Throwing

[clemenslee1]

Daughter has been doing some weird throwing lately. She brings the ball basically to her ear, and from there almost just pushes the ball. It creates this weird sidearm motion. Did the water bottle drill for about 15-20 min. yesterday Then played catch. While not perfect, there was a major improvement. Great drill! My DD wants to constantly drop her elbow below her shoulder and keep it there. Any suggestions

 

[CoachJD]

I think, but cannot prove, that they often drop that elbow in an effort to get under the ball because it's too big for their hand (or they think it is/learned to throw that way when the ball really was too big for their hand). When I see the elbow drop, it almost always comes with the palm of the hand pointing toward the sky with the ball sitting on top.

Maybe working on staying behind the ball could help? Very difficult to do so if you're bringing that elbow down too much.

 

[cvsoftball]

Love the water bottle drill. I also have them throw the bottle as far as they can, competition encouraged. You can also alternate throwing the bottle and a ball, again as far and as hard as they can. Whenever I see a player throwing with a push, I cringe because I know it can be a brutal habit to break.

 

[_MIA_]

This might sound rude, but how is your throwing? While she might be a bit old for this to happen, someone else mentioned in another thread that kids often mimic the throwing action of the adult they are playing catch with...

Another thing I have noticed with kids is that they have a hard time letting up and throwing with the proper mechanics..if that makes sense. I've noticed this with both my DS and DD. If we are playing catch close and just throwing soft they tend to let their mechanics break down but as they get further away and have to let loose they throw much better. I am sure that doesn't help but maybe see what happens as you increase the distance and let her "let loose"

 

[hummingbird]

Daughter has been doing some weird throwing lately. She brings the ball basically to her ear, and from there almost just pushes the ball. It creates this weird sidearm motion. Did the water bottle drill for about 15-20 min. yesterday Then played catch. While not perfect, there was a major improvement. Great drill! My DD wants to constantly drop her elbow below her shoulder and keep it there. Any suggestions

I believe there are drills out there but my only queue to my DD has been, keep the elbow up and throw DOWN with your hand. It's worked for her.
With that said..

Giving my DD a month off from pitching has somehow made her stop some of the bad habits in her mechanics. It wasn't the purpose of giving her the month off, but it certainly helped in many ways.

I know you're talking about throwing and not pitching, but perhaps taking a break from doing the act may help her forget some of the habits.. some good habits may be forgotten as well, but sometimes you need to destroy, to rebuild.

 

[clemenslee1]

I think, but cannot prove, that they often drop that elbow in an effort to get under the ball because it's too big for their hand (or they think it is/learned to throw that way when the ball really was too big for their hand). When I see the elbow drop, it almost always comes with the palm of the hand pointing toward the sky with the ball sitting on top.

Maybe working on staying behind the ball could help? Very difficult to do so if you're bringing that elbow down too much.

With her the ball is facing foward

 

[clemenslee1]

This might sound rude, but how is your throwing? While she might be a bit old for this to happen, someone else mentioned in another thread that kids often mimic the throwing action of the adult they are playing catch with...

Not rude, I realize that kids do mimic adults. Everytime we go out to play catch, I try to throw right. But I'll admit, sometimes not LOL

 

[clemenslee1]

I believe there are drills out there but my only queue to my DD has been, keep the elbow up and throw DOWN with your hand. It's worked for her.
With that said..

Giving my DD a month off from pitching has somehow made her stop some of the bad habits in her mechanics. It wasn't the purpose of giving her the month off, but it certainly helped in many ways.

I know you're talking about throwing and not pitching, but perhaps taking a break from doing the act may help her forget some of the habits.. some good habits may be forgotten as well, but sometimes you need to destroy, to rebuild.

I used that cue yesterday as well. It seemed to help.

 

[_MIA_]

Not rude, I realize that kids do mimic adults. Everytime we go out to play catch, I try to throw right. But I'll admit, sometimes not LOL

Hey nobody is perfect . See my edit to the post you quoted.

 

[clemenslee1]

This might sound rude, but how is your throwing? While she might be a bit old for this to happen, someone else mentioned in another thread that kids often mimic the throwing action of the adult they are playing catch with...

Another thing I have noticed with kids is that they have a hard time letting up and throwing with the proper mechanics..if that makes sense. I've noticed this with both my DS and DD. If we are playing catch close and just throwing soft they tend to let their mechanics break down but as they get further away and have to let loose they throw much better. I am sure that doesn't help but maybe see what happens as you increase the distance and let her "let loose"

That definitely happens.