Pitching Critique

[squarecmb]

My daughter has said she wants to try pitching and has been willing to take the time necessary to work on it. I don’t know a ton about pitching (what to look for, drills, etc) and finding a good pitching coach (in the Austin area) has proven difficult. I think from watching the videos she maybe has too large of a back swing, occasionally swims her glove shoulder, and is standing up to straight on the rock back thus not driving forward enough. Not sure if it matters, but she just turned 10 and although she has been working on pitching for awhile she has only recently been willing to put in any real effort into it. Thoughts? Tips? Thanks in advance!

walk throughs (I think these were only 50%.. she usually does 50/75/100%)


start on one leg


jump and pitch


land on one leg


full pitch

 

[Bonesaw]

I think that she is on the right track. I would say priority number 1 is get her on a team where she gets to pitch alot!

 

[Rolling Hard]

I like throwing into a net. Relaxes her and she can work on her drills, rhythm and mechanics without aiming.

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

Just a couple of thoughts. She looks really good for 10yo. Keep working for consistency.
I don't like the land on one leg drill - to me it encourages a straight up, straight down effort, rather than directional to the catcher. Consider replacing it with a knees-together then fall back drill.
I do like the one leg launch drill though. Keep working that one. It builds good core control.
She sometimes has an issue with the drive foot 'anchoring' - the foot turns full sideways and drags the entire side of the foot. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. (She leaped once in the full pitches also. I believe this is encouraged by the one-leg landing drill and is another reason to nix it.) Work on staying on the toes consistently. The wear on the shoe should be just the side of the big toe.
Her arm on some pitches is more 'whippy' than others. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it looks like she's trying to guide the ball through release. The arm should be like a trebuchet. The ball releases as a reaction to the upper arm compressing against the ribs, causing the lower arm, wrist, fingers to accelerate and eject the ball. All you can control is your body. You can't control the ball. Give up the idea of trying to control the release. Set your body up correctly and the ball will react as a result.

(ETA, Sarah Pauly teaches out of Austin, I believe)

 

[Fury_Mike]

Just a couple of thoughts. She looks really good for 10yo. Keep working for consistency.
I don't like the land on one leg drill - to me it encourages a straight up, straight down effort, rather than directional to the catcher. Consider replacing it with a knees-together then fall back drill.
I do like the one leg launch drill though. Keep working that one. It builds good core control.
She sometimes has an issue with the drive foot 'anchoring' - the foot turns full sideways and drags the entire side of the foot. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. (She leaped once in the full pitches also. I believe this is encouraged by the one-leg landing drill and is another reason to nix it.) Work on staying on the toes consistently. The wear on the shoe should be just the side of the big toe.
Her arm on some pitches is more 'whippy' than others. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it looks like she's trying to guide the ball through release. The arm should be like a trebuchet. The ball releases as a reaction to the upper arm compressing against the ribs, causing the lower arm, wrist, fingers to accelerate and eject the ball. All you can control is your body. You can't control the ball. Give up the idea of trying to control the release. Set your body up correctly and the ball will react as a result.

(ETA, Sarah Pauly teaches out of Austin, I believe)

Great analysis!!! Also looks like you have taught her IR which will serve her well. I really like the “dog distraction drill”.

 

[squarecmb]

Thanks everyone who replied and thanks @gertrudethemutilator for the detailed analysis. Do you have a video example of the knees together then fall back drill? Also any idea on drills / exercises we can use to work on the drag foot? I'll have to look back at my notes, but if I remember correctly the land on one leg drill was recommended because she had a tendency to land with her front foot at 90 degrees which if you do the land on one leg drill you'll fall over from your body's momentum. It was a way to get her to try and turn that foot towards the catcher as much as possible.

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

Thanks everyone who replied and thanks @gertrudethemutilator for the detailed analysis. Do you have a video example of the knees together then fall back drill? Also any idea on drills / exercises we can use to work on the drag foot? I'll have to look back at my notes, but if I remember correctly the land on one leg drill was recommended because she had a tendency to land with her front foot at 90 degrees which if you do the land on one leg drill you'll fall over from your body's momentum. It was a way to get her to try and turn that foot towards the catcher as much as possible.

I'll look for a video example online. It's basically a full pitch where you emphasize a strong close of the knees (pull together at a natural position, under the hips -not a forced hips to catcher close), then allow the body to fall back, catch yourself on the drag leg. (a falling back, not a step back). But I recommended that on the assumption that focus was on front side resistance, not the foot angle. Same objective though.

Interesting you say that about the front foot. The dragging back foot relates to the front foot landing too open. Two sides of the same coin. A dragging back foot pulls the hips open, and therefore would cause her front foot to land 90deg open.

Root cause of landing too open differs, but in her case I'm looking straight at that back foot. Agree with other commenters, her motions look natural. Nothing forced going on, so looks like she's been taught well . So I don't think in her case she's thinking of getting open (i.e. forcing the hips). I know she's not trying to land open (i.e. forcing the landing). So that's a strong implication that the root cause is that back foot drag. Also, as dragging the back leg is a result of 'laziness', it's also the most common imo. (Disclaimer: I'm not saying she or anyone else is lazy - far from it, she's showing some work ethic! But let's be honest, humans have evolved to put the least amount of effort required into a task to survive. And it takes discipline to say 'I need to make this extra effort every time'. And we get tired and revert to the thing that requires less effort. So this probably will take a while to bake in as the new normal.)

I would try the simple cue of driving out strong, but keeping everything directional to the catcher, and just bring awareness to the drag foot. On toe, not side; shoelaces pointing in the general vicinity of the catcher, not the sky. After a pitch ask - did it feel more like a blue whale trying to get out of the water? Or a gull skimming the surface?

 

[Fury_Mike]

The back foot heal plant is very common especially with younger pitchers. As parents, coaches and even some instructors are constantly emphasizing stride length. Stride length in most cases is a bad cue. It reinforces a big “step” away from the rubber, or “how far can we get the stride foot out”. The farther we try and go out with it, the more the hips open, moving past the 64 degrees mark. Teach her to get both hips to travel forward. Most of this can be ac accomplished by pushing off as the back knee is driving past the front knee (ie, timing). Use the technique of a broad jump to help visualize and feel the change.

 

[cvsoftball]

I have pitchers simply start walk down a hallway or room or whatever and just going through the wind up, stride leg step, drive knee comes forward and drive foot straight and on toe. then start again and again and again, etc. every day until I see them at next practice. I don't think it ever becomes perfect but the drive foot no longer serves as a anchor.

 

[mel77]

There is one tincher instructor listed in Austin: https://tincherpitching.com/instructors/