My 10yo pitching

[tomzpc]

My 10yo pitching - video

Been hanging around the site for awhile now and have finally taken some video of my DD. She's 10 and she started pitching in the Fall of 2009. We don't get much time to practice during the winter but our local LL pitching and skills clinics have started up so she is now throwing at least 1x per week until the weather warms up. She is among the top two or three in our town for 10U pitchers, but we are a small town and our region isn't exactly a hotbed of pitching coaches. We've seen three (one lesson each) but they all teach the "get behind the ball early, push and snap it at the hip" bowling style so I've spent some time with her trying to get her to pull and whip the ball using the IR drills discussed in these forums. She got most of her foundation from a local softball coach who graciously volunteers his time to run pitching clinics for our program. For what it is worth, her speed ranges from 38-42 (just clocked recently when video was shot) and she has begun working on a backhand (if that's the right term) change that she was taught at the most recent local clinics.

Anyway, would love some feedback. First video is full speed and second is half speed.

Thanks!

 

[NVfishing]

Nice! I like the IR.

 

[EP Dad]

Looks good. Back foot needs to be on the rubber though to start. My DD used to do the same thing at that age. It's any easy change.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Thanks for posting. I think she looks very good for less than two years pitching and I like the Hillhouse hiding the ball on her back swing. A couple of things:

- She was taught to slap her leg. Why? It just seems so unnecessary, even though some pros do it, why have her beat her leg for 100 pitches each practice?

- Every pitch, even in practice should be aggressive and explosive. I would like to see her take a bigger stride.

- How's her accuracy? I notice that she lands right on the powerline. She might better be served to plant her stride foot just to the left of the powerline. I have seen a few pitchers that step on or to the right of the powerline and they are always fighting the ball going high and left as they over correct their pitching arm "going around" the hip. Especially as her body grows in the next few years.

Just my .02

 

[SLAM96Coach]

Nice. I don't think she's getting her right leg loaded up as well as she could prior to pushing out. Her rocking movement on the rubber gets her going. More loading of the right leg will get her to push out stronger. The harder you drive out, the harder you stop which, if she "stays back" and really focuses on using the resistance on her landing foot, she'll get more whip.

I'd try these things:

1) Flamingos -- Have her stand on her right foot, left foot off the ground. Have her "load" her right knee ( left foot still off ground ) and drive out once she's loaded. She needs to feel what driving out feels like. Right now, she's kind of falling forward.

2) Getting good resistance on the front side when she lands. She's kind of losing some resistance when she lands the left foot. You want her to be landing fairly hard on the foot to stop her forward motion towards the batter and transfer that energy into arm whip. If you can't hear her foot making noise when she's landing, she's not stopping hard enough.

I really like how she looks for a 10 year old. A lot of the normal problems you see aren't there!

 

[tomzpc]

Looks good. Back foot needs to be on the rubber though to start. My DD used to do the same thing at that age. It's any easy change.

We're Little League and they don't require the back foot be in contact with the rubber, only behind it. But I agree that it is probably worth changing now rather than later.

 

[tomzpc]

Thanks for posting. I think she looks very good for less than two years pitching and I like the Hillhouse hiding the ball on her back swing. A couple of things:

- She was taught to slap her leg. Why? It just seems so unnecessary, even though some pros do it, why have her beat her leg for 100 pitches each practice?

- Every pitch, even in practice should be aggressive and explosive. I would like to see her take a bigger stride.

- How's her accuracy? I notice that she lands right on the powerline. She might better be served to plant her stride foot just to the left of the powerline. I have seen a few pitchers that step on or to the right of the powerline and they are always fighting the ball going high and left as they over correct their pitching arm "going around" the hip. Especially as her body grows in the next few years.

Just my .02

Should have given Bill H a mention too as I tried to take a lot from his video, the backswing being one of them.

Ahh yes the leg slap thing. She was never taught it but she has always done it and I haven't bothered addressing it. I know that her mom would prefer she stop it.

I'm aware of the lack of aggressiveness and will need to start working on it with her as opposed to just telling her to do it. She started out as a stepper though (my fault) so she has improved in this area.

Real good point on the landing foot location. That is something that I hadn't picked up on and now that you mention it she does tend to go wild right more often than left. That could be the answer right there. Her accuracy varies. She can throw several strikes in a row and then throw one over my head and one in the dirt. She's come a long way from when we started though and most of the time I am catching pitches without leaving my bucket. =)

Nice. I don't think she's getting her right leg loaded up as well as she could prior to pushing out. Her rocking movement on the rubber gets her going. More loading of the right leg will get her to push out stronger. The harder you drive out, the harder you stop which, if she "stays back" and really focuses on using the resistance on her landing foot, she'll get more whip.

I'd try these things:

1) Flamingos -- Have her stand on her right foot, left foot off the ground. Have her "load" her right knee ( left foot still off ground ) and drive out once she's loaded. She needs to feel what driving out feels like. Right now, she's kind of falling forward.

2) Getting good resistance on the front side when she lands. She's kind of losing some resistance when she lands the left foot. You want her to be landing fairly hard on the foot to stop her forward motion towards the batter and transfer that energy into arm whip. If you can't hear her foot making noise when she's landing, she's not stopping hard enough.

I really like how she looks for a 10 year old. A lot of the normal problems you see aren't there!

Thanks...yep...need to work on being more aggressive. The resistance from the front side is something that the local coach stresses in the clinics and she needs to get back to that instead of falling forward as you correctly described it. I like the load/drive idea and will try that. Think I remember seeing that on a Rita Lynn Gilman video.

Love this site...keep em comin! Thanks guys.

Tom

 

[EP Dad]

We're Little League and they don't require the back foot be in contact with the rubber, only behind it. But I agree that it is probably worth changing now rather than later.

Interesting. 10U here they require it. Didn't know.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

High school rules don't require it, either. I know that ASA does. I don't know about the rest.

 

[NVfishing]

I put a piece of tape on the power line where DD has been landing when I practice indoors. Then have DD try and drive past that for more explosion.