My daughter has been pitching for 4 years and in the last year has developed a bad habit where her arm is bent too much and she is getting called for illegal pitches because it is outside the elbow. I am looking for drills that may help correct this issue. She somehow turns the ball backwards at about 10 oclock on the windmill motion and then in an effort to get it to face forward again for the release is coming away from her body. Her pitching coach has had her put a ball in a sock and do her arm circles grasping the top of the sock instead of the ball and this seems to help, but I am looking for some other tips.
Pitching Issue (Arm away from body)
- Thread starter cthur
- Start date
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She is not alone in developing problems at about 14. I am seeing a lot of girls her age, that are new to me, but are coming in with various problems. They have gotten to the age where they either need to make it or quit and they have either added something to their pitching and hitting or they were never really taught correctly.
Here is what I tell everyone else.
- no pitching until she fixes this. She is going to have to stand and look in a mirror and fix her arm circle. This may take as many days as she has been doing it incorrectly. She does not want to keep reinforcing bad habits.
Study all that you can on here about Internal Rotation, arm whip, pulling down on the ball and leading with the elbow. There is a devise that you can put on her hip, that she needs to swipe as she goes past. I made one, but it is really annoying and hard to get to stay on the hip. http://theperfectcircle.com/
Is she leaning over to her right side, too?
Here is what I tell everyone else.
- no pitching until she fixes this. She is going to have to stand and look in a mirror and fix her arm circle. This may take as many days as she has been doing it incorrectly. She does not want to keep reinforcing bad habits.
Study all that you can on here about Internal Rotation, arm whip, pulling down on the ball and leading with the elbow. There is a devise that you can put on her hip, that she needs to swipe as she goes past. I made one, but it is really annoying and hard to get to stay on the hip. http://theperfectcircle.com/
Is she leaning over to her right side, too?
- Jul 26, 2010
- 3,553
- 0
She's doing it pitching full speed because she thinks that pitching faster means pitching harder, and she is tensing her muscles, probably closing too early, and lifting her shoulder, the arm has to fly out to avoid bashing herself in the hip (probably not a problem she had when she was younger). If she's overweight and is pitching open, her belly is probably getting in the way causing problems (this is why you see the heavier pitchers pitching more closed, the padding negates whatever hips may exist and the belly is in the way of pitching open).
She needs to relax to throw faster, not tense up. This is why I always advocate doing everything full speed, because if you practice drills at half speed, you have to teach everything over again when the speed is at 100%.
The drills Amy mentioned are exactly what she needs to do, just make sure she does them at game speed when she's in the mirror after she is sure her circle is correct going slowly.
-W
She needs to relax to throw faster, not tense up. This is why I always advocate doing everything full speed, because if you practice drills at half speed, you have to teach everything over again when the speed is at 100%.
The drills Amy mentioned are exactly what she needs to do, just make sure she does them at game speed when she's in the mirror after she is sure her circle is correct going slowly.
-W
That is the other part I dont really understand, but had read about is as girls get older they adjust for the change in the hips etc. My daughter is 5' and skinny as a rail. I think she may have picked it up when she was learning to throw a riseball with having the wrist cocked. We have always thrown all of her drills at 100%. Thanks for the help. It sounds like it is just having her do enough exercises and reps the correct way for her body to relearn the correct muscle memory.
By full speed in the first post, I should have just said a complete pitch. Sorry for the confusion.
By full speed in the first post, I should have just said a complete pitch. Sorry for the confusion.
Last edited:
- Nov 29, 2009
- 2,974
- 83
Wall drills.
Find a tall, smooth wall. Have her stand with her toes about 6" from the wall. Have her feet spread slightly wider than her shoulders. She should be able reach forward with her head and touch the wall with her forehead. Now have her do do full circles with her arm. Her hand should barely graze the wall. Have her do the drill with her eyes closed so she can feel it. After that have her use a ball, wiffle ball or rolled up pair of socks. Have her throw the ball. This is not about speed. It is about getting arm circle in the correct path. Again have her do it with her eyes closed. DON'T let her stick her backside out to make room for her arm. This is to get her used to keeping the arm tight to the body during the delivery.
Find a tall, smooth wall. Have her stand with her toes about 6" from the wall. Have her feet spread slightly wider than her shoulders. She should be able reach forward with her head and touch the wall with her forehead. Now have her do do full circles with her arm. Her hand should barely graze the wall. Have her do the drill with her eyes closed so she can feel it. After that have her use a ball, wiffle ball or rolled up pair of socks. Have her throw the ball. This is not about speed. It is about getting arm circle in the correct path. Again have her do it with her eyes closed. DON'T let her stick her backside out to make room for her arm. This is to get her used to keeping the arm tight to the body during the delivery.
