More confused than ever

[Hitter]

I've seen this clip a hundred times. The ball ends up fairly high in the strike zone and looking at the way her hand is under the ball for a good part of the pitch it is undeniably a rise ball. Her follow through is not optimal, since she pulls her arm straight up instead of following through accross her body. I know she is Jenny Finch but her mechanics are not perfect.

Bill this is Howard C....at the clinic in Cincinnati Deb put up Finch from RVP and it clearly showed her finishing across the body and then she added in the flip up. Could this be more style or flair for her? Taking it one click at a time she finished across her body and then went up and it was not straight up.

On a second note your presentation was a no nonsense and as a matter of fact and I personally enjoyed hearing you say do not finish upward as it is just wrong...they are still talking about it and now want your name and Doug Gillis. It was a pleasure meeting you!

 

[Not_Enuf_Mustard]

I found this. It is pretty much what her dad went through at his station at the clinic plus Jennie demo-ing all her pitches.

Part 1 of my pitching demon..., Pics, Photos, and Videos by Jennie Finch - Weplay

 

[JFK]

Wow, These are from 2009. I wonder if the debate has been settled 3 years later.
Just signed up. Recently returned from GTMO after an 18 mo tour and getting back into all of this.

Just-turned-17 Daughter needs to increase speed. She has been playing for 10 years and has only been pitching for 2 years. She has an issue with not keeping her hips open. She has all of her pitches (except Screw) and is hitting her spots at will. She throws at 53mph but walks the ladder up and down (50-51-52-51-50-49) at practice. She has a wicked Drop and Change. In the time that I've been gone she has plateaued at 53mph (18 mos ago she was throwing 47mph consistantly. What more can she be doing to bring her speed up to where I'm reading it should be? Some of these 18U Gold teams are throwing low 60's. i know that they have been at it longer.... Thought I'd post it and see what i get. I'll also start my own thread since no one will probably seee this on such an old post.

Thanks

JFK

 

[drc9805]

I've spoken to Doug Finch once in my life. He seemed like a very nice guy. So I don't want this to come out wrong but, aside from Jenny being his daughter, I'd love to know where his "qualifications" come from. Did he demonstrate this technique of his for you? I would absolutely LOVE to see how someone with their hand on top of the ball can get under the ball to make it spin for a rise. I would pay my own almost anything and go almost anywhere if he would demonstrate all of this for me so I could be a better pitcher.

I realize in some cases it's just semantics. But, pitching styles are difficult to teach. Be leery of anyone trying to cookie cutter your kid and make them pitch with the same exact motion as they use. All too often people confuse the necessary movements with the unnecessary ones.

Bill

I've always wondered how a rise can be thrown by a pitcher who "slams the door" also. Maybe it can be done but they better not be slamming it too early!

 

[drc9805]

If this is what Doug calls "pushing the ball", then we need to redefine "pushing"...........

It sure looks like some good ol IR to me. I have seen Jenny demonstrate hello elbow and she just doesn't do that either.

 

[Jojo]

Jennie Finch is a great pitcher. Her follow through is not optimal. Just because she does it does not make it correct. Remember, she was taught by her dad. So if he says it is good, she would have done it. One thing she has that a lot of other girls don't, is a large body that can to some extent make up for deficiencies in mechanics.

I agree, Jenny is a great athlete. From what I understand she was quite strong at a young age as well and was able to continue to improve throughout her career as a player. She's got great genetics backing her up.

As far as the Finch Windmill the only experience I have in that is that when my DD went off to college the Universities pitching coach was an advocate of the Finch Windmill and other mechanical forms not used by my DD. My DD flat refused to use the Finch Windmill. She had a talk with her coach and they came to an agreement that the PC would leave my DD alone with her mechanics and stick with the other 3 pitchers. One of them was a 6' 2" Canadian who was only throwing in the mid 50's. Every day that kid worked on that windmill and with the PC's mechanics and she never gained any speed and they eventually let her go. Oh they also let the PC go as well.

 

[undergroundga]

Doug Finch came to our little town earlier this year and I went. And I left about halfway through. I felt bad, there were so many eager parents and kids there to here from "Jenny Finch's Dad". It was a loooooong infomercial and his information was anything but groundbreaking. I mostly left because I thought the guy was a blow hard and a jerk, but I didn't try talking to him personally, had no desire to.
Part of what makes great athletes great is that they can do things that us normal people can't. Any version of pitching mechanics can cause injury. Are there methods that reduce that risk, yes, but even with the best mechanics a girl can get injured.
I do my best to make sure my dd is learning arm-whip. From what I have learned and seen, over the few years I have been around fastpitch, that is the way to go. But no 2 girls are alike. What works for Monica Abott might not work for Cat Osterman or my dd. Part of my job is to help her find what works best for Noaah Tyson.

 

[FrozenRope]

I found this. It is pretty much what her dad went through at his station at the clinic plus Jennie demo-ing all her pitches.

Part 1 of my pitching demon..., Pics, Photos, and Videos by Jennie Finch - Weplay

Wow... this is a perfect example of a person that is able to do...can't teach. I'd love to see this presentation done in "Weatherman" style, where she has some game film playing on a big screen behind her and she's pointing as she's explaining....this way everyone would be able to see that she says one thing, but does another. The hand under the ball, elbow leads is key to any kind of velocity at all. I learned this first hand with my own daughter.