Improving leg drive..ideas and suggestions welcomed

[STRIKE3]

Great points Crystal and I agree it is definitely one of the Great Debates in softball! I believe as long as you know what you are working with that is half the battle. In other words, you know she has a replant so what is the next step to take? Do you correct this or run with it? Again, that is the debate and you know you will get every opinion out there and most have merit to some degree.

I think the challenge you have is that she is pretty far along and to change her now may or may not be the way to go. Is it possible? Yes but could take precious time which you may not have.

At the end of the day, I brought this up because I believe some of the drive given in this thread thus far may not help you since they are intended for a push and toe drag versus replant. However, I do agree with the continued strength development, core training, etc. etc will continue to produce results. I wish I could offer more assistance on how to maximize what she is already doing but I don't have the experience with this type of drive.

Again, thanks for sharing all her success over the years and I wish you all the best!

S3

 

[Crystal Brown]

I think picking one battle at a time is the key. With the foot work she is now doing, I see a better transfer of weight. But taking the roll the foot down does allow her to turn the foot, which was a habit taught awhile back in order to quickly get open. Same thing is happening with the rise ball and drop curve. I think if we can get the feet fixed, it will help with the knee and in return, fix the replant.
As you have pointed out, it seems to be so ingrained into her mechanics, is it worth it to correct? I would say yes if she was already pitching well over 60, where the difference in speed would not matter. With her current size and speed, she cannot afford to lose this slight advantage. I don't see her getting any taller.

 

[Crystal Brown]

D has some recent interesting offer. Head coach of a Div II JuCo has reached out to us. D was referred to him as someone he might be interested in. It is a brand new program but the coach has been an assistant coach to other solid softball programs. They offer her program she wants and will be able to transfer all the credits. Another recent option is a Division I. They have contacted her travel coach and asked for video. The travel ball coach has put together a video with 3 different innings against 3 different teams where she completely dominated and sent them. The coach responded back saying they like what they see and that D seems to be pretty consistent. They want the teams schedule in order to come watch her play. Her season won't start until May 12. Which makes me think it might be too late or it can be an opportunity to get even better and the school makes a last minute decision for her play.

 

[STRIKE3]

D has some recent interesting offer. Head coach of a Div II JuCo has reached out to us. D was referred to him as someone he might be interested in. It is a brand new program but the coach has been an assistant coach to other solid softball programs. They offer her program she wants and will be able to transfer all the credits. Another recent option is a Division I. They have contacted her travel coach and asked for video. The travel ball coach has put together a video with 3 different innings against 3 different teams where she completely dominated and sent them. The coach responded back saying they like what they see and that D seems to be pretty consistent. They want the teams schedule in order to come watch her play. Her season won't start until May 12. Which makes me think it might be too late or it can be an opportunity to get even better and the school makes a last minute decision for her play.

That is great news and sounds like there is plenty of interest out there based on where she currently is! Awesome to to hear!!

 

[Crystal Brown]

That is great news and sounds like there is plenty of interest out there based on where she currently is! Awesome to to hear!!

I wouldn’t say a lot but some interest. Everything seems to go back to speed. Initially D looks a lot faster than she really is because of how well she spins the ball. In her case, looks can be deceiving.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Crystal Brown]

Interesting... in contrast: Why try to increase your 1 RM when weight training? Or... why do walk-throughs? Or... why use weighted balls?

The answer to both questions is adaptation. If we practice within a set of boundaries, our body becomes quite comfortable and those boundary lines become much thicker.

The coach wants speed. 100% of them do... this is no surprise. And it's obvious that the coach views the lower body as a foundation... which it is. Out of curiosity, if the coach recommended a drill for her to improve the lower body that was "illegal", would DH give in?

Anyway... I would offer this:

To maximize the efficiency at which we throw the ball, our sport requires an explosive generation of power in an absurdly quick amount of time. As such our training efforts need to be balanced between strength and speed. This is often referred to as the static spring continuum. Look it up if you're not familiar with it... but you'll immediately discover, as will DH, that we cannot limit our training to what we are comfortable with. Powerlifting is awesome, but it's merely one side of that continuum.

In pitching, once we've generated that incredible burst of power / speed, the timing and quality at which we leverage resistance, determine the output. In other words, power and speed are absolutely useless without great timing... like timing of trigger, like timing of resistance, like quality of whip, and with something that I'm sure will resonate with DH... a very fast twitch response capability.

When you look at what the push back or two step drills are designed for... hopefully it will become more obvious to him that it's less about the rules and more about developing a well-timed fast-twitch explosion off the ground... so that when it comes to leveraging that power there is more to Leverage... thus increasing the athletes output. As it relates to training, your coach is asking your DD to improve the quality of rate of force development (RFD)on both the beginning and end of the pitch. Meaning... get off the plate quicker... and resist quicker... so you have more to Leverage when whipping the ball.

With all due respect... this journey is more about your DD's experience at this stage of the game.

Best to your family, ~JS

While DH didn’t get the concept, D understood exactly the purpose of these drills. It had been brought up in Pauly’s lesson. Since DH have lifted weights, I had a conversation about the difference between doing a front dumb bell raise(an isolated movement)vs doing a kettlebell swing(compound movement, where you are driving the weight up with the hips). They both look like the same movement. I try to explain how kettlebell swings seem to get the heart rate up quick but unlike the front raises, it isn’t tiring on the shoulders. DH response was, “your shoulders do get sore with kettlebell swings because you use them.” It made me realize that he don’t understand this concept because his typical workout is more of a bodybuilding style. It is this very same reason that he struggle with doing explosive training such as a CrossFit workout, which he avoids because he don’t understand why he struggle with these movement. It is also the exact reason why he don’t understand how 2 step drills will benefit her. Interestingly, D has a beautiful kettlebell swing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Crystal Brown]

I forgot the add that DH does go out there and pitch with her. While he don’t get all the concepts, he does know enough to throw for batting practice with correct curve, rise and drop spin while giving her a good change up to bat against. He just move closer to her since he don’t have the speed to challenge her.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk