Internal Rotation

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Sep 11, 2008
74
0
caifornia
WITHOUT A BALL - Stand with your hips/shoulders/feet slightly more closed toward home, then fully open (toward third) to the target line. Do NOT stand completely open (shoulders inline with the target line) for this excercise. And do NOT stand more then 45 degree closed (toward the target line EVER).

Rest your throwing arm comfortably (not "stiff") at your side, and your palm facing inward, against the thigh.

Reverse Chaining/Motor Learning:







excellent post! i read it over and over and now am starting to do this!

can you tell me if these same mechanics should be used with the changeup, and also movement pitches? also, how soon should the lower and upper body open up fully? before noon? it also seems like ueno is closing her body before and during the ball passing by her hip. is that good?

thanks!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mar 22, 2009
1
0
The bottom line is, IF you are properly supinated in the down swing, the arm MUST/WILL internally rotate thru release to prevent unjury to the glenhumeral joint.

The rotational torque created by the internal rotation of the shoulder/upper-lower arm/wrist and fingers with this "natual move" is the essence of velocity in faspitch.......The key is KNOWING WHEN TO LET GO to take advantage of maximum acceleration of this rotational torque......

But that's a whole nother thread.........;)

BoardMember, When can we expect the "whole nother thread". My DD is in the process of converting from the on top of the ball "wave" mechanics to the more natural arm action you have described. We have been working with the new arm action for about 4 weeks and have picked up 3 miles per hour. I believe DD is holding on to the ball to long through the release phase and loosing speed because of it.

Anybody have a way to enforce the proper release point.
 
Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
It is a gem. It has totally changed what I am emphasising with my 8 (almost 9 year old) and she is already the best at that age in our city.

I made the original post. My 14U has been working on the internal rotation discussed by Board Member. This has been a major challenge. She can now "feel it" when she does it right and at time she has noticably improved velocity. She is not where she would like or needs to be compared to the best in our area however when it comes to consistency and accuracy. She hopes to get there but knows she is racing time as a 14U pitcher wanting to seperate herself from all of the pretty goods.
 
Mar 20, 2009
11
0
please excuse me for being a novice, but asking questions is key to learning. if during the release phase the wrist rotates from out to in, would this not create a bullet spin?
 
Jun 6, 2009
240
0
You should get out more. There are a number of "step and throw" pitchers in D1. My DD was an all-conference D1 pitcher who used the step & throw method. She could occasionally burst up to 67 mph. She cruised around 63 mph.

Marie Barda (U of M--she broke the protective glass behind the plate during the CWS a few years back) was also a step and throw pitcher. She cruised at 65 mph. I don't know what Marie's top end was--she was very, very good.

This is also true. I saw a kid in the supers this year that was consitently 70+ that was a stepper. Of course she was also 6-5 and about 300lbs. With that kind of mass, momentum is less important
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
Yeah, stepping will cost you a few mph potential and you will release a few feet farther from the plate but it's more about what your body will allow you to do. Also, the stepping style I'm familiar with (Tim Timmons) makes it more difficult to get good back spin. Not impossible by any means. Just more difficult depending on your flexibility.
 
Jun 6, 2009
240
0
Been there watched that. I can testify. In my case, I was in front off to the side. I stepped out and looked back at the audience. A bunch of heads nodding up and down though the demonstrated swing had zero in common with the discussion that came before. Go figure.


Me too. When my dd was in HS, after school when I picked her up we would go to this SB/BB place and pitch in the cages. ONe day we were pitching and dd needed to go to RR, so I was just sitting on my bucket and in the cage next to us was an instuctor trying to teach a young boy how to pitch. The instructor gave the instuction then the kid tried to pitch and it was pretty awful but he did exactly what the instructor said to do. Then the instructor tried to show the kid by pitching himself. The instructor didn't throw anything like what he was trying to tell the boy to do. The instructor was J.R. Richards, who played several seasons for the Astros, and during his career was consitently able to throw 100+mph.

Just goes to show, just because you can do it, doesn't mean you can teach it.

Reminds me of math professors (never my long suit). THey are very gifted at math but most of the people they teach aren't. I would have much preferred and instructor who struggled with it, so at least they could empathize with my plight.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
About the only advantage of L&D over S&T is that the pitcher is closer to the batter. I disagree about the speed and the spin.

The advantage of S&T in the frozen north is that the pitcher doesn't have to worry as much about the field conditions during the spring. In March, the field conditions vary radically from day to day. One day the field is in "Southern California" condition, the next day it is as hard as concrete, and the next it is a muddy mess.

Ray
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
My oldest, now 26, shifted from stepping style to L&D. I estimate a 3 mph increase which only makes sense when you add in the legs contribution. With the stepping style she shifted from, the L&D she shifted to, allowed a more open hip/more facing third at release making it easier to get the palm facing third at release. Whole conversation depends on how one defines stepping style. My definition is what Tim Timmons teaches. He teaches it very effectively and his kids spin the ball well on a whole. And he won't lie to you about your spin. His kids I see with good backspin are mostly the slender flexible kids though.
 
Jul 15, 2008
44
0
Please may you further explain the action of wrist, hand and fingers during the release phase? When I try to perform it, either my hand rotates on a axis perpendicular to the ground, touching the ball weakly on the side and creating a weak side way spin; or, I will rely too much on my fingers, snapping/twisting so much that my fingers travel above the ball, unable to transfer any speed or force to the ball.
Please show me some light.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,473
Members
21,443
Latest member
sstop28
Top