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Nov 25, 2012
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Thanks Ken - your response is in line with what I was hoping of using it for.

I went back and watched most of the video. When she was demonstrating the wall drill, she mentioned another use was to use the wall to see if the ball could still get by b/w the hip and the wall. This is another habit I think I’m seeing in my daughter - she’ll swing/turn her hip as she throws, and I think it’s significant enough that if she tries it against a wall, she’ll quickly run out room.

I guess you never know what you’ll find in these videos - you just gotta keep digging / watching.


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There is a difference in slamming the door and turning the hip to a 45 degree angle give or take. She should swing/turn her hip as she throws. Don't try and stop that as it is a natural movement. Search Hip Snap and Rick Pauly on this site. People get taken back based on some older posts that the hip shouldn't play a role. It does! It needs to to swing/turn but it then needs to stop. Again, search what I just mentioned and don't coach a good thing out of her. Another suggestion is to read as much as you can that Rick and Rich have posted. Read it, digest it, read it again, digest it. And do it over and over and over and over. I would also recommend that you read as much as you can about brush contact. It is more important than you can imagine. It is not hard as others have said once you get it. I think Ken B once said that brush is a wrap or roll around the hip. It is just that and crucial IMO. Focus significant time there as I still believe it is the single most important and overlooked "sequence" in pitching. Best of luck on your journey!
 

shaker1

Softball Junkie
Dec 4, 2014
894
18
On a bucket
Wrist snaps promote palm down Hello Elbow type mechanics. A notion that that you push the ball down the backside and snap up through release. This is the release your after
 
Feb 3, 2010
5,769
113
Pac NW
The primary role of the wrist is to be loose and allow power to flow to the ball. The muscles that articulate the wrist cannot move quickly enough to propel the ball faster than if allowed to stay loose and let whip happen. I think feeling and working for a good "snap" is very important for both speed and spin. Good form/sequence is the key to transferring energy to the fingertips so you feel the snap. When I say "snap," I mean like a bullwhip or wet towel.

Rick Pauly has talked about an eye opening experiment that demonstrates how little the wrist acts as an adder to speed. I don't recall his exact process but here the gist of it:

1) Throw ten fastballs with no thought/emphasis to anything--just throw and record speeds.
2) Throw ten pitches trying to actively wrist snap and record speeds
3) Put on a wrist brace with a stiffener and throw ten more, recording speeds
4) Compare averages

Same is true in hitting, kicking a ball, throwing overhand, hitting a golf ball or hitting a tennis ball with a racquet. There is no active flick or muscled snap. (Side note: I'm still waiting for someone to show me video of a baseball pitcher: standing with feet planted at 90 degrees, arm straight up over the head and warming up by flicking the ball to the catcher with wrist snaps. We see it everyday in softball, but just can't find this in baseball...)

When I throw a curve, I get the best spin when I focus on staying loose enough to feel a good snap. The more I try to force it, the less it moves.

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