Loaded Question

[mkral]

When my DD misses and gets into a funk she misses low and in the dirt. No real rhyme or reason to it she can sometimes come right out of the box throwing "dirt balls". She has trouble fixing it when she gets into this. Has anyone seen this, or does someone have a fix for this other then just telling her to remember her release point? Her mechanics still look good so I am confused a bit. Velocity also is still there.
Thanks
Mike

 

[EP Dad]

How old is she? How often does she throw? My kid got into a funk last fall throwing too high and after an offseason of practice it just kind of went away. She pretty much throws in the zone now and doesn't walk anyone too often. Now I've got to get her to start groovin' it waist high to the big hitters.

 

[Ade's Dad]

Probably closing her hips too soon , ball would be low and inside to a (RH)batter, assuming she is a right hand pitcher.

 

[mkral]

She is 13. She practices twice a week but has games 3 days a week right now with school ball so she is throwing 5 days a week usually. She is not inside just straight low.

 

[Ken Krause]

My guess without seeing her is she's not letting the ball pass her elbow before release. (This is also known as releasing too soon.) On a basic fastball, the elbow should come in to a point between her back hip and her bellybutton, then the hand should whip past the elbow. As it does, the ball is released, somewhere around the back leg. If she's letting go before she reaches that point the ball will go straight but into the dirt.

Try having her stand sideways to the plate with her feet spread wide. Then have her make three fast revolutions with her arm, focusing on bringing the elbow down and forward. On the last revolution she lets go. I've found this drill is pretty effective for helping pitchers feel the arm being loose and where to release the ball.

 

[Bishop]

You say her mechanics look good, but look at her weight distribution when this starts to happen.

Sometimes mine lets her weight come too far forward, plant leg gets soft, bending at the waist and pitching through the plant leg. Different reasons for each affliction. All three of them cause her pitches to go low. Fixing the cause of the weight forward fixes the pitch height issue.

 

[Goobie]

You say her mechanics look good, but look at her weight distribution when this starts to happen.

Sometimes mine lets her weight come too far forward, plant leg gets soft, bending at the waist and pitching through the plant leg. Different reasons for each affliction. All three of them cause her pitches to go low. Fixing the cause of the weight forward fixes the pitch height issue.

Exactly the same with my 13YO DD. If her weight is too far forward she will throw low or in the dirt. Once she keeps the weight back, the ball comes up.

 

[mkral]

Thanks gang as usual. Great things to look at and work with.
Thanks again!!
Mike