Is this a bad idea? Starting motion

[Fitz1210]

My daughter is a new pitcher...about 8 months. I focused more on "loading and exploding" and less on pre-motion. In the last couple of months, her accuracy has improved tremendously. I started to incorporate a slight rock back. With this, she has the tendency to crow hop.

My question is would it be a bad idea to have her pitch in games from the loaded position? Weight starts on drive foot forcing her to engage her core. She is accurate with this method and doesn't lose speed. Or keep the rock and work on drills for the hop?
We are going to be playing in our LL championship soon and possibly district. I don't want her to be called illegal for the crow hop.

Edit: Her "hop" has already been pointed out twice this year in LL.

 

[sluggers]

How is her arm motion?

The upper body and arms are much more important than the legs. About 80% of a pitcher's speed comes from the arm and upper body. Once she has that mastered, then work on the legs.

But to your question: Let her start however she is comfortable. In the old days (last year?), the pitcher had to have both feet on the rubber, so there wasn't much of a rock back involved anyway.

 

[Vertigo]

I’d go with what she is most comfortable with. Personally, I wouldn’t choose the rock-back if it causes her to crow hop and be illegal. However, that being said, I doubt she’d even get called for it at that level (and no, I am not for the crow-hop, just stating the facts).

 

[Vertigo]

I’d go with what she is most comfortable with. Personally, I wouldn’t choose the rock-back if it causes her to crow hop and be illegal. However, that being said, I doubt she’d even get called for it at that level (and no, I am not for the crow-hop, just stating the facts).

Just keep in mind - crow hopping can be a very hard habit to break once they get used to it!

 

[Fitz1210]

The umps have already talked to me about the crow hop issue.

 

[Fitz1210]

Her arm motion is pretty good. She has no backswing and comes straight from the hip. When she gets tired she will start slowing down and sometimes hitch. She's only 8 so she usually only goes 2 complete innings.

 

[HunterMO]

Go with what she likes for now and get everything else correct. Plenty of girls start from a loaded position versus a rocking back motion.

For me....the biggest thing is around making sure everything is moving forward together once she launches. If a loaded start helps achieve that....then stick with it. She can always experiment later once she’s more comfortable overall with pitching.

 

[Fitz1210]

Go with what she likes for now and get everything else correct. Plenty of girls start from a loaded position versus a rocking back motion.

For me....the biggest thing is around making sure everything is moving forward together once she launches. If a loaded start helps achieve that....then stick with it. She can always experiment later once she’s more comfortable overall with pitching.

Do you know of any college/pro pitchers that have a loaded start. No rock back or back swing?

 

[Fitz1210]

This was back in January. It's not as noticeable, but crow hop is a little more pronounced now because she is more explosive coming off the mound.

 

[sluggers]

For your DD's long time progress, read the "IR in the Classroom" thread and start working on her arm motion.