stop a locked elbow

[durwood]

looking for a drill or instruction of how to keep her elbow from being locked. having a hard time "feeling" her elbow bent and snapping the ball. her arm comes
thru looking like "bowling" the ball to the catcher. 11yr has lanky build. throws
44-47mph fastball. i have read the internal rotation thread. i understand it
but breaking it down into simple drills or instruction is a little confusing. any help
much appreciated.

 

[abbygale]

Be ready for a little (probably a lot) of frustration out of her for a couple weeks. After the "internal rotation thread" I waited until after my dd's season ended before starting on it. Best thing I've ever done regarding helping her and going against what is taught locally where I live.

Many thanks to all in that thread.

 

[FJRGerry]

I think the regular arm whip drill may help. Have her stand with her feet slightly wider than her shoulders - both feet and hips are at 45 degrees from the target. Extend the glove hand so it's pointing at the target. At the same time have her extend her throwing arm so the ball is about shoulder height behind her. From this point have her look at her throwing arm elbow and confirm it is slightly bent. Pitch from this point, quick and relaxed with a natural follow through.

Variations can include bringing the arms up slowly to position then quickly pitching once reached; starting the the ball above the head; striding & kicking from the K position, etc.... The important thing is having her visually confirm the elbow is bent at the starting point prior to pitching. Over many reps it will become natural.

 

[CoachFP]

looking for a drill or instruction of how to keep her elbow from being locked. having a hard time "feeling" her elbow bent and snapping the ball. her arm comes
thru looking like "bowling" the ball to the catcher. 11yr has lanky build. throws
44-47mph fastball. i have read the internal rotation thread. i understand it
but breaking it down into simple drills or instruction is a little confusing. any help
much appreciated.

Keeping the ball in the glove instead of swinging it back will keep the elbow from locking.

 

[abbygale]

The showing the ball to the sun was the best for us in the beginning. It's hard to show the ball to the sun with a locked elbow. It doesn't take much to transition from this to a full motion. Same with show it, then throw it. Took forever it seemed to get her to do the throw it part but when she started doing it...

There's serious gold in that "internal rotation" thread.

 

[sluggers]

First, play pitch and catch with her overhand and ask her to focus on her elbow when she throws. If she is throwing correctly, she will notice that the elbow leads the hand, and that at some point the hand catches up with the elbow right before she releases.

Then, tell her that throwing underhand is like throwing overhand. Therefore, the elbow should lead the hand.

Tell her to get open, then hold the ball at 9 o'clock. You position her arm so that the upper arm is parallel with the ground, but the forearm should be around 30 degrees with the ground. Have her throw from there. She should looke something like this:

Tell her to pull down with the elbow.


Have her get open, and hold the ball at 12 o'clock straight up. Then, walk over to her and put a bend at her elbow. Tell her get on her left toe, so she looks like this.

Again, tell her to pull *down* with her elbow.

This is going to take a lot of repetitions--perhaps hundreds. You are listening for the "pop". When it happens, you'll notice it. A decent pitcher can start from 12 o'clock and get the ball up to around 50 mph.