11 yr old pitcher problems

[coachdan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gInyehUfH_s

This pitchers had been taking pitching lessons for 2 yrs with a bowling style pitching coach. I have been trying to help her with the IR release and she is struggling to get it because of the old muscle memory. As soon as she goes over the top the turns to 2b and pushes down the back side of circle, I have been working on keeping plam under ball on the down swing to stop the pushing.

Another thing i'm have trouble fixing is her ball arm and glove arm don't come down together. Ball first then glove to front thigh. We have been working on throwing the ball into her glove and she can do it fine until full motion pitching. The arm should go up together and then back down together, any thoughs on how to fix this?

 

[starsnuffer]

Take her to the duck pond with a bucket of skipping stones, and have some fun, turn it into a lesson on how to "throw" underhand rather then "push" or "bowl".

-W

 

[Amy in AZ.]

It is doing her no good to touch the glove to her thigh. She has so much movement going on that she is having a hard time controlling it all. The glove touch can be eliminated.

I see a few things. One is the inconsistency in the arm circle. It starts "off the power line" and then, lassos over her head and then, she tries to get back on plane. I would use that ball tied to the tube thing, to help her with that.

The back foot and leg are totally collapsing. Do you know the stork drill?

Is she seeing a pitching coach?

 

[Jojo]

Is she seeing a pitching coach?

She has a lot of areas that need work.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I re-read your post. "What is a bowling style pitching coach?" That can't be good.

 

[Sparky Guy]

any thoughs on how to fix this?

I have plenty of thoughts after watching the video of this girl. My first thought is she looks like a stick figure when she is pitching. It seems like every joint in her body is bent. Honestly, if I had this girl I would have to start her over again from scratch. She looks like she's fighting what you're working on as well as two years of I-don't-know-what in her motion. I doubt that's what the parents want to hear.

The two biggest things I see are she's leaning too far forward and her arm circle in not one. She is lifting the ball up over head and then trying she's trying to develop some arm speed while allowing her back shoulder to dip dropping her hand path out of the bottom of the circle in an attempt to lift the ball. She will never be consistent doing that. As mentioned by someone else, the hip touch with the glove is not letting her start her windup loose.

The first thing I would do with this girl is start her on a bucket. Get an empty 5 gal bucket. Have her get into the open position on her power line. Place the left foot on the overturned bucket. Keep the foot flat and leg extended, but not fully with the knee locked straight. The foot is on a 45% angle like when she lands. It is not pointed at the catcher. The catcher should see her entire left side and the glove should be pointing at the target. She should have 90% of her weight on the right leg. The left foot is only used to help keep her stable.

Have her start at the 9:00 position with her arm and throw the ball. She can not lean forward. An easy way that I found to keep kids from leaning is to place two fingers on the side of the neck without pushing. It allows them to move and you to control them. What happens then if they start to lean you stop the head from moving forward. They must now deliver the ball with their weight back and still maintain their balance. As she becomes more comfortable with keeping her weight back and staying balanced then move on to 12 and 3 o'clock. Finally you get to a full circle. Make sure she make a full circle and does not lift the ball in front of her. She must keep the arm close to the body while delivering the ball. If she still continues to lift then move to the three circle drill.

The three circle drill is exactly as it says. Have her make 3 complete circles with the arm, throwing the ball on the last circle. She is pointing to her target the entire time. The object is to increase the arm speed with each circle. This will get her used to the feeling of reaching the top of her circle with the ball. Accuracy is NOT a priority with the drill. It's about getting her used to a big quick arm while keeping her weight back. DO NOT let her lean over allowing her arm to drift away from her body as she is doing with her delivery now.

 

[Lozza]

First off her parents are wasting their money.

This girl needs to relearn everything. I think SparkyGuy has done a very good way of getting her onto the right track. She needs to re-learn her arm circle as well as her legs. I don't generally agreeing with isolating motions, but I think for this girl you'll need to.

I really can't see anything in the motion that is done well. Her enthisauism is awesome though!

 

[97fastpitchdad]

Great post, Sparky. We'll be trying the bucket drill today. Thank you.

 

[coachdan]

I re-read your post. "What is a bowling style pitching coach?" That can't be good.

Push down the back side of circle and finish with power elbow pointed to catcher. She had been going to this coach for a couple of year and saw that she was not getting any better. I have been working with her in my spare time. I have her working on K drill concentrating on IR snap but she just can't break the push down and snap up motion.

 

[starsnuffer]

IR motion is a non-teach. IR happens when the pitcher "throws" the ball rather then "pushing" the ball.

Sparky and others are dead on that this kid needs a reboot, and there are more pressing concerns then focusing on snap right now.

-W