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Osterman claims that she only uses 2 grips. I don't know about the others.
- Apr 24, 2012
- 213
- 16
Im not saying whats right and whats wrong but the majority of pitchers I see(even the ones in the model pitchers thread)use a 2 handed back swing. Am I wrong?
As long as the cat gets skinned...
- Apr 24, 2012
- 213
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Carly I really enjoy your post but its really hard for me to understand that loading both arms back and swinging them forward wont help with the Drive off.
Here is a study done on long jumpers Role of arm motion in the standing long jump. [J Biomech. 2002] - PubMed - NCBI. I know its not softball pitching but it shows the power and balance the arms give you.
- Jun 13, 2012
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My 11 yr old has went from showing the ball during her back swing to now keeping ball within the glove. Hillhouse changed her about 3 months ago. He has her drop the ball within the glove and swing both back past her hip during leg load then pushing the glove with the ball hand at the catcher during the leg drive. She adapted quickly. I pitched fastpitch in the 80's and 90's with a men's travel team and the answer to whether you can get a "tell" of an up coming pitch by seeing the grip the answer is a resounding YES!!! Many times we have done this, I can pick up on an up coming pitch just by studying a pitcher for a few innings. I believe if a pitcher is going to pitch high level ball she needs to hide the ball and grip as much as possible. Just my $.02.
Love that link! Thanks for posting it.
(Pretty sure Carly meant that the the lower body load can be poor regardless of what the arms are doing.)
- Feb 7, 2013
- 3,188
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My question is: Are they successful because of their open back swing or in spite of it? Said another way, could they have been better pitchers and even more successful by hiding the grip like most elite men pitchers such Adam Folkard and Bill Hillhouse? My Dd used to do the double arm backswing, then I tried to switch her to hide the ball in her glove like BH with a cradled back swing. She lost some velocity but I think it had more to do with the change in timing and not used to the little to no back swing with the hands to the same side. Now she still keeps both hands to the right side but her pitching arm will go back in the back swing, partially hidden by the glove but not completely (similar to Ueno in that respect).
Newbucketdad... that was awesome. That it exactly why dd does the double arm swing.
Carly makes a valid point as to the leg involvement. Her timing is weight transfer back during the arms back swing, once the arms stop the upswing, the drive knee and waist will bend and the arms will help create momentum out towards the catcher. We tried the Hillhouse style of "rocking the baby" but in the way she drives out, it turns her body open too soon and her drive foot was getting crooked. So like KenB noted as to the worlds best, most of them have the same back swing. I don't think its broken, so we wont fix it. This guy is a first year HS PC, and I think he feels as if he has something to prove. He's an asst coach on his dd's tb team, but what's funny to me was every time we've ever played against his team, my girls hit his dd's pitching all day, while my dd recorded her first ever complete no hitter last year against them! Yet she's the one needing all the help?!?!
Carly makes a valid point as to the leg involvement. Her timing is weight transfer back during the arms back swing, once the arms stop the upswing, the drive knee and waist will bend and the arms will help create momentum out towards the catcher. We tried the Hillhouse style of "rocking the baby" but in the way she drives out, it turns her body open too soon and her drive foot was getting crooked. So like KenB noted as to the worlds best, most of them have the same back swing. I don't think its broken, so we wont fix it. This guy is a first year HS PC, and I think he feels as if he has something to prove. He's an asst coach on his dd's tb team, but what's funny to me was every time we've ever played against his team, my girls hit his dd's pitching all day, while my dd recorded her first ever complete no hitter last year against them! Yet she's the one needing all the help?!?!
If I want to steal what a girl throws I watch her pitching warm ups before the game. More often than not I can start picking out pitches right away. You can also see which pitches they like to throw the most. The last college game I went to I watched an opposing pitcher throwing rise balls in her warm ups. Seemed like every third pitch was a rise. She comes out and that was her mainstay. She would take a couple seconds longer to get her grip every time she threw it. It worked great the first inning and then our team was onto it. I was at a tournament in California last weekend. One of the teams we faced, the pitcher would step to the left of the power line every time she threw a curve. A lot of pitchers give tells. It helps knowing what's coming but it's another thing to hit it.
