need some advice on DD's pitching form

[Ericas_dad]

My DD is 10 y/o ad is now wanting to start pitching. I used advice of a few here and had her do some of the drills from the I/R Classroom. They made a big difference and help her greatly. I was wondering what othe corrections I could make to get her more accurate. Thanks in advance

 

[JJsqueeze]

I wouldn't even worry about accuracy right now. I would never give her any feedback on accuracy at all as a matter of fact. I would just work the mechanics.


The good:
She gets open nicely
Her arm circle looks nice and straight and her hand is not doing anything wrong position wise during the circle.
She gets into a pretty good X position
Her stride foot lands at a good 45 degree angle

The Bad:

He arm is stiff throughout he motion, there needs to be a slight elbow bend on the downswing to allow the forearm to fire at release
She completely leaves her pivot leg behind during delivery, this needs to drag forward to allow the correct posture during delivery
She bends over toward third base to allow the arm to have a clear path- she needs to remain tall and get used to that arm being very very close to her body -brushing her side- during delivery
She snaps he arm back and does not let the arm and hand naturally fallow through- this is a velocity killer and an accuracy killer- let her arm and hand naturally follow the ball out towards the catcher. No need to artificially snap her forearm up and pull back.

Your mantra right now should be mechanics-mechanics-mechanics and completely ignore accuracy. When she gets the mechanics right the accuracy will come. if you give accuracy feedback then you are drawing the focus away from the process (mechanics) onto the result (accuracy) and it can encourage bad habits.

 

[Ken B]

I'd keep the focus on developing whip. Let accuracy happen by practice once she's got whip down. Keep at the I/R in the Classroom basics.

I'd suggest taking the catcher out of the equation while she's figuring this out. Throw up close into a net, backstop etc.

On the side and without a ball, work on a strong drive--using the hands to help her swing out.

Once she's got both looking good, put them together.

This process can be slow, but patience and persistance leads to a very nice reward. Kids who just want to throw strikes and have short attention spans can be tough, but keep it fun, make games out of things and don't drill into boredom. Keep the work quality; not quantity.


Hope that helps,
Ken

 

[Ken B]

Dang! Beat again! What he said ^

 

[JJsqueeze]

Dang! Beat again! What he said ^

very slow at work today....

 

[Ericas_dad]

Thanks to you both for the feedback and its quickness. She is aware of the leaning forward and gets frustrated when she does it. Do you have any suggestions on how we can "fix" that?

 

[JJsqueeze]

I think by de-emphasizing the accuracy and keying in on the feel of staying tall, with her arm really tight to her belly, I should take care of itself. For feel stuff like this I will have my daughter pitch with her eyes closed to concentrate on the feel. I do this a lot with her whenever I feel she is focusing on the result instead of the mechanics. When she had done enough reps she can open her eyes.

 

[halskinner]

Her stride is very short and doubtful if it is consistent. If the stride is not consistent, nothing else will be either.

Here are the 3 things that are important to a 10yo pitcher;

1. STRIKES.
2. STRIKE OUTS.
3. Everything else involved.



SHRINK HER STRIKE ZONE. Do you have a hitting tee? Put a ball on top of that. Hit the ball, knock it off the tee, its a strike. Be sure and tell her this is NOT an easy thing to do.

If her hand is big enough, have her make the old peace sign from the 60's. Then put the thumb out to the side and grip the ball like that. Try and keep the ring and pinky fingers out of the way to the side of the ball if possible.

Now release the ball with the palm up and that peace sign pointing straight towards the catcher no other follow through.

Pinpoint accura comes from 'Fingertip finesse'. Dont tuck the ball back in the hand so far back it touches the palm. Keep iy at least the thickness of a popsicle stick away from the palm, fingertip finesse.

Listen to whoever you want on accuracy advice. I am telling what has worked with hundreds of 8 to 10 year old beginners. Her accuracy will come quickly this way. Or, you can do it a different way and take a long walk down Frustration Avenue.

Extend he stride to just a few inches under her height.

Good luck to that very strong young lady.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Hal-This is the worst advice I have ever seen you give. This girl is a long way from worrying about accuracy. Trying to teach "fingertip finesse" before the basic building blocks are there is back a$$wards. The follow through advice will encourage her to use a bowling motion. Having her trying to focus on knocking a ball off of a tee? can you imagine how frustrating this will be? I can see her tightening up, and guiding it, trying so hard to hit that ball and forgetting the mechanics that will eventually lead to that type of accuracy.

Erica's Dad- Please don't believe that there is a magical shortcut to good pitching. She is a beginner with a lot of potential, build the foundation correctly, it only takes a motivated 3-4 months and she will be in good shape. Keep doing the IR thread drills religiously and to perfection and this will all come together.

 

[halskinner]

JJ,

I dont give a rats butt what you picture could happen MR 3 TO 4 MONTHS! When I got a brand new very young beginner this is exactly how I started them all off. Oh yeah, I only had 45 minutes to an hour during that very first lesson to get them throwing mostly strikes and with some appreciable speed. 3 to 4 months??? If I had ever told any of my student's parents that, they would have tarred and feathered me!

If you have never done this, why the criticism? I know how to start them off and get them competitive very quickly. But maybe all the very young beginners I started off were all geniuses, tremendous athletes and all had exceptional God given talent. NOT! I went home with a soaked t shirt and tired when my teaching nights were done.

I ALSO KNOW HOW QUICKLY A YOUNG BEGINNING PITCHER CAN THROW IN THE TOWEL AND NEVER LOOK BACK.