Young 10U pitcher, Comments

[SoftSocDad]

As the father of a very young pitcher, the two things that jump off the screen at me are exactly what I saw with my DD for first 2 months she was pitching:

1) the crook in the arm
2) the apparent hesitation or hitch in her delivery

These guys know a lot more about mechanics than I do, but I do know that both of those things are limiting her velocity and control. New pitchers are often concerned with 'aiming' the ball and that's what your daughter is doing.

It's a given that every kid develops at a different rate, but after 8 months of pitching, the likely reason(s) for her not to have these 2 fundamental mistakes worked out are either lack of knowledge about how to pitch properly (could be the result of poor instruction) or a fear of not throwing strikes.

Prior to this season, I honestly had no idea that kids were supposed to get 'pitching lessons' in order to be effective in 8u rec ball. It's doubtful most 6u/8u rec-level parents are aware of that either. Encourage her to pitch as often as possible. 5 days a week isn't too much at all.

 

[tojo]

Getting back to the original question about things that would help his DD, my suggestion is to open the shoulders up a little more when driving off the rubber. She needs to work on establishing her left side resistance at release. This will help with keeping her weight back and she needs to stand tall and not bend at the waist or crunch her stomach muscles. Her glove hand is swimming and should be pointing to her target. Her right shoulder not opening fully could contribute to the left arm off the power line. Just things that need to be addressed before they become bad habits that are harder to break the longer used. I would also work on using the lat muscles more and less bicep and shoulder muscles in the throwing motion. Have her release with her shoulder at a 45 degree angle. Just a few suggestions.

 

[Ravenstown]

Tojo, that is the type of information and suggestions that I am looking for to help her improve. When you say to open the shoulders a little more when she drives off the rubber, you mean that she should keep her upper body facing more towards third base. We have been working on her left side resistance. She has gotten better with really pushing back off the earth when her stride leg hits the ground but she still lands soft sometimes which I think is the reason she sometimes has her weight over her front foot.

Sluggers, thanks for the video. From the looks of that video, I would say that the girl pitching in it is probably much more experienced then my DD currently is. She is obviously a much bigger kid physically and looks like an older 10U player. I can see some differences in the two videos but I don't think it is night and day. They both are swimming in their video's (look at the 7 second mark in the one you posted). I do see that the girl is more upright at the finish, whereas my DD is out front too much. I guess what really bothers me about your critique is that you state she is basically a train wreck, followed by "I don't know where to start with fixing her".

 

[Lozza]

I agree with you that Sluggers is being way too harsh. I don't think your daughter's pitching is a mess, does she have problems? Sure. She's U10s all pitchers have problems. The video that was posted is an unfair comparison. That girl is very clearly a natural pitcher. You can just tell. She has worked very, very hard (and driven very hard by dad from remembering that thread) but there is a lot of natural talent there.

Ravenswood, are you able to get better video? Its hard to tell exactly where to start her off on improving from that angle. For me her stance is far too closed throughout the motion. (which is what I meant by her hips needing to open more) She needs to be facing third completly when she is at the 12 o'clock position (half way)

Going through the video I've noticed she has a significant lean when she's pitching. I think that could be what I'm seeing that looks so wrong to my eyes. She's also bending when she's pitching, as if she's trying to come under the pitch. She needs to be standing straight throughout the entire pitch.

My advice on where to start? If she doesn't have a pitching coach you want her to be standing straight throughout the entire pitch. That's what I would focus on at this point in time. Have her do the walk through of the pitch in slow motion, with particular attention to being tall. What I always tell me girls is to imagine they have a steel rod in their back and they can't bend.

Once you're through with that, you want to get rid of the lean.(which I think will improve once she starts standing tall) Get two pool noodles and hold them either side of her body, about an inch away, as she's doing the pitching motion. She is not to touch the noodles at all.

Those two things would help her improve significantly. She has some decent speed and her arm motion seems good. (though there is a bend there but focus on that later) Good luck! Please don't feel that you can't ask for advice here. Everyone is really helpful.

Sluggers if you think she's a hot mess I encourage you to see some of the girls in my club. There is almost no pitching knowledge where I play and its very, very common for a girl to be handed a ball and told to pitch. Nothing more. (its why when one of the 18 year old's I played did a significant improvement to her pitching motion, I went out of my way to congratulate her. Sadly that is very rare) I'm trying to change it within my club, but as I work every Saturday its hard to do. (I barely have enough time to play myself on weekends, so going down and watching the girls in a game situation is hard)