Mechanical makeover in progress

[vdubya]

Thanks for the replies and encouragement. We'll work to get that throwing shoulder down, and continue to work speed, long toss, etc.

There is still a lot of work to do. The recent video above is an example of her getting it right, or at least as close as she comes to that, but it isn't what I consistently see. Getting her feet/legs to finish the same way every time, and her arm to follow thru the same way every time is now on the agenda too.

I think because of the inconsistency, her accuracy is suffering. In fact, we are back to the baby step of 'just throw it in the strike zone' stage with this makeover because her misses are often off by yards, not inches. I know that 'just throw strikes' isn't the right approach, but we have to start somewhere with accuracy. Is this an acceptable approach until she is consistent with her delivery and we can fine tune (locations) next?

Thanks for your comments! This board is a world of help!
VW

 

[fastpitch]

This may sound stupid... what's "internal rotation"?

 

[sluggers]

I think because of the inconsistency, her accuracy is suffering. In fact, we are back to the baby step of 'just throw it in the strike zone' stage with this makeover because her misses are often off by yards, not inches

This approach will get you nowhere. You want her to learn control, not how to put the ball over the plate. Here is what you do:

(1) You start by asking her to throw to the left side of the plate. Which she can do this, then you ask her to throw to the right side of the plate. It doesn't matter if the ball goes 10 feet off to the right as long as it on the right. Then, rotate between left and right. When doing this drill, if she is struggling throwing one to the right, you continue asking for the ball to the right. You do *not* move to the left until she throws it to the right.
(2) Next, you do vertical. Same drill...ask for a pitch down. When she can do that, ask for one up. Then rotate between up and down.
(3) When she can throw left/right and up/down consistently, then you pitch to the four quadrants.

 

[vdubya]

One project of the week for my DD's mechanical makeover was to fix her glove arm mechanics. We watched a lot of video of D1 and northward elite pitchers and determined that Cat seemed to be perhaps the best at consistently keeping her glove on-line.

When we really studied her in slow-mo, it became obvious that her glove arm action was different than most, noting that she uses a punch-type 'jab' instead of swinging the glove upwards fluidly with the ball arm.

We switched DD to this and it it made an immediate and profound impact, namely:
1. Her glove arm stayed on-line (easily), which in turn made...
2. Her stride toes land on the 'power line' which she previously had been missing by a few inches. This helps her get more open as a result and finally...
3. Her horizontal accuracy improved by leaps and bounds! She is back to hitting spots...at least the horizontal lanes consistently for the first time since changing her mechanics. (nearly ready for vertical work, Sluggers)

This happened without any loss of speed or trade-off in other areas of her mechanics. In watching so much video, it appears Cat's 'jab' is a bit un-conventional (most others 'swing'), but after DD emulating it, I certainly see why she does this.

The makeover is getting fun and you have all been very helpful, not just on this thread but I learn from all of you regular contributers on so many threads. I do try to put your valuable feedback to work.

I'm interested to hear if anyone else has had succcess teaching Cat's glove arm 'jab' as opposed to a fluid upswing. The improvement in my DD was dramatic during sessions this week!

Thanks all!
Vdub