Help Guys

[mkral]

OK Hal, Mark, Slugger, all you pitching helpers...
I think I got it figured out sort of. Here is a link to see my 13 yo DD.
She has just started back up after a long lay off. Please let me know what you are seeing and we will work on it.
Hal - I am going to work on some wiffle ball stuff this weekend. This was not one of her "Dirt Diving" outings.
YouTube - Chelsea Pitching 2010.wmv
Thanks
Mike

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Cool! Boy, she has a lot to look forward, if she is only 13. I like how she is staying on her power line. I see the point the elbow, but that is OK for her fastball. I watch one of the best at UofAz. and when she wants to bring it, she is straight down the power line and elbow points at the catcher. Good job.

 

[halskinner]

OH Hal, Mark, Slugger, all you pitching helpers...
I think I got it figured out sort of. Here is a link to see my 13 yo DD.
She has just started back up after a long lay off. Please let me know what you are seeing and we will work on it.
Hal - I am going to work on some wiffle ball stuff this weekend. This was not one of her "Dirt Diving" outings.
YouTube - Chelsea Pitching 2010.wmv
Thanks
Mike

No push off going on there. Get that weight forward quickly and THEN use that back leg and PUSH off.

Right now she is simply letting the weight of the front leg and kick out pull her forward. Use that back leg and keep the back foot behind the front one, dont let it come up even with the front. We have to get some resistance against the front leg.

Start with that and I think she will like the result.

Hal

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Dang it Hal. You typed too fast. So all I will say is "I agree". And she must PUSH.

 

[JC heir]

IMO while she is at changing her leap, she needs to open up more. I dont consider myself a pitching coach, & neither does anyone else so take it for what its worth

 

[mkral]

Do you have a good drill to help her fire off the rubber? We work from time to time with resistance bands around her waist and she hates it. More there?
Hal I saw what you posted on another post about lean then fire off. I will work on that with her. We really don't have any pitching coaches close to us so she has been pretty much self taught. I really want to get her to someone who believes in rotational pitching but here in Iowa I cannot find anyone. Our high school softball coach has helped her a lot but that is where the whole elbow pointing comes from. If you notice she crosses over then pulls her hand back because that is what our high school coach wants her to do. Our high school coach was a pitcher and a good one so I do believe in all she has taught but the elbow pointing is not one of them.
Thanks for the critiquing so far please keep it coming. Now that I got it figured out as far as how to get a dang video posted I will keep you posted on her adjustments.
Thanks again!!
Mike

 

[halskinner]

Do you have a good drill to help her fire off the rubber? We work from time to time with resistance bands around her waist and she hates it. More there?
Hal I saw what you posted on another post about lean then fire off. I will work on that with her. We really don't have any pitching coaches close to us so she has been pretty much self taught. I really want to get her to someone who believes in rotational pitching but here in Iowa I cannot find anyone. Our high school softball coach has helped her a lot but that is where the whole elbow pointing comes from. If you notice she crosses over then pulls her hand back because that is what our high school coach wants her to do. Our high school coach was a pitcher and a good one so I do believe in all she has taught but the elbow pointing is not one of them.
Thanks for the critiquing so far please keep it coming. Now that I got it figured out as far as how to get a dang video posted I will keep you posted on her adjustments.
Thanks again!!
Mike

"Do you have a good drill to help her fire off the rubber?"

Here is what I used to do with all my students.

Have her stand with both feet on the rubber. You stand around 2 feet in front of and facing her. Put your left foot behind your right for balance as she will be pushing on you.

Now, have her put her throwing hand and glove flat against your chest. Now slowly back up and have her keep her hands there.

Back up to the point her weight is against your chest and she is leaning at a fairly steep angle.

Next, have her lift her stride foot off the ground and keep it in the air just above the ground as SHE PUSHES AGAINST YOU AND TRIES TO KNOCK YOU OVER backwards. Make sure she is pushing hard and DONT MOVE. YOU MOVE, SHE FALLS DOWN so brace your self well.

Tell her OK and bring her other foot down.

THAT is the angle we want her to be at when she starts her push off and THAT is how hard we want her to push off.

Hal

 

[mkral]

Sounds good!!

Thanks!

 

[sluggers]

She has a strange flaw in her motion I haven't seen before. JC said there was a problem and I saw something too, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I watched this video a 1000 times...

Look at her left foot throughout her pitch. She *NEVER* lets her heel touch. She *always* stays on her toe. She has created a shock absorber. What that means is that she can push off as hard as she wants, but it isn't going to add 1 MPH to her speed. See the attached pictures.

The pitching motion works like this:

The pitcher generates all kinds of forward momentum along a line toward the target. The pitcher does this by pushing off with her legs and rotating her arm. Then, her left foot stops all the forward motion suddenly, and the momentum is transferred through the body, up to the arm, and then to the ball. Bang. The ball comes out like it was shot from a rifle. (Of course, the timing is absolutely crucial for this to work correctly.)

BUT: Your DD generates all this forward momentum and lands on her toe, and she gradually slows her body down. All that forward momentum is being absorbed by her ankle and her front leg--which is why she is swinging her right leg around when she throws. Even though she *SHOULD* be throwing 60 MPH or so, the ball is coming out at about 50 MPH.

The way it is supposed to work with the toe is that the pitcher lands on the toe and then plants the heel. (Sometimes kids land on the heel.) This is just like batting. You may want to land first on the toe when you swing, but you've got to get the heel down or there will be no momentum transfer.

Look at your DD after release. She is way up her left toe. Look at Osterman. Her right foot is completely on the ground at 9.

The drill I would recommend is my favorite--the Carolina Walk Through. In the drill, she does a normal walk through, but after she throws, she keeps her right foot up and off the ground until the catcher returns the ball to her.

 

[mkral]

Slugger I was going to ask you a suggested drill but you edited your post. Thank you....I never saw that before and she sure does keep that heel up!! On your drill when she keeps her right foot off the ground she needs then to focus on getting that left foot flat on the ground after the toe touches, right??