Starting motion

[SoCalSoftballdad]

I am pretty open to how a pitcher starts their motion but I am firm that it should be the same thing every time.

Every pitcher seems to be different.

My DD starts moving her feet up and down, pitcher 2 starts by putting the ball in her mitt, pitcher 3 starts by dropping her hands, etc.

I am working with 1 particular girl that starts her windup 3 or 4 different ways, drives me nuts. I do not know how she thinks she can get her timing down doing it so many different ways.

Its more of a style issue than anything else. My preference is to simplify the pre-motion as much as possible (glove in front, chest high or at the hip hiding the ball), and as mentioned here, find what feels comfortable for them and stick with it. Make sure that all your pitchers get in the habit of having their hands separated (either ball in glove or ball pitching hand) while on the pitching plate and before starting her pitching motion. This way its becomes second nature to them in the game and won't be called for an illegal pitch. Educate yourself on the rules about "crow hopping" and "leaping" so when you work with these girls they do not get into bad habits.

I would not be too concerned about accuracy right now. IMO, the two most important things for new pitchers are a) proper mechancis and b) an aggressive motion (good stride, fast arm circle, arm whip) to home plate. They should be throwing hard, with a controlled and repeatable motion and will NOT be throwing a lot of strikes in the short term. It's a process that you need to let play itself out.

Lastly, unless you are an experienced pitching coach, you are limited in the amount of time and energy you can put into helping these girls pitch. The parents are the ones that should be working weekly with their DDs and hopefully have the resources to see a pitching coach, regularly. There is only so much you can do, 95% of it will be the pitcher working on her own with her parents/pitching coach. Otherwise you may be setting yourself and the girls up for failure. I frequently have parents ask me to help their daughters become pitchers and I tell them straight up that I if they want to come early or stay late after practice than I can work with them on the bascis but that if their DD truly wants to pitch, they (the parents) need to be the ones to work with them on a regular basis. There is no dabbling in pitching, its too complex, either they commit to it fully or they should choose another position. Just my 2 cents.

 

[quincy]

Agree with what you said 100%. I do not know what I am doing but I know more than the kids and their parents.

I actually spend more time with the parents then the girls. )

My daughter wants to pitch does not cut it; I can only spend about 20 minutes a week with an individual girl. It is up to the parents to make them a pitcher.

Either listening to my advice and working with them or better yet getting them lessons from someone who actually knows what they are doing.

A couple of the girls are taken pitching lessons so I have them warm up then pitch. If I am not happy about something I talk to the parent and ask them to talk to the girl’s coach, I am just a catcher letting the girl get some reps in. I have better things to do with my time but what do you do.

I hate when my DD gets conflicting advice so even if I disagree with something I say my piece to the parent and I am done. I try not to give advice to a girl, just her parent, when they have a PC.

 

[Dave D]

About a year ago, after posting some video of DD on this site, we (she and I) changed her beginning motion to mimic the one Hillhouse demonstrates on his video--throwing hand and ball in glove, both hands swinging back past the right hip. This is a VERY simple motion, and resulted in some immediate improvement, mostly with the transition from takeoff to "k" or open position. Importantly, she stopped thinking about where her hands were going during her "windup."

From the batter's perspective, it becomes almost impossible to pick up grips, or track the ball early, and that helps her with offspeed, especially. Over the course of the summer, all of the other three pitchers on our team adopted a similar takeaway, and all showed better results and were able to position their bodies better.

Also, we went to a clinic last winter, where several of the pitching clinicians (college coaches) commented on how much they liked her takeaway motion and how easy it looked. That helped her confidence out a lot.

One of the girls on our team developed this sweeping figure 8 motion with her hands before she pulled the ball back. It looked cool, she thought, but it destroyed her rhythm (I thought). Every time she starts doing it (she says it's unconscious), she starts throwing balls or meatballs. A quick reminder snaps her out of it.

While I agree with above posters that pre-motion elements have little to do with the quality of the pitch, I'd add that some simplified motions can make the whole chain of events that much easier to put into motion.

 

[ifubuildit]

As some have stated here. Keep the pre motion simple. Its waisted energy doing anything else.

Dana.

 

[pdj]

Any of you seasoned veterans remember the old Duffy Double Pump? They hit a homerun on the absolutes but, the pre-launch style could be improved. During the time the DDP was developed there were more slingshot that windmill pitchers. Pitching arm behind the body, with ball exposed, may have been a seemingly natural progression from the standard slingshot of even the figure 8. Also during this time the leap was coming into fashion and often times distance was a priority.