Pitcher bending arm TOO much

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
I actually have her do that 3 circle drill almost every time as a warm up. We do it standing or on her knee. And yes as quick as possible. But that is a go to one because she does it pretty well too. I will look into the other drills! Definitely think she could keep more weight back. she is a little on her toe. Usually stays back pretty well though. I know it’s something with that glove hand and just her mindset is a huge thing. But yes I will try those thank you!
After looking at the pictures one more time I did see something else. If you look at her in pictures 1 & 3 her head is it falling off to the left. Where the head goes the body will follow. Her spine is bent backwards which is causing her arm into a lasso throwing position over the top of her head. When I'm working with young kids the cue I give them is their brain has to stay on top of their butt. One of the questions I will ask a young player is "What part of your body keeps you balanced?" Most answer their feet or something similar. When I explain to them there is a tiny organ in their ears, too lazy to google the name, that sends signals to the brain about the orientation of their body. If the head is tilted the brain is getting inaccurate information.

A very simple drill to help keep the weight back and balance is this. On a hard surface. Have her stand in the open position. Feet just slightly further than shoulder width apart. Place a ball next to her left foot the outside. Tell her to put her left foot on the ball with just enough weight on it to keep her balance. Give her a ball and then tell her to throw it to the catcher using a full arm circle. Again, this is not a speed drill. The object is the left foot can not fall off of the ball. This drill forces her to keep her weight back and forces to keep her balance left and right. Once she's doing the drill pretty well have her do it with her eyes closed.

When they first start doing this drill for some kids it's easier to get on the ball by leaving their heel on the ground and then lifting their toe to be able to control the ball as they mount it and get the heel up.
 
Nov 8, 2018
774
63
I believe her arm bend issue is a product of a bigger issue.
She not turning her shoulders on time. She at 2 and her chest is still at the catcher. Arm has to bend around the head or risk injury to the AC joint.
Get her to turn at 3 and keep her glove and ball midline till 2.
I’m curious to see if this helps. Lmk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Oct 29, 2022
4
3
HI, I'm an old school type of pitching coach from the 90's and early 2000's. The thing I noticed right away was, her body weight is not in a straighter position. In the old days, we used to address this as head weight problems. We used to explain this to our pitchers, that if you leaned your head forward, where would the rest of your body go. Forward. And if you leaned back, or to the left or right, the rest of your weight would follow. So, to me she has a slight lean to her left. Keeping in mind that she just went through a growth spurt, she is trying to adjust to a new physical form. I did notice that when her arm comes thru before her release, her hand & arm are too far from her body. If she can keep her head straight, all her other mechanics that you have been teaching will fall in place..
 
Jul 31, 2019
495
43
Excuse me if someone already mentioned the pvc drill.


A drill that uses a similar principle that I really like is to put a volleyball between her two forearms. Have her start in a push-off stance with the arms out in front of her knees (palms down), and explode out. As her arms get to 2 o'clock and she starts to open, the volleyball should release straight forward. If the arms don't take the correct path, the volleyball goes everywhere but straight. After she begins to constantly thrust the VB straight, do the same drill, but add a softball in her pitching hand, and have her pitch the ball too. The VB should still go relatively straight. One watchout....tell the catcher to focus on the yellow ball, and don't get distracted by the VB (I'm speaking from experience).
 
Jun 19, 2020
83
18
She has to have her mind grow into her body.

The kid grew in height, and she is growing out as well. She is not used to having hips and a bosom. It is throwing everything off.

You have to be patient and start back at ground zero. Slow everything down, and just rebuild her.

My DD#3 was a great athlete until she 12YOA. She couldn't walk and chew gum. It was very frustrating for her and me. In about 2 years, she had gotten all of her coordination back. By the time she was 15YOA, she was back to being a superior athlete.
This is 100% correct. If she grew as much as you mentioned her core is weak and she can't control her body. My DD went through it took us a year and a half to get her back. But she also gained close to 10 mph over that time. Strengthen her core slow it down and start with basics, leg drive, foot path, hips. Once she has re-stablished her base things will start to line back out. It was hard for us to understand but PC had seen it before, told us what we we would see coming out of it. Your student is built like my daughter great things ahead pitching is a marathon not a sprint!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,469
Members
21,443
Latest member
sstop28
Top