My DD's follow through

[cbullard]

Here is a clip from my 11 yr old DD's softball game this past Saturday. She pitched a pretty good game. I've been working on IR with her. And she's come along way from fall ball. One thing I noticed is that after her release she pulls her arm back. Her coach said that she shouldn't do that because it hurts her speed. Isn't the ball already out of her hand at that point? Is this something that should be addressed?

I don't know much about pitching....just what I learned from this board.

 

[sluggers]

Isn't the ball already out of her hand at that point?

This is part of the great "follow through" debate: If the baseball/softball/basketball/shot put/javelin/etc. is gone, why does follow through matter? From a physics point of view, it doesn't matter. From a bio-mechanical point of view (that is, is the athlete getting everything possible from her body?), it matters a great deal.

In your DD's case, it is clear to someone (like me) who has seen many, many softball pitchers that she is slowing her arm down prior to release in order to "pull her arm back". She is, in fact, "tensing up" immediately before release, thus slowing down her arm.

Beyond that question, the real problem is that your DD is trying to "throw strikes". If she wants to be an advanced player, she need to throw the ball as hard as possible, and *THEN* work on control.

Here is a drill to practice.

Have her get open (facing 3B), have her get a ball, and then do three rotations of the arm as fast as possible. On the third rotation, have her release the ball and "let the arm go wherever it wants".

When you teach pitching to a child, you have to know the difference between missing "left and right" and missing "up and down". Missing "up and down" is relatively easy to fix. It just takes practice. Missing left and right is another problem.

 

[cbullard]

Thanks sluggers. I really appreciate the feedback. She's new to pitching. She normally plays short stop, 2nd base, or center field. She wanted to try pitching and has really liked it. She taught herself from watching Youtube videos.

 

[cbullard]

Another thing that makes it tough is that her coach stresses that the pitchers throw strikes or put it where the batter can hit it (to give the defense a chance to make a play). But, I've been trying to get her to relax her arm and believe it or not she's gotten better in the area. I just can't get her to relax it through the release. Maybe she doesn't know where to take her arm to after the release?

 

[NorthMS]

Another thing that makes it tough is that her coach stresses that the pitchers throw strikes or put it the one where the batter can hit it (to give the defense a chance to make a play). But, I've been trying to get her to relax her arm and believe it or not she's gotten better in the area. I just can get her to relax it through the release. Maybe she doesn't know where to take her arm to?

This is why I didn't let my DD pitch in 10u. When she decided she wanted to work on her mechanics, we did that. Then she pitched in a game.

I'm known in my area as the guy that yells "What do you think she's trying to do?", every time a coach or parents say "Just throw strikes Sally!". Pet peeve of mine. Don't put them out there until they are somewhat ready.

 

[sluggers]

Maybe she doesn't know where to take her arm to after the release?

Tell her to have her hand pointed at the catcher after release. After all, that is where she wants the ball to go.

Attached is a video of Sarah Pauly, a great college and professional pitcher. Have your DD look at this video and try to emulate Sarah's release.

[video=youtube_share;-ybZclAsGCA]http://youtu.be/-ybZclAsGCA[/video]

 

[cbullard]

I think her biggest thing is getting the ball to roll off her fingers. She jerks on the release and then does the follow through.