Input needed on this hardworking young pitcher

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Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
Working with this young pitcher. There's a bunch here to like (especially her effort) but there are some serious issues. Having a hard time with her not bending at waist. She is pushing the ball instead of interally rotating. The arm is very straight down the backside. Looking for some suggestions to help her make some big changes. How far upstream from release do you see an issue that eventually creates the other issues? What would you suggest?


 
Dec 10, 2015
845
63
Chautauqua County
DISCLAIMER!! I am not close to being an expert here. However, it looks like I'm one of the early ones on this so one of the first things I would work on is her drive foot. Notice how it is perpindicular to the power line as she brings it forward. I call it anchoring but ruddering might be mentioned. I would guess better landing posture would make things better, stride leg going to down position before arm hits 3, as well. But, again, I'm no expert so I don't want to lead you astray. Land tall and drive the back foot/knee forward, eh.
 
Take the ball away tell her she can’t have it back until she can keep drive foot straight and keep posture correct then video her and let her see her progress. Once she fixed those very important issues then send another video and we can see what she needs to work on next look for a video called the pushback drill pretty sure it’s on YouTube it was very helpful with my DD
 
May 9, 2015
263
18
West Virginia
Show it throw it and I also love the Japanese drill (not sure what the name is) where you start with hands out to the side shoulder high and pull across your body before throwing the ball. Both of those drills are very helpful with a loose bent arm pulling the ball. Have her throw into a bet or better a tarp so she gets instant feedback of how fast she’s whipping.
Work on the drive separate, shifting weight and landing without leaning (I put tall cones on each side of them to accomplish this. Try holding a pool noodle in front of her at a 45 degree angle and tell her to jump to it but not thru it. In my opinion the main reason she bends is because she has no front side resistance on her front leg. She may need to get stronger so she doesn’t collapse so much on that front leg. She will probably need to work on these things 4 days a week to fix them and I’m a big proponent of separating the drive work from the arm circle work for a while, it’s hard to think about/work on everything at one time.
Disclaimer* I’m no expert.


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Nov 19, 2014
89
8
First I would tell her I really like her glove motion.. As the others have pointed out there are a few thing to work on.

As far as what's the first thing upstream I see a kind of bend forward instead of a lean at start / /

I would possibly have her drive her knee forward on stride leg instead of so much of a kick forward.

Hard to tell from angle but her feet look a little close together ( front to back)

I like how she gets fully extended on drive leg, but it's more following front leg instead of driving body.

As others have stated I would do some isolated whip drills to get realease where it needs to be. Along with drive drills without ball to get them to work sepretly, before I tried to put everything together.

Just some things I see... Like has also said no expert... I just sit on a bucket and catch

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Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
[video]https://youtu.be/a_FavDhtGa8[/video]

See if this helps her understand whip. Fix the forward lean on the landing and release. She is trying to aim. Those who are the first things I would correct. Then the drive. They are all important.

Good luck and keep working!
 
Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
Side throws , arm whip. She will need to trust her arm. She may not like the change.

This ties into several of the other responses:

We do a sideways internal rotation progression starting close and working back to full circle. She understands that internal rotation is an essential non-negotiable for success. She understands ball to the sky down the backside and brush resistance. The problem occurs in the full wind up. She can't quite seem to get herself to stay upright and adduct into brush resistance. Her forward lean seems to contribute to the straight arm down the backside. Certainly this is a posture problem but what part of the timing and motion is creating the issue. Is it before heal plant? Is it at heal plant? It may be right at the push out as suggested? Could be the achoring of the pushout leg but I have seen some high level college girls with similar.

Thanks for the many good suggestions. Any others are appreciated and I will share some updates so you can see progress and what we did to accomplish.
 
Last edited:
Jun 10, 2010
554
28
midwest
This ties into several of the other responses:

We do a sideways internal rotation progression starting close and working back to full circle. She understands that internal rotation is an essential non-negotiable for success. She understands ball to the sky down the backside and brush resistance. The problem occurs in the full wind up. She can't quite seem to get herself to stay upright and adduct into brush resistance. Her forward lean seems to contribute to the straight arm down the backside. Certainly this is a posture problem but what part of the timing and motion is creating the issue. Is it before heal plant? Is it at heal plant? It may be right at the push out as suggested? Could be the achoring of the pushout leg but I have seen some high level college girls with similar.

Thanks for the many good suggestions. Any others are appreciated and I will share some updates so you can see progress and what we did to accomplish.

Hello Lhowser.

Agree with others.

In regards to bending at the waist. The poor posture at FSR is because she doesn’t turn the non weight bearing (rear) knee in soon enough.

…so the hips can’t function properly for a strong FSR. The rear knee is an indication of whats going on in the hips…its direction will allow or restrict the hip movement and therefore posture. The rear knee has to turn out to allow the hips to open fully…but must turn back in to allow them to close to 45. She is turning it in… very late.

Look where the arm or ball is when these pitchers have started turning or allow the rear knee to turn in.
knee%20starts%20turning%20in_zps0ewml3cn.jpg


Here is where she finally does.. (from what I can see on the video)
lhowser%20pitcher_zpsmrripqiq.png


You might consider using Amanda Scarborough’s 12 o’clock throw to get the feel of a strong front side posture. Notice the lower body positions.
amanda_arm_follow_hip-stability-small_zpsuzwdmuhn.gif


Using Boardmembers reversed chain…as soon as I get them to play 9 o’clock catch…i do the same progression with the lower body positions you see here with Amanda…. focusing on posture and core (hips & torso) rather than adduction. Just reverse chain this gif…for lock it, unlock it, 9 o’clock… using her lower body positions.

It should help her feel where she should be at release with good posture and help her start firing a better pattern. Every time she bends at the waist..have her stop…do a few 12 clocks like this and try again. Repeat till she rolls her eyes at you or starts mumbling under her breath …then keep repeating! :)
 
Last edited:
Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
Hello Lhowser.

Agree with others.

In regards to bending at the waist. The poor posture at FSR is because she doesn’t turn the non weight bearing (rear) knee in soon enough.

…so the hips can’t function properly for a strong FSR. The rear knee is an indication of whats going on in the hips…its direction will allow or restrict the hip movement and therefore posture. The rear knee has to turn out to allow the hips to open fully…but must turn back in to allow them to close to 45. She is turning it in… very late.

Look where the arm or ball is when these pitchers have started turning or allow the rear knee to turn in.
knee-starts-turning-in1_zpsgpw9soax.gif


Here is where she finally does.. (from what I can see on the video)
lhowser%20pitcher_zpsmrripqiq.png


You might consider using Amanda Scarborough’s 12 o’clock throw to get the feel of a strong front side posture. Notice the lower body positions.
amanda_arm_follow_hip-stability-small_zpsuzwdmuhn.gif


Using Boardmembers reversed chain…as soon as I get them to play 9 o’clock catch…i do the same progression with the lower body positions you see here with Amanda…. focusing on posture and core (hips & torso) rather than adduction. Just reverse chain this gif…for lock it, unlock it, 9 o’clock… using her lower body positions.

It should help her feel where she should be at release with good posture and help her start firing a better pattern. Every time she bends at the waist..have her stop…do a few 12 clocks like this and try again. Repeat till she rolls her eyes at you or starts mumbling under her breath …then keep repeating! :)

Excellent observations. We do back chain from 9:00 which she does and understands pretty well. We haven't focused on the lower body though...primarily the upper so we will look at that. It's the full motion where the struggle really begins. I have had her do stops in the full motion (she tends to adjust position when she stops to look correct). We will study the turn of the back knee/leg. I can definately see what you are talking about there.

QUESTION TO ALL - Do her shoulders ever actually open enough?
 

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