Throwing drills

[softballphreak]

At the risk of losing her to tennis (or make a second sport) have her hit some overhands and try to get her to be conscientious of her arm coming over her head instead of pushing her hand as if she throwing a pie.

Or maybe throw a small bat end over end (not helicopter) downfield and be aware of the arm coming over her head and by her ear.

 

[iMlearning]

If you want to have your DD stop talking to you for a little while you can get one of these.

ThrowMAX

So true! I think my DD tried to hide it from me so we wouldn't use it!

 

[austinwass]

The ThrowMax is not a bad product.... actually it is a bad product and it's not the company's fault for not completely understanding throwing mechanics and what actually happens during a throw. The entire 6 phase throwing diagram describes positions. Throwing is not a position. Throwing is a movement through specific positions in order to achieve an end result. My book on Throwing Patterns will be available soon.

As a Strength & Conditioning coach, having studied biomechanics and kinesiology, the use of this product will most likely decrease velocity and may actually induce shoulder injuries... not elbow injuries.


The reason why athletes have elbow pain is because of poor teaching of throwing mechanics, specifically ARM ACTION & SEQUENCE, poor throwing programs, poor pre and post throwing protocols and overuse. It's not because of the elbow angle during late cocking and acceleration.

Below are clips that this company has on their website. Pure pushing and pure spinning motions. The arm starts back, point the ball away, classic demonstration, step and throw. This motion is completely incorrect.

http://www.throwmax.com/images/MOV00017_TM_side_shots.MPG

http://www.throwmax.com/images/MOV00021_Tmfronts.mpg



This image is actually really funny because the kid on the left is correct and the kid on the right is incorrect. I can post some clips of any high level thrower and you will see that they do not perfom the throwing style as posted on the right in the picture. It just doesn't happen.


Kid on the right: has the brace on, points the ball away, glove is tucked, step and throw. Minimal velocity, pure spinning, no separation, possible shoulder injury.

Kid on the left: no brace, elbow is above shoulder, thoracic extension occurring, lead arm not doing anything (which is awesome because this allows for thoracic extension and will ultimately lead to max external rotation and max velocity), no spinning motion, shoulder is protected because other structures will be involved to decelerate the crazy internal rotation forces of the throwing shoulder.

Why Your Softball Players Have Elbow Pain: Wrist Flick Edition

Training Movement Patterns

 

[richard]

Ok so the throwmax will be on the front steps today when we get home. I figured it was worth a shot. As always thanks for the advice.

 

[JerseyBall]

What are the results of her throw? If you could post a video, that would be helpful. I would start with the grip (I have two 14u players who were palming the ball at the start of the season), then check the feet and move your way up. Sometimes what you think is the problem is actually just a symptom of the actual problem.

 

[richard]

She floats her throw alot and throws over her partners head. All she ever hears from the coaches is quit pushing it or get your elbow up which I am sure that they are 100% spot on.. I am just having trouble fixing it. She has really lost her confidence in her ability to throw at this point and even after running down a pop fly in the outfield tells me she is always worried she will over throw trying to get it back in. It is a hard place for me as her dad coming from a child who had always played middle infield and never had any trouble throwing a kid out (but hey that was rec ball lol) and had all kinds of confidence in her ability. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[inde53546]

buy one of those chuck it dog toys that are used to throw tennis balls to dogs and similar to the above post regarding the tennis raquet tell her to be conscious of keeping her hand/elbow up. This can be used also to aid with hitting search chuck it drill.

This may seem odd but my daughter had the same issue. We happened to be at Walmart one day and she picked up a large display koosh ball the ones that like like giant sea urchins. She threw it to me but she was pinching it between her thumb and pointer finger not holding it like a ball and it was perfect form. In amazement I threw it back to her and had her do it again. I explained after she did it a few times that that is exactly how to throw overhand. I think that the feel of only pinching it with her 2 fingers made her automaticly recognize that she couldn't "push" it but acutally had to throw it. Hopefully this makes sense.

 

[mcastles]

OP, if you haven't already, check out this post on throwing.

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-fielding/7915-throwing.html

My daughter had exactly the same issue the you described. Regardless how hard she tried, she would drop and lead with her elbow when under the pressure and excitement of a game situation. We tried everything, including Throwmax. I have to admit it seemed to help since it literally prevents the elbow from bending less than 90 degrees. However, she reverted back quickly to the elbow drop.

So it was time to try something different, since it was clear that there was something in her elbow/shoulder structure that just wouldn't allow that "natural" motion so many people have. It clearly wasn't lack of effort or focus on her part, she and I really worked at it, but it wouldn't come. Plus she had recurring elbow pain. She was frustrated beyond words.

Bottom line is we tried the method described by Tewks. At first I was skeptical, since it goes against what we were all taught...keep your arm out and elbow up. But after working with this method now for a few weeks, I am absolutely convinced. The way she describes her new motion is effortless. It feels natural. Throws are much more accurate and quick. It really is true that throwing is a series of motions linked together and this motion of turning the shoulders and bringing the arm straight over has worked, at least for my DD. Plus, the elbow pain is gone.

Finally, I am no expert but just wanted to share a success story that may help the OPs DD.

Good luck

 

[Perfect Circle]

Here's a throw, under big time pressure. Playing the best team in the state...in our first tournament & they jumped up on us by 3. Catcher gets hauled away in the squad... DD comes in to catch... first time on Championship Day. She had only caught 2 innings in our 11 friendlies and none in the real 3 pool games the day before.

 

[CoachYoYo]

Learn the sequence and lose the L

I can tell you from personal experience with my DD that you should go back and re-read Austin's post and the articles he linked to. Also read the Throwing thread referenced above. Re-read the throwing thread again until you understand the proper sequence of the throwing motion or you will most likely only be hurting your DD more. Here is another article with a similar take on throwing.

How do I know this works? My DD (10 years old) has always had a strong arm, but I taught her the dreaded L and face the ball away crap that is commonly taught. She had frequent shoulder and elbow pain, and slipped into side arm because it didn't hurt as much. After about a year of working on her sequence, ala Austin/Tewks' direction, she now throws bullets from home to 2nd. No side arm, keeping the hand back prior to front leg ER with great arm whip and no pushing. Her mantra is now 'Thou shalt not steal', and you'd better be fast if you try. Although not many do after the 1st inning. Oh, did I mention that she has absolutely 0 pain and can throw all day long.

I have recently introduced thoracic extension (TE) and we do long throws 4-5 times a week out to 80+ feet (hey, she's only 10). No rainbows, pretty accurate and no pain.

Understand the sequence and lose the L.