i need some tips on mechanical flaws

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Jul 28, 2008
18
0
hi,
new to the forum, but found some great tips on all aspects of the game . my 12 dd has been pitching for almost 3 full yrs now, but we still have some control issues from time to time. she is 5 ft, 105 pds. she is pretty close to 50 mph. most of what she knows is what i have learned from other throughout my coaching(5-6 yrs) career in little league and watching other play. i also watch allot of ball on tv, and do alot of reseach on the internet.
in a previuos thread some one was speaking about were the ball should be just before her stride foot lands, i think she is in good position here. i think her biggest problem is getting her nose behind her belly button at release. have tried a few things i came across to no avail. any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated.
we just recently started a travel ball team in our area in which i am going to be the pitching coach per say, i just dont want to go through the same trial and error method as i did with my dd.
she has played travel ball for the previuos 2 seasons but the hr. drive to practices 3x a week is just to much.
her little league stats. for this yr were pretty good in my eyes, but against most of the teams she pitched against, most of the girls were scared of her speed. she ended up pitching 29 innings with 59 k's and 31 walks and 16 hits.
had back to back games with 13 k's, with one being in a 14u asa league. her last game in little league she fanned 16....
anyway i am going to paste a few links to her youtube videos we just made tonite, as i stated earlier, any and all feed back is welcome.
thanks

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MfIaTZxg4jA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ivwP5A3LlOM
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
In my opinion, she has too much forward lean at release. A drill that I use is, as she strides forward, have her bring her knee up to a "stork stand" and hold it until the ball gets to the catcher.

Then, the second drill is stride forward and bring your back leg up behind you and hold it up, until the ball gets to the catcher.

I don't know where you are from, but I would find the best pitching coach in the area and have her take about 6 lessons. You and she would benefit greatly, plus it is fun.

I like her size and her speed, and tweaking her form should improve her control. Good luck.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,133
113
Dallas, Texas
You are right that Kelly has the "12 O'clock" position right. But, as Amy points out, Kelly's upper body gets way out in front.

Finch and Osterman have their upper body centered between their feet. So, the weight has *NOT* transferred to the front foot yet. Osterman left leg is straight, Finch's has not even fully landed. Kelly, on the other hand, has already had full weight transfer to her left foot. Her left leg is bent to about a 30 degree angle.

716679475ed245dd9da6757c058b22bc.jpg


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2073bf4a7a814aa0ad9f62de823792a4.jpg


Additionally, Kelly has about 70% of her hips closed. Her upper body is about 80% pointing toward home. Osterman looks to be about 30% closed, while Finch (showoff that she is) is still completely open.

What does all of this mean? Kelly can't pick up any more speed from her legs or closing the hips, so she won't pitch faster than she is now unless she fixes these flaws. While 50 MPH is OK for 12U and against the bad 14U teams, she is dead meat at 16U and won't see the mound at 18U. Also, with the weight forward, she'll never learn to throw any breaking pitches (the real stuff).

To put it bluntly, you have the "poster child" for the good 12U pitcher that never makes it in HS. She is having success now, so she is happy and you are happy, so you both may be a little lazy. However, to progress further she has to work very, very hard to correct her motion.

As Amy said, she needs to see a pitching coach. You've taken her as far as you can, but you are going to have to find someone better.

Just for fun, this is Tiffany McDonald from FSU--a good, but not elite pitcher. She also has her weight centered.

2dbf6358e2f84df98610c1a6170f7cb6.jpg



JRW
 
Jun 20, 2008
235
0
I don't see any opening, her shoulders appear to stay pointed toward the the catcher throughout the pitch...
 
Jul 17, 2008
65
0
in the dugout
Suggers is spot on... the leaning over her front foot will prevent her from advancing. i've seen it 100s of times. i actually had a dad argue with me that all of the "good" pitchers in his dd's 10y/0 league pitched leaning forward and that they were much more accurate than his dd which i had taught to keep her weight back as my #1 rule. i told him that the accurate 45mph pitch that works so good for 10y/o will be clanking off of the 210 sign on the fence in the next few years...

great news is that kelly can generate so much speed the way she is throwing that when she fixes a few mechanics she will have the potential to be a awesome pitcher. just keep up the great work...

my dd is a notorious weight too far pitcher but we've been working on that. here is a picture of her at release.
JILLREASE.jpg

you can see her hips and shoulders are still too closed at release.


here is kelly at her release point...
kellypitching_0004.jpg

she has lost any "pushback" or resistance from her front/plant leg due to her weight being over or her foot. at this point she is throwing using nothing but her arm.


i would suggest showing kelly the pictures of cat and jennie so she understands what she is trying to achieve.
 
Jul 28, 2008
18
0
thanks for the help

amy could you please give me more info on the drill you spoke about? i dont quite understand it fully...
slugger, i appreciate brutal honesty, that why i posted here...as for being happy and lazy, you must have read to much into my first post..as for happy, i am pleased with where she is compared to others ive seen recently, but i definitely realize the weight to far forward problem, and how it affects her consistency...i know we cant move forward towards moving pitches until we coame overcome this issue....now for the lazy part, we arent lazy just a bit stuck onm this issue with no direction...my dd probably throws 300-400 pitches a week. its just hard to keep working at something when you arent making real progress..
bg, what have you done with your dd as far as the weight forward probelm to help her get more vertical at release...

thanks again

i will post again in a week or two, as a progress report with a video
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
The emphasis is to keep your balance, which will require her to keep her shoulders back.
#1 - normal pitch, but stride foot will not touch down, it stays up with a bent knee. The pitched ball will pass directly in front of the bent knee. Do not put the foot down on the ground until the ball reaches the catcher. Practice this w/o a ball, first.

#2 - stride onto front foot, as normal. Kick the back foot up and hold it up, behind you. Do not drop it until the ball reaches the catcher.

#3 - I am a righty. Right knee down on the ground. Left leg extended out in front of you and the left foot is at an angle, like how you would normally land. I use a power line for this, which my knee almost touches and my front foot (toes) lines up near. My arm windmills directly above (or on)the line. Use a short distance at first, like 20 feet. This also helps with balance.
 
Jul 28, 2008
18
0
thanks for the help amy

amy,
we started doing the drills you mentioned earlier, we have be at them for about a week, 4-5 times. i am already seeing an improvement in her posture at release. we have made them a part of our warming up routine. definitely helped her with her balance which in turn has improve her weight back problem at release.
i also stopped trying to focus on to many things at one time. each practice we make a single focus point and stick with the plan. she has responded better to this approach and it is easier to see improvement this way.

thanks everyone for your help

mike
 
Blizzardman

Have her stand about 30 ft. from a relatively tall backstop-----now have her pitch the ball over the top of the backstop. This will force her to get her body tilted behind verticle at release.
Rick
 
Jun 16, 2008
43
0
The backstop idea sounds great, but I'm also thinking you may be able to get similar results by doing long toss. Rick, what do you think?
We don't normally have access to a practice field, so we have to improvise sometimes. Get 60-80 feet apart and have her throw. She won't be able to get it there with her weight forward. This will also give the same benefits as throwing a weighted ball.
 
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