Throwing in the dirt

[mkral]

I was wondering if there was a miracle cure for "dirt balls" as I call them. My DD struggles from time to time with throwing in the dirt. She will get into a funk and just cannot get out of it. Is it a timing thing, a release thing or what. She just turned 13 and she does not do it all the time but today at pitching practice was one of those days. Of course I left my camcorder at home today. I will try to post a video of her from the front and the back and of course in these she was not doing it but you can see her form I guess. sorry can't figure out how to post a video, I guess if I would have read Sluggers post about video's first I would have known this, sorry guys. Any words of advise sight unseen??
Thanks
Mike

 

[JC heir]

High & low problems are timing of release problems.

 

[halskinner]

It could be a grip strength problem also. Was she tired? Loss of grip strength and 'dirt balls' are one of the first signs the pitcher is tiring out.

 

[mkral]

JC & Hal thanks for the responses.
I thought timing and release and that is what I have preached to her all along. It can come right out of the box then go away for awhile or she can be good all day long. So I don't know about fatigue. Like today it started right out of the box. Now that being said she had to catch for a girl before she pitched. So maybe she was a little tired after an hour of catching. Now before I get crucified for that, my DD and one of our other pitchers schedules always match up and they both can catch so they like to pitch and catch for each other. I don't like it but they do it. We have had to do it in games as well and on hot days by the third game if one has caught 2 games then to ask them to pitch is pretty hard to do but our pitching and catching pool is a pretty shallow one.
Hal have you seen girls put to much grip on the ball. She has a death grip on the darn thing to where her knuckles are white. Can it be jumping out too soon? Should I try to get her to relax her grip a bit? Just a little more insight for you guys I guess there.
Thanks again for the help guys!!!

 

[halskinner]

JC & Hal thanks for the responses.
I thought timing and release and that is what I have preached to her all along. It can come right out of the box then go away for awhile or she can be good all day long. So I don't know about fatigue. Like today it started right out of the box. Now that being said she had to catch for a girl before she pitched. So maybe she was a little tired after an hour of catching. Now before I get crucified for that, my DD and one of our other pitchers schedules always match up and they both can catch so they like to pitch and catch for each other. I don't like it but they do it. We have had to do it in games as well and on hot days by the third game if one has caught 2 games then to ask them to pitch is pretty hard to do but our pitching and catching pool is a pretty shallow one.
Hal have you seen girls put to much grip on the ball. She has a death grip on the darn thing to where her knuckles are white. Can it be jumping out too soon? Should I try to get her to relax her grip a bit? Just a little more insight for you guys I guess there.
Thanks again for the help guys!!!

You have to have evough grip on the ball so it does not fly out as it is going around in the circle. Depending on the size of her hand, she might have to have that death grip you speak of.

Some pitchers are taught to release their pitches with the hand on top of the ball. The problem with those is that at the very last instant, they rely on the strength of only the fingers and those are the weakest musckes involved.

I would speculate to say that in most cases, a more relaxed grip would probably be called for here. It wont hurt anything for her to try it and see what happens.

Do what I would do to some of my students. Before she starts her practice session, shake hands and make her squeeze your hand as hard as she can. After the session is done, do the same thing and watch her face as she squeezes your hand. If she grimaces or if she does not have nearly the strength she had at the start, her grip is out of shape. This is usually the time of year alot of pitchers start back up for the year and she might have to work on that strength and just give it awhile longer.

Could be timing, could be a little out of shape after the holidays, could be any number of things. Couls also be the area in the circle where her landing foot touches down. If that is not stable, neither will your timing be.

Have her try pitching with a wiffle ball. If she can throw good strikes with that after 4 or 5 throws, then give her back the softball and see what happens. She might also be tucking the ball back too far against the palm. If so, try bring it out just a bit and throw with the fingers, not the palm.

 

[BoardMember]

A really good technique to cure the "death grip" is to take a peice of duct tape and push thumb tacks through it and then tape it to the ball with the tacks facing out.......That'll teach her a nice loose grip........RIGHT HAL?..........

 

[mkral]

Thanks guys!! Hal I will give the wiffle ball a try. She has been weak. She is recovering from something and we are really not sure what it is. She gave us the worse scare I have ever had in my life and I have survived a brain aneurysm last February and that was nothing compared to this. Two weeks ago at pitching practice she almost passed out. She was sore and weak all that following week. She is a tall athletic kid and we are not use to that with her at all. We took her in to the Doc last Saturday and they ran blood tests. All were fine accept her white blood count which they wanted to further test. We asked for what and wished we would have never asked. They tested her for Leukemia. Just the word stopped our world for days until we got the results. She does not have the bad "L" but they said she is recovering from some kind of virus of some kind due to her white blood count and platelet count. Anyhow sorry to ramble.....she is a tough kid and never wants to quit so she may be weak and not telling us. She is 5' 6" but only weighs 115 lbs. She lost 30 pounds in the last 4 months which also promted our decision to get her tested. We have her on a Protein drink before every workout now and it seems to be helping.
Nice Jab Boardmember!! I laughed my butt off when I read your post. I saw Hals post about the tacks in the glove slap post.

 

[softball_chic_12]

i too have dirt ball issues. at first it was when i released it. my timing of the release was off. now my issue is my body is moving too fast. the coaches always told me "slow body, fast arm". the arm is was gives you the speed. from the moment the arm is raised above the head, to the release point. that is where the speed comes from. everything else is slow. i have seen this proven too. if the body moves faster than it shuld, then timing is off. if the body goes slower, then timing is correct. and to prove that speed comes from when the arm is raised above the head to the release point. have your DD stand facing the catcher. then have her raise her arm over her head. then she must whip her arm down and release the ball. it's normal for the pitcher to go up on the balls of her feet or her toes while doing this. depending on her arm strength the ball mite not go to the catcher...it might be a dirt ball or just be a wicked pitch. when pitching, the body turns 90 degrees and the front foot is facing towards the cather. this helps keep the ball on a straight path. the arm also needs to help with the patch. the arm and wrist need to be straight to keep the ball on a straight path. generally i think her issue is timing. so try having her do her wind up and say "stop". then she must freeze where she's at. this could help with the idea if her body is moving too fast compared to her arm.

 

[JC heir]

Softballchic12- I have to tell you, IMO you are dead wrong about the body/ arm thing. Most of your power & speed comes from your legs, not your arm. You cant get the body exploding foreward to hard. You need to get the bottom working hard first, then make the arm circle adjust for timing.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Softballchic12- I have to tell you, IMO you are dead wrong about the body/ arm thing. Most of your power & speed comes from your legs, not your arm. You cant get the body exploding foreward to hard. You need to get the bottom working hard first, then make the arm circle adjust for timing.

I most strongly agree with JC. I always tell my girls it's 60/40. 60% legs, 40% arms. Some may say the leg % must be higher. 60/40 is just my opinion.