Latest Video of DD Pitching

[undergroundga]

Your DD is not crow hopping but is airborne as she leaves the rubber which falls under leaping, which is illegal. Crow hopping is a second push with the pivot foot after the first push off the rubber. As discussed many times on this forum, there is no mound in fastpitch softball. There is a circle and a pitcher's plate(rubber).

Thanks for pointing out the difference between crowhopping and leaping. I thought that there was one, but was beginning to have my own doubts as everyone I talk to about it calls it hopping.
Sorry to offend any one by calling it a mound. Force of habit, I will work on it
Which brings me to another question. Is leaping legal in ISF? I noticed, during the world cup that a few of the pitchers appeared to be doing.
So what I am getting so far is that we are on the right track, doing well, but need to work on the leaping. Am I right?
No one has really said anything about leaping except for 2 tourneys in KY we went to. And then it was just parents, not really even the coaches. Umpires talked to dd and moved on. At the time she was leaping really bad! and we started working on it. I shouldn't have let it go, but htought we would be ok until fall. Bad call as a parent. I told her from now on we will fix problems as they arise instead of allowing small problems to progress.

 

[marriard]

We just fixed my DD's leaping issues.

It took about a week to fix technique wise and then about 2 weeks to get her speed back (and actually plus some but that may be because she is growing again).

Here is the thread:
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/10054-leaping-issues.html

The mirror drills work extremely well. We also worked on relaxing her arm which was hurting her timing. Your mileage may vary.

 

[undergroundga]

I really don't see an issue at her age. I would just progress with lessons and not worry about 'fixing' leap. As you explode more (lengthen the stride with weight back and relaxed drag foot) and grow stronger, it takes care of itself.

One nitpick is that the toe up/toe down thing. I personally don't like it as do the umps later. That can lead to crowhop because you tend to walk off the rubber, oops it's a plate, nope, staying with pitching rubber.

I would change that odd pitch you are talking about into something, probably a peel drop.
good job.

I like the peel drop idea. I'll talk to pc about it, and of course I will have to buy a video so I can see for myself how to throw it. I like to learn too!
The girls around here that I work with(and I use that term loosely),I have them use this rocking method.When they rock forward they only have the front of their cleat hanging over the front of rubber so that they can push off the rubber instead of a few inches in front of the rubber. No chance to crow hop and the girls pick up on it easily. I think most girls push off from too far in front of the rubber inducing crow hopping and allowing for less resistance to push off of(in my best scientific voice).

 

[tojo]

I always call it the mound and I have played ....well XX years and worked at the ballfields for xx years.

And there is black on the plate for those that claim there is not. You just have not put a field together or had a field fall apart to know it is under the dirt.

Screwball, I know most refer to the circle as a mound but you will not find the word "mound" in a softball rule book.

 

[tojo]

FYI, I'm not worried about that stuff and I have a lot of fun. It might worry me that I have been calling something the wrong name for XX years, especially if I participated in that sport.

 

[chinamigarden]

I don't see crow hopping. not sure I even see leaping, with the big hole in front of the pitchers plate the foot loses contact with the ground, but I am not sure its a leap.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

I'm not so sure I see crow hopping either. There is a hole there, and she "might" be picking the foot up a tad too high. But for young pitcher's is even more difficult dragging the foot through a dang crater. I do agree with SB, I think as she gets older, taller, and longer stride.........the drag will work itself out.

 

[DB1]

Not a PC, so take it for what it's worth, when you slow it down and look at the video, there is definitely a leap. It's not very big, but it is there. When she pushes off, her back foot rotates towards second base and that is when she becomes airborne. If she were to keep her toe down, she would be fine.

Besides that, if you watch her arm circle on the way up, she is reaching in front of her face with the ball, way off of the power line. She is also turning her hand to where her palm is facing away from her body towards third. From the angle of the video, it's hard to tell if she loops her arm circle from that position, but that could affect accuracy and speed.

One other minor observation is she is sort of walking through the pitch. When the pitch is done, there is some momentum being lost by allowing her body to come forward. She could gain some speed if she kept the weight back a little more at release, imo.

Good looking pitcher......

 

[undergroundga]

Not a PC, so take it for what it's worth, when you slow it down and look at the video, there is definitely a leap. It's not very big, but it is there. When she pushes off, her back foot rotates towards second base and that is when she becomes airborne. If she were to keep her toe down, she would be fine.

Besides that, if you watch her arm circle on the way up, she is reaching in front of her face with the ball, way off of the power line. She is also turning her hand to where her palm is facing away from her body towards third. From the angle of the video, it's hard to tell if she loops her arm circle from that position, but that could affect accuracy and speed.

One other minor observation is she is sort of walking through the pitch. When the pitch is done, there is some momentum being lost by allowing her body to come forward. She could gain some speed if she kept the weight back a little more at release, imo.

Good looking pitcher......

Yeah, I see a leap too. I wish she was one of those girls that when she rolls forward her foot naturally rolled up on the toe and glided forward. I see some girls that look very smooth doing this.
And I agree with the walking through the pitch observation. She doesn't lean forward but definately keeps her momentum going forward through the pitch. She also tends to fall to her right a little as she does this.
Got any tips on ideas on getting her to keep her wait back instead?

 

[DB1]

I would have her do some flamingo drills. Here's a video that shows the drill. We also do it from a normal starting position from the pitching plate. I would have her start there. Also, if she straightens out her arm circle, it should balance things out a little more and hopefully keep everything moving down the power line so she doesn't tend to fall off so much. With my daughter, when she really tries to throw hard, she loses her balance and does the same thing. The funny thing is if she lets off just a little and pitches with better mechanics, it usually is harder and more accurate.

Good luck.