Slugger.... What are your thoughts on this issue?
There are a bunch of causes to monkey-butt syndrome. I've seen advanced pitchers develop it trying to throw a screwball. The root cause is probably parents/coaches not understanding BI.
The most important thing to do is to identify the problem and have some ideas on how to fix it.
IMHO, terminology to explain this to kids is extremely important. A good phrase that "sticks" with a kid is gold.
"Don't monkey butt...crack a nut."
Cracking a nutt will firm up the legs and core. this PREVENTS the butt out.... Read more closely before dismissingThe one and only thing that causes them to stick their butt out has nothing to do with squeezing butt cheeks. This saying or that saying.
They get closed up to early. Or in the backwards pitching world I believe you guys say open.
The one and only way that I have fixed this problem is have the player drive with the shoulders to the catcher. Forget getting turned , as the ball goes over your head the lower body will react.
Stand facing the catcher.
Take a step towards the catcher as if you were a stepper.
Then do the pitching motion.
Tell me how your bottom half auto reacted.
Did you need to worry about getting open? ( pitchings version of open makes no sense ) But for the sake of understanding open will mean facing 3 base as a RH pitcher
imo a lot of kids suffer a butt out condition due to an issue with their drive mechanic. Kids who have good glute usage will go from the "k" (bent rear hip) to reverse "k" (extended rear hip) position naturally. kids who do not have good glute usage will drive from the rubber using primarily quads and calves (late push pattern). These kids will tend to end up in a butt out condition due to their rear hip not fully extending during drive from rubber.
Secondary effects of this are lack of mid section propulsion not yielding good weight transfer into plant, lack of propulsion forces pitcher to reach out with front leg, late push pattern from leg/calf after they start to close will cause the rear end to kick-out even more.
Late rear hip extension is a symptom which seems to be a result of the dragging rear leg. it is easy for this issue to be masked by a good front foot plant and cracking the nut which will result in a tall posture at release even though they were butt out during the important part of the drive phase.
Check out how early tatum edwards' rear hip extends (great clip knightsb!). She is driving from the middle out.
good rear hip extension vs. Bad rear hip extension (resulting in butt out)