Pitching Mechanics Slump?

[WiZ]

This past week and a half I've been at a complete loss of words.

My daughter has went from being in perfect form and popping the glove to doing nothing right. Honestly, almost like it was her first month or so when she took up pitching. She is 10 but has been taking lessons for 1.5 years. We throw 3 times a week for 45 minutes each session. She has went from a consistent 45-47 on her fastball to 41-42 and her form looks horrible. Her drag is back to being crooked, she is off her powerline, she isnt snapping her wrist or bringing her elbow through to the center.

She says she wants it and that she is trying, but I honestly dont "see it". Have any of you been through something like this? I mean she has had her "moments" in the past but NEVER anything this bad.



and



Feel free to comment on my over-reacting or something you think I can pick on to start fixing. 1.5 months until opening day and I didnt plan on going backwards right now.

 

[sluggers]

Feel free to comment on my over-reacting

Oh...OK, if you insist.

"Shoot her now and end your misery."
"Oh, wow, I've never heard of a 10YOA girl being inconsistent."
"What? Only 45MPH at 10YOA??? CHEESE & RICE!"
"Give her her teddy bear back, and maybe she'll pitch better."
"Promise to buy her an IPAD if she breaks 50 MPH."
"Doesn't she know there is nothing more important then opening day for 10U softball???"
"How is it possible for a pitcher to be THAT inconsistent? After all, Mark Buerhle went 2-7 after pitching a perfect game."
"You think you got problems now, wait until she turns 13."
"And you want to know why we call them 'Crazy Pitching Daddies'?"

 

[WiZ]

..... point taken.

 

[Julie-flawlessfastpitch]

Fun drills and adjustments

Of course, ten is a very difficult age as far as consistency is concerned. There are however, a few mechanical things that I noticed that I think will be helpful in terms of keeping that inconsistency to a minimum and cutting down on some possible long-term errors. There are also a few fun drills you can do with her to help her accuracy.
Mechanical Notes
In both videos, she actually has very similar mechanics. There are three major errors that will impede her consistency:
1. You mentioned that her right leg kicks out behind her body. This is true, and she also drops her heel to the ground, which makes it very difficult to avoid repeating that same mistake over and over. You will find that when that heel doesn't hit, her leg drive will be cleaner, smoother and more efficient. Start with the towel drill (dragging it with the big toe) and go from there.
2. She has some serious chicken wing and I am guessing "side spin" on her ball. Chicken wing can be indicative of her circle coming just slightly behind her body. Since there is no footage from that angle, it is tough to tell. Film her from behind and play it back in slow motion. If her hand is heading behind her hip, this is the reason for the chicken wing and will also plague her as a source of inconsistency.
3. She pulls her head out at release point. This is very common for young girls and hurts their accuracy. I do a drill with my girls where I hold up the glove and tell them that I am going to flash a number with my right hand in the middle of their pitch. They then have to tell me the number at the end of the pitch. I always flash the number at the point in the motion where they pull their head out. this forces them to focus. You can also have lots of fun with accuracy by doing silly drills outside of a training area. Line up some cans on a fence and see how many she can knock down. Play P-I-T-C-H (like H-O-R-S-E, but with pitch location). These are fun drills for a young girl, but they also require focus.

I do understand the point of view that she is only ten and we don't want to take things too seriously at that age. On the other hand, she looks like a wonderful athlete, and we want to cultivate that talent while minimizing her risk of injury. These small adjustments should keep things fun, keep her arm safe (sidearm is not good for the arm), and also allow for progress.
Julie Soviero
Welcome to FlawlessFastpitch.com - Be better than good... Be flawless!
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Youtube: TheSpinZone

 

[rowdy]

Just make sure she isn't making mechanical changes to reduce the pain she shouldn't have in her arm. One common mistake made with younger kids is no off season. If she had been working all winter she may just have some arm fatigue.

 

[Ken Krause]

Big thing I see is her front shoulder pulling out instead of staying firm. If you don't have a firm front shoulder it can cause some of the other problems.

Given that, my guess is that she's trying too hard, and thus doing whatever she feels will give her more power. Unfortunately, pulling the shoulder out like that, and tensing up your arm, are two things that make a pitcher feel strong but actually hurt speed and mechanics.

Try having her stand with her feet far apart in a sideway position, the throw a pitch. The front foot doesn't move, but the back foot drives in. That will help her work on her drag without worrying about staying on the power line, and will help her work on keeping her front shoulder in until it's knocked out by the arm pulling the back shoulder through. I'd rather see her shoulders closer to 45 degrees when she's finished than being so straight on to the plate with them.

Mostly, though, tell her to relax and have fun. You'd be surprised how often kids who "want it" forget that it's a game, and games are supposed to be fun. When that happens, they can have all kinds of breakdowns.

 

[Glipski]

Don't worry Wiz...they all have brain damage apparently. Mine is 11 and she obviously doesn't realize that anything short of strikes is unacceptable. I've tried to reinforce this fact to her using belts, large sticks and trained attack dogs, however no matter the incentive, she continues to do what she wants...

I'm kidding...we forget they're just little girls. She'll be just fine as long as she keeps practicing. Just keep an eye on her form and enjoy the time you get to spend with her. She'll be grown way too soon and all you'll have are your memories. The absolute HARDEST thing I've had to learn is to keep my mouth shut and just enjoy watching her pitch.

 

[WiZ]

Thanks for the words... I guess I panic easy.

 

[redondo85]

At 10 she's working on speed. Do you have her hit her spots - outside fast balls and inside fastballs. Set up a bucket where an inside and outside softball should land in the catchers mitt and have her hit the bucket while you stand next to her to study her form.

If she feels any kind of negativity from having to always throw strikes she will want to quit pitching in a year or so. Kids that age will have one great game and a bad game or two. If she's throwing too high or in the dirt that's fine. My DD had games where she was all over the place when she started and turned out alright. Let them make mistakes and don't get down on them like I did. I almost made my DD quit so many times because I didn't allow her to relax on the mound. Practice makes perfect.
Also, let your daughter throw as hard as she can into the backstop during practice to see how it feels to throw at 100%. During practice tell her to pitch as hard as she can so that she knows how it feels in the game. You don't want her aiming her pitches, especially if she's pressured to throw strikes.

 

[savagesoftball4]

Quicksand

Just joined and saw this post.. Thought I'd give my experience and advice.

Whenever I was pitching or nowadays when one of my dedicated students start losing their basic mechanics, it's usually due to them/ME trying to hard. Bad pitches, then get frustrated, try harder, starting adding extra stuff to their pitch they don't need, and dig themselves deeper into bad habits.

Basically give her three things to focus on. "Keep it simple" is one of the things I tell them. Find the three most important mechanics to work on and once she has those down start focusing on three more. The control should start to find its way back.

Positive reinforcement is a must when they are beating themselves up. It took my dad a few years to catch in to that lol!!

In this instance I use a line from the movie "The Replacements" eventhough the young students haven't seen the movie:

"You're playing and you think everything is going fine. Then one thing goes wrong. And then another. And another. You try to fight back, but the harder you fight, the deeper you sink. Until you can't move... you can't breathe... because you're in over your head. Like quicksand."