Questions from a pitcher...

[Sponge]

Hey all, My DD has a few questions and I thought it would be good if she asked them here herself. She has been practicing the Leap and Drag motion from 12 oclock to release and I told her to think about confusing points or questions she may have.

1. How far away from my body should my hand be at release?
2. On another question it stated when forearm whips your hand is about
3-4 inches away from your body is that true?
3. Should my thighs come together on the finish?
4. Whare ar the main pitches I should be throwing at the high school level?
5. Should my arm be tense at release and then loosen up or loose all the
way through?
6. Should I be showing the ball towards 3rd at 3 oclock? at 12 oclock?

Thanks for letting me ask my questions here and helping me...

 

[sluggers]

You say you are a pitcher, and not the dad...so, I'm answering the question for the DD, not the Daddy.

First, you are breaking down the pitching motion into too much detail. The questions you ask are appropriate for a teacher, but not necessarily for someone learning to pitch. If a pitcher starts focusing on the precise location of a body part, the pitcher will lose the flow of the pitching motion.

Believe it or not, an experienced pitching coach can see when a kid is thinking "Do A, then do B, now do C" as opposed to simply throwing the ball. Pitchers who simply throw the ball are smoother and faster than kids who are "mechanical". So, you want to stay away from thinking about specific body part locations during the pitch.

Now, if you were a pitching coach, then you might want to look at this in more detail. And, there are great discussions on this board about topics such as "how many degrees should the hips be closed." Those discussions are for teachers. For a pitcher, you have to have "flow"

To your questions:

(1) The hand is very close to the body at release. You should spend time looking in the "Pitcher Video" thread. There is a video of Jenny Finch and Sarah Pauly. Watch those videos a 1000 times. You can see the hand being close to the body. BUT: Focusing on your circle. The circle should be in a plane that is perpendicular to the ground. If you keep your arm in that plane, then your hand will be in the correct position at release.

(2) It might be...it depends upon what you mean by whip. The elbow leads the hand down. But, again, you are asking for trouble if your thought process is "whip when my hand is 3.5" from my right leg". You should focus on getting to 12 o'clock, extending the arm as much as possible, and then pulling down with your elbow.

(3) The follow through is a natural result of releasing the ball. You shouldn't force anything into any particular position. Again, look at the videos of Jenny Finch. But, even with Finch, you'll notice that not every pitch is exactly the same.

(4) Fastball, changeup and either a down (drop) or an up (rise). Again, you will get Dads saying their DD throws a great screw or curve, but they don't. In softball, you have to have vertical movement (up or down) on your breaking pitch, or you will, sooner or later, get hammered.

(5) Your arm is a rubber band during the pitch. (Watch the Ueno video to see someone with a rubber band for an arm.) Your arm is extended fully at the top of the circle, then you pull down with your elbow, your forearm "turns over" right before release, and then the ball is gone. Tension is to be avoided in pitching, as it is in all athletic motions. Focus on being smooth, relaxed, and powerful. You gather all your energy when you slowly do the back swing with your arm, and then you explode. Think smooth.

Pay attention to your follow-through in the sense of letting it flow to a natural stopping point. Don't *you* stop your body.

(6) Look at the Finch and Pauly videos if you want to know the exact location of the ball. But, again, the focus is on the circle, not the hand position. If you do the circle correctly, your hand will be in the correct position.

 

[ponytailpower]

Sluggers nailed this one on all accounts. Thinking too much totally throws off a pitcher. It is the coaches job to analze and the pitchers job to throw the ball. A loose relaxed motion will naturally create a correct arm position (the majority of the time). Let your coach adjust mechanics and as the student, focus on making these corections with a loose and relaxed motion. This combination will give you the best results.

 

[redhawkridge]

A common problem with young pitchers is to throw as hard as possible. Causes them to tense up, which results in an arm that "shortens" up as they try to make it faster thru the windmill. And they tend to pull up at the point of release, thinking that's the way to snap the wrist.
So, as said by other commentors, relax. Loose shoulders and arm muscles. Think sweeping motions, not tight circles. If you pitch at 90% effort, the effect will be a relaxed delivery that delivers the ball at least as fast as your 100-110% effort.
jim

 

[CoachFP]

A common problem with young pitchers is to throw as hard as possible. Causes them to tense up, which results in an arm that "shortens" up as they try to make it faster thru the windmill. And they tend to pull up at the point of release, thinking that's the way to snap the wrist.
So, as said by other commentors, relax. Loose shoulders and arm muscles. Think sweeping motions, not tight circles. If you pitch at 90% effort, the effect will be a relaxed delivery that delivers the ball at least as fast as your 100-110% effort.
jim

You hit on a great point. The debate over to learn control first or to throw hard first. How many instructors tell their students to throw hard/hard/hard and the control will come later? By trying to throw harder the kid never gets the ability to be relaxed and they suffer for it later.