Thought I would update while I had a chance. Been a very busy year again.
This is an update from this previous thread last november. my-15-yo-dd-wanting-improve-off-season
After seeing bucketdad97 post about changing at a certain age I thought i would post a progression from my DD years too...to show change over the last 3 years.
#1 and #3 was 13-14 years old. #1 and #3 was the first full off season we did and got serious about it. After #3...it was during the season that I ran across this forum and stopped telling her to make "power elbow" and "close the hips". As you can see she wasn't real good at power elbow but i was sure trying to coach it into her. lol
#2 I left out cause it was only a few weeks before #3 and the only difference is her momentum made her step forward after the pitch.
#4 is 15 and when we ask for help on this forum to gain speed last year. We did work on shortening stride, staying open, slotting elbow better and contracting...and it all was very helpful.
#5 is current. She turned 16 this year. Has a year of working on the suggestions that were given. She is slotting elbow better, arm whip is better and staying open better IMO. She HAD been "contracting" better and pushing off better. She had a usable fastball, rise, screwball, drop and curve/drop curve. Change up gets too hot and it wasn't very usable most of the year...it was more off speed than change up.
One problem she has... is that June/July are busy with tournaments... and HS does a Weds night league during that time with a Tuesday practice too. So with rest...she loses alot of practice time then and bad habits start to show up. Then they go right into HS ball in August and practice is lacking (if you have rest days) when games start. So we progress off season and first half of year... and revert some during last half. Haven't found a solution for this yet.
This year it was the push off and pop up again at the end of the pitch... that she fell back to. Also she was leaving the ball in the glove on back swing like Hillhouse... the first half of the season..then she started swinging the arm back again (which doesn't matter to me). She never did go back to bending during prelaunch though.
Something else strange this HS season....she also changed from a knuckle curve to a straight finger curve (she doesn't know why or even when). It creates a problem in that when she misses the curve...she will roll her wrist creating... a fat pitch that is right down the middle with a straight finger curve. With a knuckle curve...when she missed the curve it became a very good drop ball.
She did hit her goal of 57 mph...yet she stays 54-56 most of the time on her fastball, rise, screw. So our new goal is 60 mph...hoping she will become steady in upper 50's. Both coaches (TB and HS) brought up that she will occasionally pick up 2-3 mph and wish she would do that every game. I just tell them if she keeps improving maybe she will next year! lol
Was a very good year for her and she won some HS honors...which was just great for her...and she seems even more motivated this year...and she has always been a worker. Thank you ALL for your input last year and your help.
We are open for any comments or other suggestions/comments for this off season.
This is an update from this previous thread last november. my-15-yo-dd-wanting-improve-off-season
After seeing bucketdad97 post about changing at a certain age I thought i would post a progression from my DD years too...to show change over the last 3 years.
#1 and #3 was 13-14 years old. #1 and #3 was the first full off season we did and got serious about it. After #3...it was during the season that I ran across this forum and stopped telling her to make "power elbow" and "close the hips". As you can see she wasn't real good at power elbow but i was sure trying to coach it into her. lol
#2 I left out cause it was only a few weeks before #3 and the only difference is her momentum made her step forward after the pitch.
#4 is 15 and when we ask for help on this forum to gain speed last year. We did work on shortening stride, staying open, slotting elbow better and contracting...and it all was very helpful.
#5 is current. She turned 16 this year. Has a year of working on the suggestions that were given. She is slotting elbow better, arm whip is better and staying open better IMO. She HAD been "contracting" better and pushing off better. She had a usable fastball, rise, screwball, drop and curve/drop curve. Change up gets too hot and it wasn't very usable most of the year...it was more off speed than change up.
One problem she has... is that June/July are busy with tournaments... and HS does a Weds night league during that time with a Tuesday practice too. So with rest...she loses alot of practice time then and bad habits start to show up. Then they go right into HS ball in August and practice is lacking (if you have rest days) when games start. So we progress off season and first half of year... and revert some during last half. Haven't found a solution for this yet.
This year it was the push off and pop up again at the end of the pitch... that she fell back to. Also she was leaving the ball in the glove on back swing like Hillhouse... the first half of the season..then she started swinging the arm back again (which doesn't matter to me). She never did go back to bending during prelaunch though.
Something else strange this HS season....she also changed from a knuckle curve to a straight finger curve (she doesn't know why or even when). It creates a problem in that when she misses the curve...she will roll her wrist creating... a fat pitch that is right down the middle with a straight finger curve. With a knuckle curve...when she missed the curve it became a very good drop ball.
She did hit her goal of 57 mph...yet she stays 54-56 most of the time on her fastball, rise, screw. So our new goal is 60 mph...hoping she will become steady in upper 50's. Both coaches (TB and HS) brought up that she will occasionally pick up 2-3 mph and wish she would do that every game. I just tell them if she keeps improving maybe she will next year! lol
Was a very good year for her and she won some HS honors...which was just great for her...and she seems even more motivated this year...and she has always been a worker. Thank you ALL for your input last year and your help.
We are open for any comments or other suggestions/comments for this off season.