What do I need to work on in off season?

[skreed]

My dd is 11 going to turn 12 in sept. She has been pitching for a year and played TB this year. She has done quite well for her first year pitching. I would like to know what I need to work on in the off season to correct any mechanical flaws. Two thing I noticed is bending at the waist and her hand position is off. At 12 the ball is facing 1st and at 3 the ball is down towards the ground (she is a lefty). One other thing is that the ball slips out of her hand sometimes and thuds down on the ground...it has happened during a game and she gets upset. Ty

Sky pitching 2: http://youtu.be/n_TTdInG2rk

Sky pitching: http://youtu.be/Yk_tgTPC2qo

 

[coach james]

She's pushing the ball with little to no front side resistance.
Look up pauleygirlfastpitch.com
Ricks videos will get you guys on track

 

[canyonjoe]

What is an off season

 

[skreed]

Ok sorry about the links I'm having a hard time figuring this out! I posted youtube links hopefully they work.

I will research front side resistance at length tonight on this board thanks for the suggestion. As far as learning I am a complete newbie and don't know much...I am trying to help her as much as a I can myself because I can't really afford frequent lessons. She most of the time is willing to put in the work and at this point I'm not sure how to continue to instruct her. We do some of the drills suggested on this site and they have improved her posture a bit and she has gained a little more explosiveness off the mound.
Sky pitching - YouTube

Sky pitching 2 - YouTube

 

[Sweet Lou]

skreed I'm as confused by OILF post as you are; no clue what she's trying to say there.

I had no problem with either video. I'm not an expert, you'll probably get better advice from others on this site but one thing I'd work on is more elbow bend in her circle. She looks very straight arm to me all the way through her pitch which limits the amount of whip she can get at release.

 

[NorthMS]

skreed, you DO need to work on things. In your situation (and even others), you need to learn as well. You are doing the right thing if lessons aren't a possibility. Glad to see you taking the time to work with your DD. I bet there are many coaches out there that wish their players had parents working on things as well. Good luck.

 

[Alsmygal]

I'm no expert at all, but one small thing I notice is that she's not on her power line at all. She's off to the right side of it. I can give you some drills that my dd was told to do that really helped her to get to where she was consistently on the power line every time.

 

[skreed]

Thanks for all the comments and kind words....I will take any and all advice at this point. As for the stiff arm, we are trying to loosen things up. When we do the T drill in warm ups I tell her to just let your arm kinda drop and whip....she kinda gets it but its gonna take some doing. As far as being off the power line I noticed that also, I didn't notice though until I took videos. I would appreciate any drills you have for that Alsmygal. Sometimes I do think her pitching on thick grass makes her a little bit off sometimes but that's all we have for now.

OILF I actually do understand what your saying. Its not only a battle to teach but a battle to keep a healthy relationship. I do want HER to want to improve and work hard for her own benefit and not just to impress daddy. She is just starting to get more mature and things are a little emotional for her sometimes but I think we have done "OK" on our softball journey. I am AC on her TB team and I have noticed that her skill level is starting to surpass my knowledge and physical abilities. I let the other coaches "coach" my DD while I help the other kids. Practice with me in the yard is starting to get boring because I can't challenge her enough. That being said I always love to learn, and learning how to coach her and others better is my desire. I dont always pass on the knowledge right away, but its nice to have it in my back pocket.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Her hips aren't getting her fully open. She is going to pitch the ball into her hip, at some point. And her glove swim is pulling her backwards, too. It is difficult to throw strikes from this position.

There is plenty good here to work with, but she needs to get open to be able to utilize her power.

 

[Sweet Lou]

She looks really good now that I see her. One of the best I have seen on this site at that age.

This is really kind but for her age I have seen a number that are well ahead of her in form and speed posted on this board. That said, I will agree from what I see she does do a lot of things correctly.

To explain, the poster put "I" in the post and it is not what the parent needs to work on, but the pitcher. She will need an instructor one day and will bypass your knowledge as they all bypass mine...

I get what you are saying but as her de facto pitching coach until he can find affordable lesson there are a lot of things he needs to work on in addition to his DD. Chiefly being able to identify major flaws so he can help stop them before they start so as not to ingrain bad habits. Having gone that route myself with one DD I can tell you getting rid of bad habits is 10 times harder than instilling good habits from the get go.

I stand by my opinion that the "fix flaws" approach will ruin the relationship with your DD. Instead, say "let's work on posture today," not"let's fix that lean." Does that explain, I am having problems posting.

I agree with this 100%. How you phrase things makes a HUGE difference even if you're trying to to get the same message across. Positive reinforcement works a lot better 99% of the time.

If the velocity is there, you know the whip is there. Can't really tell on videos.

For 11 it looks like she could get more velocity with better arm whip but I guess videos can be misleading.