IR breakdown

[Jillsdad]

Here is DD practicing BM's 9:00 drill and, to my untrained eyes, doing quite well. Looks loose and whippy and all that good stuff.

 

[Jillsdad]

Problem is, in a full pitch her IR completely breaks down and hopefully I can get some feedback as to why this is and what intermediate steps that can be taken to help:

Here at 9:00 her arm is straight, she is on top of the ball, she turns her head - and she is leaning forward at release.

 

[Jillsdad]

Now from the back we see her arm circle is not good and she takes the ball over her head, which may cause these problems?:

Thanks!

 

[Adman]

Jillsdad,

In the full delivery she does get back to externally rotating AFTER 9 o'clock to then internally rotate towards release, albeit with a straight arm. She also starts to look away from her target at 12 o'clock and doesn't look back until after release. I think this may be more of a result of the push rather than a cause, but it wouldn't hurt to keep her eye on her target.

It appears she doesn't "trust" the loading portion (full external rotation at approx. 9 o'clock) of the arm movement just yet. Seems she trusts the load in her shoulder more. Her scapula really pops out to get her in the position to use her shoulder and chest to push down, instead of using her back to pull her elbow down and in to the loaded position. Has she practiced the drill from 12 o'clock, making sure she passes through the exact 9 o'clock position? BM talks about making sure you're comfortable with each stage before moving on to the next.

Not sure if I'm describing accurately what my amateur eyes are seeing. I'll wait for the pitching instructors to chime in.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[CoachFP]

It's real simple. When she swings her arm back and starts to throw her arm is far from her body. To compensate she must swing her arm to the glove side to straighten it out and the ball circles her head while at the same time the glove goes left to compensate as well. Have her throw from the glove and this all goes away.

 

[humpty]

Agree with coachfp. Swing back needs to be straight back. Have you tried no swing back?

 

[Ken B]

Like Adam suggested, don't get the cart before the horse. Play lots of underhand catch and do step-backs with 1/4, half and full circle throwing. Keep the feet active, but hold off on full drives while working on whipping. Focus on elbow leading/pulling down to the ribcage and allowing the lower arm to whip. You can still work on drives, but do them without a ball, or into a net so she isn't trying to hit a target. When she's got her whip down, put everything back together and don't be afraid to go back to separating them if it breaks down again. (Of course if she's still needed in games, you might need to wait until after your post-season break to get back to it.)

Although I'm not sure it's the cure, have her try CoachFP's suggestion. I think in the short/long term, she might like the results. Hillhouse talks about rocking the baby in one of his videos. Check it out, try it, and if it helps, go with it. I've got 4 girls that decided, on their own after watching the WCWS, to throw from the glove and all of them took to it without hitch. Can't tell you how cool it is to hear kids talking on their own and figuring this stuff out!

Adam,
I know it seems like they should have uninterupted focus on the target, but I really don't think it's something as bad as it seems. I think with some experimentation, you'd find that allowing the eyes to do what they want will actually help more than hurt.

 

[Adman]

Have her throw from the glove and this all goes away.

I'm not so sure about that. Look at approx. 10 sec. in the second video, just past the 12 o'clock position. Arm is still bent at 11 o'clock. Everything is still relatively okay up to that point. She starts to "push" the ball and straighten her arm after that, which would be the main issue.

[Correction:] after looking again, to Coachfp's point, starting at 9sec in the third video, you can see that "Hal's hoola-hoop" will not hit on target. It's all wobbily.

 

[Jillsdad]

Thanks for the replies. She was rocking back with her glove until recently, and I didn't notice any difference. I think if she keeps working from 9 to 12 to 3 she might "get it" for her full pitch?

 

[BoardMember]

I will have a detailed visual analysis for you later this evening.........