14u pitcher struggling with mechanics. Advice welcomed.

[Fluid Fastpitch]

ArmWhip that makes sense regarding glove swim impacting DD getting open. I have to imagine the glove getting that far back is pulling the throwing shoulder towards home plate.

I don't disagree with either of you, I've just found that some people get hung up on swim (and I mentioned it because it was super obvious), but I think it should self correct if the focus is on leading with the elbow down the back side. If I'm going to focus on the glove side, I'm going to want it to reciprocate the ball arm's motions. It currently is reciprocating the throwing arm's motions, which aren't good. It's really unlikely that she'll get that swimmy if the glove arm is also leading down with the elbow.
ETA: ArmWhip said the same thing... changing her throwing arm action to IR, this should also modify the glove swim. Carry on, I'm just making posts for fun, lol.

 

[ArmWhip]

ArmWhip that makes sense regarding glove swim impacting DD getting open. I have to imagine the glove getting that far back is pulling the throwing shoulder towards home plate.

Many pitchers throw the ball with a pushing motion at release, part of that is squaring the shoulders which is where the glove swim comes in. Changing to IR requires the pitcher to get and stay more open than HE does. You can do the IR drills and progress toward the full motion. However transferring what the drills teach into the full motion is often problematic because of the change in intention. With drills the pitcher's focus is on what her body is doing, when she switches to full motion, or throwing to a target, the old way of doing things will often creep back in. So if the switch to IR isn't going well the first thing I would check is her glove swim, because it happens very early in the pitching motion.

 

[SETPRO]

Unless you can find a "good" pitching instructor the chances of your daughter making significant changes to her throwing is not high, my opinion. The only other alternative is that you become the most knowledgeable pitching person you possibly can become. And become your daughter's best coach.

You said that she's been pitching for three years, that's a long time to try and make significant changes to her delivery.

Your observation of HE mechanics is spot on. One of the characteristics of HE mechanics is everything occurs in a straight line.

Body rotation is a significant requirement for maximizing ability throw. IR is rotational mechanics.

One suggestion is to take a close look at:

https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/2024-d1-softball-preseason-top-10-1-ncaa-pitchers.45845/

Each player has both regular motion speed and slow motion of the delivery. In almost every player exhibits the same mechanical characteristics.

One other general observation regarding "glove swim". And by glove swim I'm referring to the casting out horizontally of the glove arm and then it's pulling down towards the hip. What I don't think many people realize is that the action of the arm sweeping out horizontally, in the case of a right-handed pitcher the arm sweep would be toward first base, actually causes the shoulders to open. This is typical action-reaction that the arm swing outward and around will cause the shoulders to want to rotate in the opposite direction.

I was going to this and get much more into this in another posting that I had made entitled "What do falling cats in high-level softball fastpitch pitchers have in common?".

One of the very interesting differences between overhand pitching and softball fastpitch pitching is that fastpitch pitchers become airborne in the delivery and quite often lose contact with the ground during the delivery. Not having the ground to work against any movement of one part of the body will significantly create a reaction effect on another part of the body.

One of the most extreme examples of this is Jordy Bahls throwing mechanics.

I wish you and your daughter the best in your efforts.

 

[Faspitch10_LI]

I wanted to thank everyone who has contributed with thoughtful input into DD mechanics. DD and I had a great discussion about this thread yesterday and she is sold on trying to fix her arm as a starting point. She understands this won't be an easy task as there is a lot of muscle memory to unwind.

 

[daywalkerdad]

Disclaimer not a pitching coach by any means. I would look at the form in front of mirror no ball.

 

[softballphreak]

I believe these three videos will be extremely helpful.

 

[softballphreak]

And one of my favorites.