important, but won't work if the timing of the landing while pulling downward isn't in order first.

 

[Doug Romrell]

I would tackle the HE and the circle at the same time.

You would do the drills outlined by BM in the "IR in the classroom" thread, and then work on the circle when she throws with full motion.

I wouldn't mess with leg drive. You won't get as much speed out of her as you might think.

I'm glad you mentioned this part about the leg drive. I'm finding that when you focus too much on the leg drive, there is a high risk of screwing other things up. Some will disagree. I just think the arm-whip/IR focus along with doing it against a firm front leg is where the main short-run focus should be. Have the intricacies of the leap/drive be more of a long-term work.

 

[Doug Romrell]

P.S., I've just recently (past week) decided we must first solve timing issues and throwing against a firm front leg before we get the optimal leap/drive.

 

[Rick Pauly]

When done properly a pitcher throwing from the "K" position can achieve 90% of their top mound speed. Perfecting the arm circle...arm whip/internal rotation/brush interference......can all be done from this position. Several have made the suggestion to wait on the leg drive focus....good suggestion IMO. So why not work on the 90% now and the other 10% later.
If this young lady is only 13 and is 5'10" it is highly unlikely her muscles and coordination have caught up with her growth so let the leg drive stuff wait. It is my experience that tall girls are often 1-2 years behind shorter girls in overall development of their total pitching mechanics.
Like Sluggers suggested, Board Members "IR in the classroom" is a great place to start.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Further, just this week, we've gone back to using the walk-in drill as a help for working on timing. I think it works very well, and is quite a fluid, relaxed motion. It's amazing how hard you can throw using this even somewhat relaxed.

While this gal is doing it just a bit different (raising the arms like she does and her high arm finish), it shows the gist of the drill (timing-wise).

 

[sdsoftball]

Thank you everyone. It helps to think of fixing two issues at once and it makes sense to work on HE and the circle together. This is why I asked you guys. Thanks for help and the suggestions.