Mechanics Question

[Twenty20ticker]

My daughter who has just recently turned 10 has had some accuracy issues because of her glove hand swimming out to the side. Atleast this is what her pitching coach has surmised. So instead of pulling the glove all the way down by her thigh during the release and drive portion of the motion, she has instructed her to pull the glove straight back down into the hip area in order to keep the glove-hand and front shoulder to the target, which this seems to have been successful. After having only pitched a couple of times since this has been done I will say I have noticed a dramatic improvement in her accuracy. My question is though, is there anything wrong with this, and is it an acceptable practice? Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Ken B]

After having only pitched a couple of times since this has been done I will say I have noticed a dramatic improvement in her accuracy.

That is the key.

Different folks address a given problem differently, and often get the same result.

Without before and after video, it would be tough to tell what the issue was. Was she inconsistent left to right? Did her spin seem to vary from pitch to pitch? I like to think that using the glove hand properly improves efficiency overall. If her glove hand didn't have a purpose other than balancing the body, it was more reactive. Using the glove hand for a purpose contributes to the motion in a positive manner.

 

[Twenty20ticker]

That is the key.

Different folks address a given problem differently, and often get the same result.

Without before and after video, it would be tough to tell what the issue was. Was she inconsistent left to right? Did her spin seem to vary from pitch to pitch? I like to think that using the glove hand properly improves efficiency overall. If her glove hand didn't have a purpose other than balancing the body, it was more reactive. Using the glove hand for a purpose contributes to the motion in a positive manner.

She is left-handed and her ball tends to miss left (looking at home from the mound) or inside to the left-handed hitter. I will try to get some video...not sure if I have any from the front though...I guess I am just wondering is there anything wrong with the glove being pulled to the hip.

 

[Sftballdad1]

She is left-handed and her ball tends to miss left (looking at home from the mound) or inside to the left-handed hitter. I will try to get some video...not sure if I have any from the front though...I guess I am just wondering is there anything wrong with the glove being pulled to the hip.

Your PC is correct. The tighter they can stay they better mechanics they employ and they tend to be more successful. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her staying tight with her gove hand. Most PC will tell you that a swimmers glove should be corrected and they will recommend drills to clean it up. You are on the right track. Our PC always tells my DD to punch the glove hand straight out and through the motion try to pretend that you are using the glove hand to pull down on the catchers head straight back to her body.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I agree. I don't drop my glove, though. I keep it up to protect myself, but my elbow comes into my ribcage.

 

[BradB41]

Eliminating the swimming is a good thing regardless of whether it fixes this issue or not. I like Hillhouse and he says that swimming causes you to miss outside (just visualize which way it turns the pitcher's upper body).

You definitely want to eliminate it though....Hillhouse recommends pitching into your own glove as the drill to fix swimming.

My kid misses inside (she's a righty and misses inside on righties) as well. Her PC attributed it to a sloppy arm circle. Sometimes, her throwing arm will drift behind her hip. Throwing around the hip will cause you to miss inside. THis problem can also be related to not opening the hips enough too...

We use a windmill trainer for both release point and arm circle muscle memory as well as pitching into her glove. I can honestly say that she did both all winter and stayed pretty sharp despite the fact that we really couldn't throw live all that much. The other great thing is that the kid can do these drills all by themselves. Good luck.

 

[halskinner]

Shove the glove

 

[JAD]

Your PC is correct in trying to correct the "swimming" of the glove hand, and if she is a lefty and missing to the "inside" on a left handed batter there is a good chance her hip is in the way. Post some video clips of her pitching motion, preferrably in slow motion.