My 15 yo DD ...wanting to improve this off season.

[bobbyb]

.......Because she WAY over-strides.........To the point that her body cannot "contract" that much spread........So she's in essence "stuck" on her back side..........

Ok..i don't understand "stuck on her back side". What would i see at release (or any other point) that would show she did "contract" her amount of spread? How much shortening of stride would I be looking for? She is 5'3" tall.

 

[BoardMember]

The bottom line is.......She has the foundation of really good mechanics.......And if the arm circle flaw and over-stride are corrected.......It Will add plenty of velocity to the whipping action and the ball...........

Her stride must ONLY be far enough that she can "bring it all together" into her front leg in the release/follow-through.........

 

[BoardMember]

Ok..i don't understand "stuck on her back side". What would i see at release (or any other point) that would show she did "contract" her amount of spread? How much shortening of stride would I be looking for? She is 5'3" tall.

When her thighs look like this...............You'll know the distance........

 

[BoardMember]

What you see here is her front leg "retreating" to meet the back leg during "contraction"...........Because she isn't strong enough (yet) to overcome this spread.........That's what I mean by "stuck" on her backside.........

 

[BoardMember]

One way to overcome this is to ask here to take a forward step with the back leg past the front or "walk out of the pitch" smoothly......AFTER RELEASE.......AS A DRILL of course...............You'll see what I mean by "stuck"..........As soon as she's "unstuck"..........She'll be able to take a nice balanced forward step...........

Take a look at these thighs during contraction....."Into" the front leg.........She throws upwards of 65mph........This young lady can walk out of her pitch with no problem........And infact does so in a drill as "transfer" training..........

 

[bobbyb]

Ok...i think i understand that. What ever length of stride... that she can stick the landing (for no better term) and contract... for her strength is far enough and she wouldn't lose linear momentum. On track here?

This last post clears up contraction good. I am with you now. TY

 

[BoardMember]

Contract INTO her front leg.......

Yep........You know it when you see it..........And so will your hand!.......Fix the arm circle and overstride and she'll be well on her way to hurting you........

 

[BoardMember]

Her body will also figure out that she can't "contract" into the powerline if she is closed back to the target.......If she did......The ball would shoot WAY outside as the arms and legs "pull together" into themselves...........

Best of luck with her off season development........

 

[bobbyb]

I look forward to requiring more gear and padding my glove! Thank you very much for your time. If you see anything else please go ahead and point them out. I definitely have not thought nor read any posts geared towards this line of thought of contracting...if i did, i didn't get it. I think she will be able to pick these up fairly easy cause she has good body control. Giving up her style in the pre launch movement ...that is another story!

 

[tomzpc]

Fascinating and eye-opening thread. Bobbyb, thanks for posting and allowing the experts to comment on and dissect your DD's motion which looks real good to my untrained eye.