The Lean
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Hips appear very open at release allowing the "monkey butt". Maybe try the cue "finish tall at release" (stacked shoulders over hips posture). Enjoy the ride!
- Oct 26, 2019
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More concerning to me is the catcher in your 3rd video walking out in front of the plate to stare down the runner at 2nd. Just throw the ball back and stop walking a mile after every pitch!
My DD, and I think most girls when they start, don’t want to make the brush contact. Once my DD understood (from us watching videos of high level pitchers) how important it was and made it a focus, she really started to improve. She had to want to do it and make it important.
My DD, and I think most girls when they start, don’t want to make the brush contact. Once my DD understood (from us watching videos of high level pitchers) how important it was and made it a focus, she really started to improve. She had to want to do it and make it important.
Take this comment/advice with a grain of salt. There’s a TON of great information and knowledge on this website. What I’m about to mention comes from my DD’s experience and journey.
What I notice is that she’s not square with her catcher at almost any point other than the initial launch. The hips/body opens up immediately and her drag foot turns so it’s dragging on the inside and wants to “bowl”. I see the comments about working on that. It almost seems like she opens up so much she can’t get back.
We fought through this with my DD as she was initially taught to open up as much as possible. But it caused a lean because she couldn’t square up again and get the arm through in time. So she’d “cheat” and lean/bowl.
One drill that may help would be to get a pvc pipe or dowel rod or anything similar. Needs to be lightweight. Have her hold it straight out in front up at shoulder height with both hands shoulder width apart. She has to hold her arms (and ultimately upper body) in this position from launch to finish. Tell her she needs to stay square with her target as long as possible. It will feel super awkward at first. She’ll need to do it 10-15-100 times just to get used to it. What you want to see is that her upper body stays square and hips will end in a 45(ish) degree finish. The drag foot should drag toes down/laces forward.....but main goal is to have a straight drag line up until almost end. Maybe a little C or S curve at finish which is fine.
The next advancement of the drill is to then have her hold the rod with only her glove hand and mimick a pitching motion without a ball. Again, do it 10...15...20 times. But the “glove” arm can’t drop or rotate away from the catcher. Then you can add a ball once she’s comfortable going through without.
Lastly, remove the rod from the drill and let her put the glove on. But, glove hand still has to stay up. Another 10...15...20 times with a ball. But watch the hips and shoulders. The body should naturally open the hips a bit as the arm goes through rotation but should always end in a 45(ish) at finish. With a relatively straight drag line at least 1/2 to 3/4 through the stride.
Someone else mentioned having her stay in her finish position after release. DD and I call this freezing. It allows both of us to assess her finish and where her hips/shoulders are and if she’s balanced. If DD breaks down from her finish too soon it’s often tough to tell what was wrong/right. Especially when you’re trying to not get hit with a softball -
The brush should come as she corrects the lean/avoidance and becomes comfortable with staying more square.
Hope this makes sense. Curious to see others thoughts on this as well.
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I think your DD's glutes and hammies are not getting used at all. If they were she would be stiff/straight as a board.
Watch this
Pitchers should be "hingeing" off the rubber not pushing with quads. With the drive leg.
Then the stride leg should be out in front and, while foot on the ground, the foot should be attempted to be sucked under the pelvis.
Both these moves induce hip extension. Hip extension turns the body into a board. This is specifically what "tight butt" is trying to accomplish.
Have your DD do bridges all the time and show her how it works off the rubber.
Watch this
Pitchers should be "hingeing" off the rubber not pushing with quads. With the drive leg.
Then the stride leg should be out in front and, while foot on the ground, the foot should be attempted to be sucked under the pelvis.
Both these moves induce hip extension. Hip extension turns the body into a board. This is specifically what "tight butt" is trying to accomplish.
Have your DD do bridges all the time and show her how it works off the rubber.
Thanks Bonesaw for your post and videos. That actually helped me and is something I know my DD needs to work on.
Oh you liked that? Well suck on this! Happy New Year!
I think those glute bridges should be a part of every pitching warmup. Really any warmup for anything honestly.
That lady in the video was already very proficient with posterior chain/flexibilty. It is much harder than it looks in that vid to get someone to feel that movement(the hinge). Especially a young person.
Running mechanic warmups/drills are also fantastic. They seemingly all work on hip extension as well. Take note how the drills all work to suck the femur/feet back under the pelvis and then pull it behind the pelvis. (Nothing new here I know!)
Quads are for lifting the femur up toward the chest and extending the knee when FOOT NOT ON GROUND(kicking foot out really). Glutes and hammies are for bringing the femur back down underneath and then behind the pelvis.
Watch the drills and then watch the pro at 10:50 running. Torso straight up and down almost. Like a centaur. No leaning.
Not much quads on this guy. Pretty good hammies.
If you watch the last pitch(~7:15) in this video you can really see what Im talking about with the front foot "suck back" feel.
Watch how his hammy sucks his knee back after the pitch is released. (Yes this is absolutely hammy. Hamstrings attach to the tibia right below the knee.)
I’m all in on going through that. Buuuuut....after NYE....
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good stuff @Bonesaw . But the big question is......how do you teach it? Do you tell kids to have their hammy suck back their knee? We can call it whatever we want and I am not knocking you at all but please elaborate on how this would be taught. I really do think you have some potentially good points but "how do you teach it" "what do you say". Pointing out what is happending and calling it something and actually teaching it is quite different. Again, not a knock, but how do you teach it and what do you say? This COULD be a big help if others want to listen or walk away..
S3
