Video of my DD for constructive criticism

[quandofloo]

My DD has had 3 lessons so far with a really sweet high school pitcher from around here. I have coached her younger sister in a few sports and we know the family so it is a very good environment. She is doing really well connecting with my DD and my DD is enjoying it.

The first throw that my DD makes she steps with her pivot foot. You can see her look over at me and shoot me the 9 year old look that only our DDs can give. Her second pitch is better. I am really just looking for a little feedback on what we should be working on when we throw between her lessons.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RDolE5BCPIo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[sluggers]

How old is she?

 

[quandofloo]

She's 9. Thinks she is 29.

 

[humpty]

IR thread and IR in the classroom thread by boardmember. Teach her to throw underhand correctly then teach her to pitch.

 

[catcher23]

I have a DD that is 8 and I started her by breaking the pitching down . they r young to get it all at once start with proper rotation and arm speed and release with a follow through. then start working on proper foot work . I would do 2days of arms and 2 days of footwork and 1 day with both !

 

[tomzpc]

Not bad at all for a 9 year old beginner in my book. First thing I would work on is getting her to bring her glove hand up towards the top of the circle along with the ball and then bring the glove arm down simultaneously with the downswing of the pitching arm. She doesn't bring the glove arm up at all which is zapping some upper body strength. Then I'd work on getting her to drive more from the pitching plate and lengthening her stride to at least get her started on using her legs more.

 

[tomzpc]

IR thread and IR in the classroom thread by boardmember. Teach her to throw underhand correctly then teach her to pitch.

While I advocate those threads as a must read for any dad of a young pitcher, I think this young lady already has a decent head start in the right direction. She's getting behind the ball a little early but not as early as most beginners I see that are that age.

 

[quandofloo]

Not bad at all for a 9 year old beginner in my book. First thing I would work on is getting her to bring her glove hand up towards the top of the circle along with the ball and then bring the glove arm down simultaneously. She doesn't bring the glove arm up at all which is zapping some upper body strength. Then I'd work on getting her to drive more from the pitching plate and lengthening her stride to at least get her started on using her legs more.

I think I understand what you mean about bringing the glove arm up towards the top of the circle, but I am going to ask for clarification anyway. Do you mean that she should bring her glove up as she is starting her windmill and then bring the glove down as she reaches 12 o'clock on her delivery?

We are working on footwork quite a bit since she has a tendency to take a step with her right foot as she is starting her pitch. We talked last night about lengthening her stride out some and dragging her right foot but I don't know how hard to push some of this while she is just getting started.

 

[tomzpc]

I think I understand what you mean about bringing the glove arm up towards the top of the circle, but I am going to ask for clarification anyway. Do you mean that she should bring her glove up as she is starting her windmill and then bring the glove down as she reaches 12 o'clock on her delivery?

We are working on footwork quite a bit since she has a tendency to take a step with her right foot as she is starting her pitch. We talked last night about lengthening her stride out some and dragging her right foot but I don't know how hard to push some of this while she is just getting started.

The glove arm should come up and extend towards the catcher early in the delivery. As it comes down it will act as a counter-balance to her pitching arm which is important because she needs to have balance to throw harder and with consistency.

Here's a video of my DD when she was 10. She too had very little leg drive back then but had just begun working on it. Anyway, it shows her glove arm coming up and then going back down. Note that you don't necessarily have to keep the ball in the glove on backswing but the glove arm still needs to come up. We used to do T drills where the glove arm is pointed at the catcher and the ball held at the 3 oclock position (palm up of course =). As the pitching arm comes down the arc to release the glove arm also is pulled down just as agressively. Another good one that I use to get younger players that I coach started is what we call the "mummy" drill. Have her stand 45 degrees to the target and then extend both the ball and glove arms straight out to the catcher. So arms are both out and parallel (like a mummy would walk on Scooby Doo =). She finally did get over the leg slapping thing that so many young pitchers do with their gloves. =) Take this for all it's worth. I'm just a three and a half year bucket dad and not a PC!

 

[tomzpc]

Here's another video from last December, around two years later than the above video.
Still not enough leg drive here but she has added some this past season.