- Feb 4, 2009
- 112
- 18
Latest vid. This is into a fence as there was no one else with us. Any comments appreciated as well as tips for drills
Jan2 - YouTube
Jan2 - YouTube
14yo still looking for advice
- Thread starter flamethrower
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- Jul 26, 2010
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She looks good, she's doing a lot right. She has good arm whip, but I think it could be even better if she focused more on "pulling" the ball down, right between the 1 and 2 second marks. She's leading with her elbow but she'll have more wrist snap (IR motion) if she has her wrist more cocked at the moment of release.
The other thing I see is that she appears to be "stretching" off the rubber rather then pushing.
She looks like she has good weight transfer in her pre motion, but freeze the frame at the very beginning of the clip. Notice her body/spine is nearly upright. She should be leaning forward, "falling" into the leap at this point. Instead, she's moving upright and catching herself from falling, and that results in loosing her leg power. Her posture looks good and you can tell that she knows how she is "supposed" to look, she's just loosing the point of why and what she needs to accomplish.
Have her try "falling" off the rubber by leaning forward. You need to catch her so she doesn't smash her face. After she gets a feel for that, have her start her push at the apex of weightlessness. Her pivot leg should still be loaded, but her body will be falling. Let gravity do the lions share of the work and push off from there.
-W
The other thing I see is that she appears to be "stretching" off the rubber rather then pushing.
She looks like she has good weight transfer in her pre motion, but freeze the frame at the very beginning of the clip. Notice her body/spine is nearly upright. She should be leaning forward, "falling" into the leap at this point. Instead, she's moving upright and catching herself from falling, and that results in loosing her leg power. Her posture looks good and you can tell that she knows how she is "supposed" to look, she's just loosing the point of why and what she needs to accomplish.
Have her try "falling" off the rubber by leaning forward. You need to catch her so she doesn't smash her face. After she gets a feel for that, have her start her push at the apex of weightlessness. Her pivot leg should still be loaded, but her body will be falling. Let gravity do the lions share of the work and push off from there.
-W
- Jul 26, 2010
- 3,554
- 0
CoachFP,
That's a really good point. I think a lot of why she's throwing her head back that way has to do with the fact that she's not pushing off. She's "throwing" her stride foot towards the catcher. . . this is good, but only when combined with a good push.
It almost looks like some invisible monster is grabbing her stride foot and yanking her, and she's doing her best to keep from falling down.
I think it's always good to fix the first thing broken in the chain and work from there. with this kid, I'd start with the basics of weight shift and stride. I'd be surprised if that didn't sort out the leaning further down the chain.
That's a really good point. I think a lot of why she's throwing her head back that way has to do with the fact that she's not pushing off. She's "throwing" her stride foot towards the catcher. . . this is good, but only when combined with a good push.
It almost looks like some invisible monster is grabbing her stride foot and yanking her, and she's doing her best to keep from falling down.
I think it's always good to fix the first thing broken in the chain and work from there. with this kid, I'd start with the basics of weight shift and stride. I'd be surprised if that didn't sort out the leaning further down the chain.
I just want to say that starsnuffer and CoachFP did a wonderful job of analysis. Listen to them!
Flamethrower - since she already keeps her glove hand to the right side, has she considered allowing it to go back with the ball hand behind her during the back swing and to continue with the ball hand in the glove going forward as she is pushing off of the pitching plate (think Hillhouse)? This will help her a) load her stride leg earlier; b) allows her left shoulder, glove arm, and ball arm to all be coming directly down the powerline to the catcher as she strides forward, c) not only hides the grip from the batter longer, they actually don't see the ball until she is already striding forward.
I'm realizing that we should be teaching our daughters to pitch like the best men's fastpitchers (Hillhouse, Folkard, Hinline).
I'm realizing that we should be teaching our daughters to pitch like the best men's fastpitchers (Hillhouse, Folkard, Hinline).
- Feb 4, 2009
- 112
- 18
Thanks everyone for the comments. We've been trying to get more extension up the front of the circle mostly focusing on reaching with her arm toward the catcher.
Starsnuffer we will begin focusing more on getting off the rubber in the way you described. I had noticed she appeared to turn sideways almost before she pushed off and have been trying to get her to keep her shoulders square longer into the pitch. Maybe like you say that stuff is a symptom of the lack of an explosive push off.
Socal-- We've tried to do what you have described. At this point she isn't comfortable doing it to that extent. Getting her to cover the ball at least until she seperates for her backswing is what im shooting for at this point.
Starsnuffer we will begin focusing more on getting off the rubber in the way you described. I had noticed she appeared to turn sideways almost before she pushed off and have been trying to get her to keep her shoulders square longer into the pitch. Maybe like you say that stuff is a symptom of the lack of an explosive push off.
Socal-- We've tried to do what you have described. At this point she isn't comfortable doing it to that extent. Getting her to cover the ball at least until she seperates for her backswing is what im shooting for at this point.
- Jul 26, 2010
- 3,554
- 0
Let us know how it works out, flamethrower!
One thing that you can try is to put an extra softball on the inside of her pivot foot heel. If she tries to rotate her foot before she pushes off (which as you said, makes her whole body rotate), she'll kick the ball out of place. It's an easy indicator that she's doing it correctly or not. There is a product that fits over the rubber, sort of a box for her front foot. This does the same thing, but kids HATE it. They hate it because there's no getting away from it, but it's easier when hate is directed towards a PC and not a parent, so I'm not sure if you want to go that route
Good luck!
-W
One thing that you can try is to put an extra softball on the inside of her pivot foot heel. If she tries to rotate her foot before she pushes off (which as you said, makes her whole body rotate), she'll kick the ball out of place. It's an easy indicator that she's doing it correctly or not. There is a product that fits over the rubber, sort of a box for her front foot. This does the same thing, but kids HATE it. They hate it because there's no getting away from it, but it's easier when hate is directed towards a PC and not a parent, so I'm not sure if you want to go that route
Good luck!
-W
- Nov 29, 2009
- 2,975
- 83
What she needs to do is run through's and more run through's and more run through's. She starts off ok then pretty much shuts her motion down when the front foot lands trying to stop her momentum instead of controlling it. She's missing the explosive finish to the pitch. It looks like she worried about losing her balance and slows everything down at the end.
Great comments here. I've also been working with a girl who wants to pull her shoulders backwards at launch instead of driving forward. Last night we had her try starting from a sprinter's start -- like she's down in the blocks -- and it seemed to help. That's not my favorite drill, but in this case it worked.
Love the sunlight streaming down on her. Looks like she's being watched by the angels.
Love the sunlight streaming down on her. Looks like she's being watched by the angels.
