Newbie to Pitching Question

[T-Seed]

Thanks everyone! What I was thinking based on the video, not sure why we didn't do that sooner, it is hard for me to see in real time. She is close to IR but not quite, almost hybrid between HE/IR.

Her finish varies day to day, sometimes she is more palm down out front and other times she is more palm up across her body like in the posted video.

Going to start working the lock it in drill to work on those mechanics.

 

[jfitch12]

not sure why we didn't do that sooner, it is hard for me to see in real time.

Also good is video from directly behind, preferably on a sunny day with a phone set to 60fps. That will help you better gauge how the arm unravels and how much “palm up” you see in the downswing and when (it’s not always completely palm up and not always right at 9 o’clock, some pitchers are a little later). The finish is easier to assess because you can see that with the naked eye.

Your questions are specific to the arm action, but my guess is that as much time or more on the lower body would be useful. The arm action will change as the lower body changes.

 

[T-Seed]

Your questions are specific to the arm action, but my guess is that as much time or more on the lower body would be useful. The arm action will change as the lower body changes.

Yes, we have been focusing on the lower body quite a bit lately. Mainly working on her drive (primarily the start of her forward motion which led to her taking the "cheater" step shown in the video) and turning hips, that is why we made the video and I noticed her arm mechanics being off.

So much nuance to all of this, really wish I would have studied for a few weeks before we started this journey.

 

[T-Seed]

So should we focus on her upper body mechanics 1st then move to the lower body or work them both in conjunction?

 

[cnardone]

So should we focus on her upper body mechanics 1st then move to the lower body or work them both in conjunction?

My dd does not like to have to think about more than one thing. So we focus on one item. Later in a lesson we might focus on something different, but only one at a time.

 

[sluggers]

So should we focus on her upper body mechanics 1st then move to the lower body or work them both in conjunction?

Get her upper body mechanics fixed and then move to lower body mechanics.

Working on lower body mechanics when she has good upper body mechanics.

 

[jfitch12]

So should we focus on her upper body mechanics 1st then move to the lower body or work them both in conjunction?

A while ago a poster on this board likened pitching practice to “tightening the lug nuts on a tire using a star pattern” (or something like that). Work on one thing, then another, then another, then another, then another, and then go back to the first thing. Don’t do it all in one session—usually two (maybe three) things are plenty in an hour practice—and you may work on those two or three things for weeks before moving on to something else. Figuring all that out is a big part of what makes this so rewarding.

You will hear lots of views, but arm patterning is something you can do everyday, either before a session that works on more arm patterning (from full pitch), other upper body cues, or the lower body. The IR progression described in Board Member’s sticky can be done everyday as a warmup (it may have been intended that way, I don’t recall), and then you can have a second focus for the rest of the practice session. Based on the video you posted, I would continue to work on the lower body as much or more than the upper. The two are mutually reinforcing (and mutually destructive), so I would not wait to “fix” one before addressing the other. (There also are some patterns that your athlete will never “fix,” which is another reason not to wait.)


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[Shawn]

You work on arm action everyday.

She has other issues that affect her arm action.

She needs to get the front knee up, the front leg needs to get up and over a small log. This is effecting her drive.

 

[T-Seed]

If you want something promising: It could just be that she's lanky, but it appears she has long arms (don't, um, tell her she has long arms!). This will bode her well as she develops as a pitcher.

She is a lanky girl for sure but she gets it honest. I am a 6'-6" bean pole & her mom is 5'-10" & pretty lanky herself (I don't tell her that either ) .

 

[T-Seed]

Thanks everyone, we will keep working!