Please, looking for critique

[mothgirl]

My 14yr old dd is working on her pitching, she was taught HE for almost a year. Injuries put her out for 18mos, that's when I found this site, thank you all very much for taking the time to share your knowledge!! We found a PC who teaches I/R, my dd loves her so do I. My dd has made so much progress the last 6-7 months because she's practing consistently now, but she still has a long way to go. I will appreciate any feedback, tips, drills etc.. that you think may help her. I'm here to learn all I can, so please don't suger coat it, I will not get offended. Thank you, I'm posting videos from YouTube I watch them in coaches eye so I can see them in slow mo, but I don't know how to post a slow mo video here yet. Thank you for your time!! I think my dd is still pushing the ball half the time, (in slo mo I can see it) she has a tendency to lean over and release in a closed position, she currently working on not closing till after release. It looks like the ball faces third base a lot of the time (we do lots of BM drills) we actually stopped doing BM drills recently because PC thought it was making her shorten her arm and cup the ball, but since we stopped her speed has definitely gone down. She struggles with speed, she pitches 45 up to 50 on a good day. She recently changed her wind up to take away backswing because she was missing to the right (which I thought was good cuz she was trying to catch the whip) PC said it was due to her opening too soon, (maybe it was both,idk) but the no backswing has lost her some speed. It did seem to help with missing to the right? Those are just some of the things we have been working thru, Fyi- I'm just a mom trying to help my dd, I'm really an idiot when it comes to this stuff but trying to learn! Lots more videos on my YouTube page some from a few months ago and some from yesterday, thanks again for helping!

http://youtu.be/m6uK255ORIM
http://youtu.be/m6uK255ORIM

[video=youtube_share;4guKPvfMO6s]http://youtu.be/4guKPvfMO6s[/video]

 

[marriard]

I like the mechanics of the arm for the most part... Feels like there is more there, but the actual motion looks decent.

But there is nothing coming from the legs. And I mean nothing. She seems to be just kinda stepping out there without any push or explosion. If this is her full pitch, she needs to get stacked and explode off the rubber.

Grabbed the first decent pitcher video I went to because they all get a lot out of their legs.



Look purely at the leg push generated, the high stride knee and then the resistance against the front leg. Amanda here explodes 2-3 feet off the rubber with a straight drag before her leg actually kind of goes on the same foot path that your DD does right off the rubber. Trace this videos drag and then compare to your DD and you will see a major difference.

When you look at your DD's video. No push, her knee barely goes up at all and in the end she is not dragging out at all. She actually looks like she is getting ready to throw really hard... and then she doesn't.

 

[marriard]

Btw, you don't need a powerdrive... A little exercise balance dome works ($10 or so)

 

[2DDspitching]

I like the mechanics of the arm for the most part... Feels like there is more there, but the actual motion looks decent.

But there is nothing coming from the legs. And I mean nothing. She seems to be just kinda stepping out there without any push or explosion. If this is her full pitch, she needs to get stacked and explode off the rubber.

Grabbed the first decent pitcher gif I went to because they all get a lot out of their legs.



Look at the push, the high stride knee and then the resistance against the front leg.

Now look at your video. No push, her knee barely goes up at all and in the end she is not dragging out at all.

This ^^^^^^

Looks like the old step style (the girl in the op)

 

[mothgirl]

http://youtu.be/aLIgOfF46zQ

http://youtu.be/6fAqqxWO6g8

Thank you very much for your feedback!!

Here is some more videos of practicing. If you look at the video in my first post you can see the yellow pod sitting there in the dirt, she just started using it. Leg drive is definitely one of the things she needs to focus on. She was striding out further, but I asked her to focus on pushing more, I told her for right now I don't care how far she strides out I care about how fast she gets there(I've only said this to her this week so it's still new). It seemed like she was just reaching before, I think what she does now is actually an improvement from a few months ago. Idk some days she seems to drive out great and then it's gone. It's something we have focused on, but until very recently (when I read drive mechanics) did I realize that's it's not a long hard push. Rose and I both thought it was a slow hard push, her PC would tell her to speed up her windup, be explosive off the rubber, push as hard as she can. It just didn't click till I read Javas post that it's supposed to be a quick hard push, duh!

Her arm looks ok to me sometimes she gets good load, but lots of times the ball is facing third at 12:00 then she turns it palm up for 9:00, then she unloads before snap, and I think her I/R is late most of the time? Wow that seems like a lot when you write it all out! Not good, but maybe I'm wrong I would love to hear from BM the I/R batman�� I think I need to read I/R in the classroom for the 10th time!

 

[chrispots]

IMO, focus on overlap. She's all back then all forward.

Do you see how Littlejohn's arm is moving backward as her body is moving forward? That is overlap...

CP

 

[mothgirl]

Ok, that's what I've been thinking, there are so many things she needs to work on, we get off track. I'm definitely wondering where the best place to start is, I go back and forth between ball position/arm circle/whip and front side and drive. She's making progress thats the good part. PC doesn't talk about overlap, I texted her a coupe threads on it, hopefully she can help with it. I like her PC because she's always learning she's been doing it a long time but is always seeking new ways to help. Thanks guys keep em coming this is great!! Really appreciated!!

 

[FrozenRope]

Your DD can not have 'three masters' in pitching (parent, PC, forum).

Pick one and go with it. If the PC is not a good one, get a different one. The posts here are opinions, unless the PC states his or her name. The terms here are different than those used out in the world. This overload of masters can cause friction with the PC and confusion with your DD. Just like this is my opinion. But I see you are beginning to see the overload that is occurring. Have her pick some things to do or work on, and look at the results herself; she is at the age to do so.

I disagree. Perfect time of year for this cliche'. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Despite what OILF suggests....you're doing it right. Educate yourself. This will help you in evaluating what she's being taught and will help you understand the shortcomings in her mechanics. Don't turn your back on her and leave it up to a PC. Stay involved....reinforce and support.

 

[JAD]

Pitchers are not clones of one another, so a good PC will work the maximize the potential of each pitcher. My advice to the parent of a pitcher would be to learn as much as you can from as many sources as you can and apply that knowledge to find what works best for your DD. I would also like to emphasize that good pitchers throw 3-4 times/week in addition to their weekly pitching lesson.

 

[JAD]

Do you see how Littlejohn's arm is moving backward as her body is moving forward? That is overlap...

The amount of "overlap" a pitcher uses is typically dictated by her arm speed, and is part of the timing to find the correct release point.