How to teach them to throw lower

[dbronstein]

I'm coaching a 10U rec team and I'm struggling to figure out how to get them to keep their throws low. Most of them keep throwing rainbows. I watched one girl in practice throw one over someone's head and I told her to throw lower and her response was "how do I do that?" I didn't know what to tell her. Does anyone have any suggestions how to teach this?

 

[CrazyNani]

Aim for the chest or face and try to throw past the receiver. However, some lack the arm strength to get it there without throwing a rainbow. It takes a lot of long toss practice.

 

[quincy]

DD was afraid to hurt another player, not sure If this is the issue.

We lined them up in a line and had a race throwing ball, brought dog to practice, skipped rocks off lake. Lot of fun things.

I was amused anyways.

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

They need to learn to get a little mass and momentum into the throw. "Throw with intent".
Hang a target (or two, or three) off the backstop at chest height. Tell them hit it so hard it dances. They'll figure it out. (See also, Wasserman HLT).
But also, as quincy said, they have to trust that their partner can catch it or they won't do it. But least now they know how.

 

[NBECoach]

One of the most repeated phrases when younger players are playing (or attempting to play) catch is "Oh sorry" as many of the throws are misdirected. The major reason as I see it is their release point differs from throw to throw. The major reason for that is They break their hands wherever. Almost no younger players are taught to bring the ball to mid chest, bring elbows up, break thumbs down bring their arm up and throw. That puts your arm in the most powerful position and it is accurate and very repeatable. Couple that with proper footwork. Checkout the attached videos

 

[John 800]

I also started coaching a 10u team this year. I am new to coaching, and I dont have one girl who had played before. I put a high priority on throwing as far as time at practice and it shows, both in mostly decent throws during our first few games and it also shows in the sense we lack in other areas, but we are getting there. Go over proper throwing form and hold them to it in warm ups and practice at all times, be a nag lol. Slow down practice if you have to and tell them repeatedly that a good throw late is better than a rushed throw that goes wide and explain why. One drill I did that they liked was to have a girl at each base, drop a bunt on the ground and a pretend force play around the bases back to thecatcher and time them. They see how much time an overthrow costs. I told them they get batting practice with water ballons if they do it in 15 seconds. Been close, but havent done it yet

 

[Cornbread]

Keep the ball in the glove longer, put you nose on the base, hard at the knees

 

[dbronstein]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[CoachJD]

How do they hold the ball when they throw it? Sounds like a lot of them are throwing the ball the way a normal sized adult would try to throw a basketball.

If their hand is getting under the ball, there's a good chance it's going to go high (also they're probably just pushing). Work on taking the ball out of the glove with the hand on top. Check out the Antonelli video for what I'm talking about.

 

[radness]

One of the most repeated phrases when younger players are playing (or attempting to play) catch is "Oh sorry" as many of the throws are misdirected. The major reason as I see it is their release point differs from throw to throw. The major reason for that is They break their hands wherever. Almost no younger players are taught to bring the ball to mid chest, bring elbows up, break thumbs down bring their arm up and throw. That puts your arm in the most powerful position and it is accurate and very repeatable. Couple that with proper footwork. Checkout the attached videos

About that 2nd video Trosky.

This maybe just a drill video.
However that extra double shuffle is not a good habit.

While there can be helpful video/coaching tips in general on the web,
There are some bad habit forming things also.
Which makes it more difficult to sort thru good and not good stuff.

Which made me post a
No-No to the double shuffle throw in fastpitch.