Some thoughts would be appreciated

[jazz10NE]

After being on the other end of the pitches for 4 years my daughter has asked to pitch. We got her started with a pitching coach in the area and have been to 3 lessons.

Here is a few of her better pitches. First in real time then in slow motion. Forgot to mention she is 12.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

She has the perfect spot there to work on staying on her power line. Watch the front foot stride out away from it. Also, her arm circle is not straight. It goes back behind her, then she has to correct it and it can't get on the correct plain.

One other thing that I would correct is that she is getting her grip outside of the glove and she barely brings the glove and hand together. Get the grip with the ball inside of the glove.

But, over all, she looks good and is having fun. Are you in your kitchen?

 

[Ken Krause]

I like to work backwards, so I would recommend having her finish longer and looser. She seems to be a little restricted at release. Definitely on the first pitch, but to some extent throughout.

By the way, I'm not particularly paranoid about this stuff but I know other people have concerns. I would recommend if you are going to post video on YouTube that your daughter not wear a hoodie with her last name on the back when you shoot it. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Steve Huff]

jazz1one, there are some good points here. I like everything Ken said, and I like Amy's point about the "power-line" using the crack on the "kitchen" floor! There are a lot of detail issues you can work on. But I suggest you chose everything that is said, filter it, and then work from the simplest to the most complex. Some issues are more high impact and also more habit forming, so that must be considered in the complexity sequence.

1) Make sure she is not gripping the ball too deep in the palm. If necessary, move the fingers around on the seams to find a grip.
2) Ken's point about the locked elbow would come next for me. She is locking her elbow and "lifting" her pitches with the forearm. That makes her throw high and also cuts her speed. You can try to tell her to follow through more by driving her elbow behind the pitch or at your glove. I teach a follow-through to the left ear which eliminates this problem, but that is a "Bill Hillhouse" technique also, and I think some here don't LIKE us!
3) The power-line would come next, making sure she plants her pushoff foot just to the right of the crease in the "kitchen" floor, and then strides with the ball of her left foot on the crease. The angle of her front foot is good at 45 degrees.
4) The hardest thing to fix would be the arm swing. I don't think her arm is going behind her back, or shall we say the TOP of the arm swing is tilted toward the stove, as much as the video implies, but it seems her forward arm swing is far from her hip, and this can create this problem that was mentioned. Her hand and ball shouldn't disappear behind her head and body during the windmill. Her hand is swinging back out out of the power-line, way behind her back during her windup. This causes her arm to swing forward away from her hip. This crooked back-swing creates the other problems mentioned . There are drills for this, but it will be tough in your garage, I mean "kitchen". HOWEVER, there is an easier solution to special drills. You can hang a rag behind her on a string directly down from the ceiling and in line with a straight back-swing, which will prevent that back-swing behind her back. She will touch the rag with her back-swing so she can feel the correct STRAIGHT BACK position. You will have to find that spot! Do you have a chandelier in the kitchen?
5) The grip outside the glove can be cured later, but is relevant higher up, say by HS. I think her friends will worry about getting hit more than detecting her fastball, or her fastball grips!

I thought Amy was funny with the kitchen

There are nitt-picky things people can say, but these are the major issues you can fix without the coach. The rest will come with her comfort zone, such as her stiff rear leg. Don't even mention it.

 

[jazz10NE]

Thanks group for watching this. It is our second 'kitchen' / garage we are in. We do a lot of canning in the summer and this keeps the heat/smell out of the house especially when we make salsa.

Her coach likes her arm swing, I think she just started moving off plane on the wind up so we will have to work on that He has been working mostly on getting her to push off the plate instead of the left foot pulling the right forward.

As for the release she usually finishes higher up by her ear but he likes the elbow bent style of finish like the first pitch she shows.

thanks again

 

[Steve Huff]

Thanks group for watching this. It is our second 'kitchen' / garage we are in. We do a lot of canning in the summer and this keeps the heat/smell out of the house especially when we make salsa.
Her coach likes her arm swing, I think she just started moving off plane on the wind up so we will have to work on that He has been working mostly on getting her to push off the plate instead of the left foot pulling the right forward.
As for the release she usually finishes higher up by her ear but he likes the elbow bent style of finish like the first pitch she shows. thanks again

So why would you want to keep the smell of salsa out of the house? Send it to me. I broke a bottle of buffalo hot wing sauce in my truck and still haven't cleaned it up. I consider it air-freshener!

I would say for her age and her experience she is really doing well.

So the coach likes her arm swing, but it not leaving the plane? If this is true, that is what I am telling you. But the correction is not at the hip, or at the top, it is in the back-swing. Fix the back-swing, and you fix the rest.

You can see the leg stiffness left over from pulling off the rubber instead of pushing. It will come with practice. She is young!

Well I like the bent elbow style too, but just make sure the elbow doesn't lock at her side pointed straight down at her feet. It cuts speed and can result in pushing her pitches high. Knees, knees, knees. At the knees!

 

[02Crush]

Present the Ball
and
Watch the Elbow
Hate to develop tendon or muscle issue unnecessarily at
a young age. All in all...3 lessons in...Looks good.
Tell her keep it up and listen and always be prepared to adjust things.
That is the life of a pitcher.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Present the Ball

???????

Nothing in the fastpitch pitching rules about presenting the ball that I've ever come across.

 

[Steve Huff]

??????? Nothing in the fastpitch pitching rules about presenting the ball that I've ever come across.

Well Sparky Guy, that is just a loose term applied to the pitching rule governing taking the signal from the catcher. I am sure you know this, but I also sometimes refer to it as "presenting the ball" because it is specific. The idea concerns "hands separated" or "hands together" as outlined in the rule book. The fact that coaches interpret it as either one, shows that it is not an actual term.

ASA 6-1-d-e

While on the pitcher’s plate, the pitcher shall take the signal or appear to take a signal with the "hands separated". The ball must remain in either the glove or pitching hand. The pitcher shall bring the "hands together" for not less than one second and not more than 10 seconds before releasing it.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Well Sparky Guy, that is just a loose term applied to the pitching rule governing taking the signal from the catcher

It wasn't you who used the term. It was someone else. For those of us who instruct it's a dangerous term to use. It's a carry-over from the old slow pitch rules. It falls under one of the many softball rule myths.

Unfortunately, when someone with your credentials uses it those who are new to the sport take it as gospel. I've heard coaches argue with an umpire about a girl holding the ball in her glove saying she wasn't "presenting" the ball. I've also heard them saying it was illegal for the girl to hold the ball in her throwing hand.