Hip or Knee issue when pitching

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Jun 23, 2021
6
3
Hello. Long time listener... first time caller. My daughter is a 12u pitcher and we have recently started having issues with the back (drive leg) knee/hip internally rotating and going behind the plant leg knee. I don't know if it is a by product of her trying to get her hips out of the way??? Or if the hips move laterally toward 1st base because of the internal rotation of the hip/knee??? Either way it has affected accuracy and I am worried about it causing injury. There are vid links below for a front view and a back view (hopefully I posted them correctly).

I am looking for any suggestions to fix - or someone to tell me I'm being overly critical. Either way, at least I would know something.


Front:
Back:

Thanks!
 
May 15, 2008
1,913
113
Cape Cod Mass.
I don't think the leg is an issue injurywise, but there is something funky going on and with just a front and back view I can't figure it out. If you can post a view from the third base side it might be easier to get an idea of what's happening.
 
Jun 23, 2021
6
3
From the side its not as noticeable. But you can still kind of see the drag knee turning inside. Is it over rotation of the hips??

 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
How deep do the holes get from her drag foot? She may be leaving too much weight on the drag foot - the hip/leg/knee are trying to pull the foot sideways into a kind of scissor-kick finish, but it's instead acting like an anchor, causing the leg to almost buckle inwards like you're seeing.

ETA - Otherwise, mechanics looks pretty good for 12U!
 
Apr 5, 2009
748
28
NE Kansas
She is not pushing thru her glutes. Tight hip flexors, maybe weak hip flexors. She is pushing with the inside of her leg in simple terms.
 
May 15, 2008
1,913
113
Cape Cod Mass.
Overall her mechanics are not bad for her age. My feeling is that she gets the ball/arm too far behind her and is forced to stay open. Or it could be that she gets too open, it's hard to say which comes first. It's pretty rare for this to happen, most of the time the pitchers don't get open enough. At 9 o'clock the ball is too far behind her, by that I mean toward first base. If you look from the back view and frame by frame it you can see that the ball at 11 it looks ok but at 10 it comes down at an angle and at 9 it's too far behind her.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,588
113
Chehalis, Wa
Overall her mechanics are not bad for her age. My feeling is that she gets the ball/arm too far behind her and is forced to stay open. Or it could be that she gets too open, it's hard to say which comes first. It's pretty rare for this to happen, most of the time the pitchers don't get open enough. At 9 o'clock the ball is too far behind her, by that I mean toward first base. If you look from the back view and frame by frame it you can see that the ball at 11 it looks ok but at 10 it comes down at an angle and at 9 it's too far behind her.

She’s turning open while driving, right? Creating over opening of the limbs and body.

I’ll do a comparison.
 
Last edited:
Apr 12, 2015
792
93
She’s turning open while driving, right?
Yes. She is twisting to open INSTEAD of driving. The "janky" is here:

1665065475466.png

She needs to focus on keeping the four points (front of both shoulders, front of both thighs) pointed at the catcher during her drive. She won't be able to because the body will naturally open, but it will help stop that jerk the hips open she is currently doing.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,588
113
Chehalis, Wa
What we see in the torques and spirals at the knee/hip is a result of actions further upstream.

In fastpitch we start closed (facing the target) and open up into the throwing position.

My guess is she getting more aggressive and her old drive/open needs to change.

You can see in the comparison, look at the arm position while driving.
 

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