Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Pitcher Needs Help

Hello everyone, please review these videos, it's just a couple of pitches from the front and rear view. I can see a couple of mechanical mistakes, but if you see others please let me know and please post a solution. DD has become inconsistent with control and velocity.
Thanks,

Roger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPNrFM7kOac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KLWz4xSXSE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy7uYYQiEjg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ0uCMxZe2I

Roger,

It looks like to me she is short arm the ball a bit and not finishing through on the pitch, and her elbow is out a bit.

I would work some one knee drills focusing on the follow through, with the target higher with her focusing on following through, with the elbow towards the catcher. That's just my two cents.

Not sure what or why you are having problems with but.....
From the short video alone, she is not turning out fully and is falling to 3rd base. Her hip needs to stay out longer and finish more momentum towards her target. She has to pitch around her hip which will make the elbow turn out instead of staying in close to the body. By keeping the hip out she will be able to get the long extension with the arm and stay in position close to the leg increasing both the accuracy and speed.

Biggest problem is accuracy and her velocity increases and decreases with each pitch. She has become very inconsistent!!

If the mechanics are inconsistent then the velocity/accuracy will be inconsistent. The more "perfect" the circle the more control and natural velocity. Girls who do not get their hips out will struggle to hit the opposite corner unless they alter the windmill circle and follow through the will also have a tendency to hit batters on the hip side. I teach girls to change the power line, not the arm keeping control and speed.

sent you a pm

rdelawder said:

Hello everyone, please review these videos, it's just a couple of pitches from the front and rear view. I can see a couple of mechanical mistakes, but if you see others please let me know and please post a solution. DD has become inconsistent with control and velocity.
Thanks,

Roger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPNrFM7kOac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KLWz4xSXSE

Click to expand...

I watched those several times and paused them at different parts of the video. I'm by no means an expert, but I'll tell you what I see.

Video #1 (behind) The thing that jumps out at me is the glove hand is doing a windmill that is perpendicular to the ball hand, which is throwing the shoulders out of alignment and in worse cases, also the lower body. I could see why this would cause inconsistencies in velocity and side to side control. The more severe that she does this, the more alignment problems, which is causing problems with her throwing hand overcompensating to try to hit the strike zone.

Video #2 (Front) Not as evident from this angle, but you do see the upper body torque towards her glove hand (back shoulder drops, front shoulder turns toward her left.) She also isn't balanced at delivery, falling towards her right side which seems to be an indication that her throwing arm is being pulled to steer the ball. The 2nd pitch from the front looks much better.

I would have her throw from a balance beam (2"x6" or whatever) and hold for 3 seconds after delivery to correct her balance, and work more windmills (doubles, triples) and also pay attention to the glove hand more from 3-9 o'clock and her K position. The wall drill would also get her to improve her glove hand as she'd be hitting that wall here. Balance and consistency all around are key.

Hard to tell about the excessive drag foot on video, but I suspect she's using it as a sort of rudder to compensate for her lack of balance.

Good luck, and let us know how she's making out.

(No charge)

Looks like she isn't finishing. She should snap her wrist towards the target and finish with her elbow toward the target. This will make her more consistant. It is true that once the ball is gone it doesn't matter what she does, but by doing this her release will be more consistant.

The bigger problem in my opinion is that her glove hand is all over the place. Any motion, not directed along the power line will throw off the pitch. She can't possibly wave that glove hand out there the same every time. Have her point her glove hand index finger at the target and bring her glove hand straight down to her thigh with the pitch. Any motion perpendicular to the power line will pull her pitch off the power line and also take power away from her pitch.

Pointing at the target and finishing her pitch should fix her balance issue and shoulder problems as well. She doesn't have to change her circle or her feet to hit inside/outside corners. This is done with her fingers upon the release and her follow through or finish. A plate width at the catcher is a fraction of an inch at the pitcher. The fingers direct the pitch inside or outside. If she tries to do it with her feet, or her circle, she'll have a very difficult time being consistant.

rdelawder said:

Hello everyone, please review these videos, it's just a couple of pitches from the front and rear view. I can see a couple of mechanical mistakes, but if you see others please let me know and please post a solution. DD has become inconsistent with control and velocity.
Thanks,

Roger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPNrFM7kOac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KLWz4xSXSE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy7uYYQiEjg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ0uCMxZe2I

Click to expand...

Added a side view.

To me she has 2 very serious fundmental issues. If you pause her from the side view immediately follow her release her right leg is still in the air (should actually stay on the ground... what she is doing is referred to as slashing) additionally her elbow is coming out like a chicken wing. The elbow should follow the ball to the catcher. When the elbow comes out they tend to try and use their arm for strength and speed instead of the momentum of the arm circle and wrist snap. She's got great speed on her arm so she's taking away from that by pulling up on that arm. Lastly both of those things are actually causing her weight to fall to the right, again taking away speed and momentum that should be going toward the catcher.

Just remember - there are no "quick fixes". Learning to pitch effectively is a constant and ongoing process. Hopefully you guys have a qualified instructor she works with on a regular basis. A shotgun approach to correcting pitching mechanics is guaranteed to drive her nuts and result in a lot of frustrating game performances.

Pitchers are creatures of habit - to a point. Their warm-up routine MUST be exactly the same every time, with no "step skipping". Her mental preparation must be the same EVERY time. It's all about building repeatable habits and her own personal "system" which make her feel mentally and physically comfortable. So, not only are her mechanics important, it's her preparation - both mental and physical - that complete the picture.

Our approach was "less is more". Any time something isn't working, it's back to the basics - BUT she needs to know EXACTLY what those "basics" are. She should come away from each practice session with a sense of "I learned something new today!", not just going through the motions. Eventually (college) she will be on her own, and knowing how to fix things BY HERSELF will be what gets her through.

More on "creatures of habit" - this ONLY applies to warm up and prep, but in GAME situations she MUST be unpredictable! A college pitcher who gets into any kind of pattern is doomed! Practice being unpredictable. Throw a change-up the first pitch every so often. Does your DD have a killer change? College hitters will take the "flat" rise, curve (that didn't curve enough), drop (that didn't drop) deep into the outfield gap. IMO, unpredictable change of speeds is KING.

Sorry for the off the wall thesis, but I see a gal in those videos with a LOT of energy. She puts a LOT into her pitches, and you can't teach that! Get those mechanics polished, and she'll be a fine pitcher.

AmieLee said:

To me she has 2 very serious fundmental issues. If you pause her from the side view immediately follow her release her right leg is still in the air (should actually stay on the ground... what she is doing is referred to as slashing) additionally her elbow is coming out like a chicken wing. The elbow should follow the ball to the catcher. When the elbow comes out they tend to try and use their arm for strength and speed instead of the momentum of the arm circle and wrist snap. She's got great speed on her arm so she's taking away from that by pulling up on that arm. Lastly both of those things are actually causing her weight to fall to the right, again taking away speed and momentum that should be going toward the catcher.

Click to expand...

100% Correct. I could not see the chicken wing as well in the first two videos. It is more apparent in the side view. I paused the 3rd video at about 2 seconds and you can see it plain as day. Worst case scenerio is she will have shoulder trouble, best case is she will be inconsistent. This is a very common problem with the girls. Try having her warm up in K stances with a wall on her strong side. It will keep the arm inside and possibly prevent that elbow from flying out to the side on release. Remind her to follow the elbow to the target and to "finish the pitch". If you fix that chickenwing, she will be throwing smoke with as much as she is putting into her pitches.
By the way, you will have a hard time seeing her make that chicken wing move if you are catching her. The ball is on its way, and you are trying to defend yourself. Have someone else catch her and watch from different angles. Better yet, you catch her and get a good pitching coach to do all your yelling at her!

I appreciate all the comments, and Thunder you are correct. I cant see squat while the ball is coming at me. Her assistant coach is taking her back to the basics and hopefully we can get the hips turned toward 3rd, get the shoulders in the correct alignment and have her finish correctly. We took some more video last night and I'll post it as soon as he sends it over. I'm hoping we can get her driving her front leg toward home instead of the sky. lol To all dads out there, this started this past summer while she was out back pitching into a net and experimenting with pitches. She worked on a screwball and didn't tell me until she felt she could throw it for a strike and I eventually took it away. However, she made so many mistakes on her own because I couldn't make myself available enough this past summer and we focused on making her a better shortstop. I know I have a very aggressive and passionate kid that loves to play softball and I'm sure with everyones assistance we will get her back on track. Thanks Everyone!!

Yea, Its funny when my dd started pitching 4-5 years ago, I could watch her release the pitch, sip my beer, take a bite of the ol' sammich, put the glove on, and then catch the ball. Now she lets it go and I'm praying it doesnt hit the front of the plate or uneven ground, because I just know I will eat it.

I thought of another drill to try. Have her hold a dishrag or hand towel between her ring and social finger. She should clench a little of the towel in her hand with the majority of it hanging in front of her fist. Have her go through her motion and see where her pitching hand finishes. Hold your hand about 1 foot in front of, and a little below her shoulder height. Let her go through the motion and concentrate on "popping" your hand with the towel. This will cause her motion to stay on plane to the catcher with the proper high hand finish. It will be impossible to pop your hand if she chicken wings.