Question regarding throwing help

[softballmom3687]

Hello, I am looking for suggestions regarding finding throwing (and maybe fielding) help for my daughter. She is 13. She is on a good team and has good physical abilities but never learned all of the "correct" methods at an early age. So, while she usually gets the job done, she does not look as impressive as some others warming up. Her throwing speed is not as fast as the top players and she probably makes 10% more throwing errors (high/low/left/right) than the best kids. She wants to improve this part of her game, but this is not something we are having an easy time with. Throwing speed is not something anyone helps with at team practices (not making judgments as to whether this is right or wrong) and neither her pitching coach or hitting coach has given any concrete help.

Is there any well known "throwing coach" out there? How does one go about perfecting the final parts of your game at this age to bring you from a very good player to a great player? I think the raw athletic talent is there and the will is there, but someone needs to actually teach her what to do to improve. Coaching has certainly helped with hitting and pitching, so I am guessing it could help here too.

Suggestions? Thanks in advance

 

[cobb_of_fury]

My first suggestion would be contact your local college Softball coach and ask if he or she could suggest someone - If you are not near a College ask the Highschool coach - they typicaly know the best instructors in your area.

 

[softballmom3687]

Should I ask a smaller college coach in hopes of them actually getting back to me? I would imagine the coaches at bigger/better schools would be too busy to answer (or just not care). We have been through so many pitching coaches (and wasted money) looking for a good one (which we found). I don't want to go through that all over again. She has so little time as it is, we don't want to waste it on lessons with a "so-so" person. The school she goes to does not have girls softball, so that won't help.

 

[cobb_of_fury]

I would Try both - You might be suprised - I have gotten recomandations from PITT and RMU Head coaches (Both D1) but Have had great success with DII and DIII coaches as well.
I don't know how (the) Ohio State would be but anyone else should help you out.

 

[coachjwb]

Did you ask the current pitching or hitting coach if they can help? College coaches are a good idea to start with, but just understand this is when they and their players start getting real busy ...

 

[LADY_KNIGHTS]

Send me a PM here on OFC as to where you live and I will try to help or locate someone for you.
Shayne Yeater
Assistant Coach Tiffin University

 

[bigdaddyo1972]

Who has a link to the guy using a water bottle to help correct throwing machanics. I can't remember his name but it helped correct my DD's side arm.

 

[IceMom00]

Water bottle drill is Austin Wasserman. It's helping my DD as well.

 

[cobb_of_fury]

Water bottle drill is Austin Wasserman. It's helping my DD as well.

- http://wassermanstrength.com/high-level-throwing-no-more-l-drill-l-starts-or-l-anything/
Never tried it but it looks like it would work.

 

[FastBat]

/\/\/\He has beautiful technique. And at 13 just watch the videos together and practice, she'll probably pick it up fast, but may take a few months. If your kid doesn't have proper throwing form, then IMHO, at tryouts or games, she probably doesn't look as impressive, even if she's every bit of an athlete as her teammates. It's fixable with work, good luck!

 

[okiedad1961]

Lot of good suggestions here and contacts,If your looking for fielding as well as throwing technique improvement,which imop work in unison with each other,Find a good fielding instructor(who should know proper throwing mechanics)and do a couple private lessons and focus on fixing the throw ,and have them show her how they tye into proper fielding mechanics.Improving a throwing technique takes lots of reps and sometimes major changes in bad learned or non existent training early on.Hope this was helpful

 

[Laser05]

1. Water bottle drill is great
2. tension resistance throwing with bands to improve flexibility
3. Jenny Finch Windmill machine is great for throwing speed and strength. routine for a few months to see results
4. Remember most people forget that if someone throws right hand it is also critical to hitting, pitching and throwing to strengthen the opposite side. (equal out if possible)
5. some things are just God given but also remember you can be stronger from core and footwork.

 

[bigdaddyo1972]

I added a couple small wire ties zip ties cable ties to the neck of small water bottle so my DD could grip it better. Last spring/summer I had her try this to help her correct her side arm and today she has a much better throwing technique. She has diffenetly pickedup a few more MPH by doing this. Tension resistance throwing with bands also helped.

 

[softballmom3687]

Thank you.

 

[softballmom3687]

" If your kid doesn't have proper throwing form, then IMHO, at tryouts or games, she probably doesn't look as impressive, even if she's every bit of an athlete as her teammates. It's fixable with work, good luck!"

That is exactly what I was thinking. Thanks.

 

[MD 20/20]

When I first started with my travel team and then my son's rec baseball team, I was looking for something that would give automatic feedback to them as there were so many. I couldn't watch all the player, all the time. One thing that I noticed was that players didn't stay behind the ball, snapping it off at the end, creating that backspin. most time they were twisting their wrist and throwing with sidespin rather than backspin. I went to Home Depot and went to the plumbing section. I bought about 6 "couplers" I'm not even certain that's what they are, but in essence, they are about 2"-4" diameter, and about 3" long. I simply had them hold onto these pipes with the holes facing their left and right and had them through these plastic pipes to each other. When thrown correctly, they would go through the air spinning backward but looking as though they were floating as they are hard to see spin. If the were thrown incorrectly, they would spin and flutter in the air. In most cases, they didn't even reach their partner.

I'm sure every pitching coach, even bad ones know that to throw the ball the hardest, your hand must be behind the ball. This pipe drill is the first step there.

On a side note, I was at a clinic with some real rock stars as far as college coaches go, and I found that they are much better at replies than the small college coaches. Notre Dame Asst. Lizzy Lemire, replied back to me within 2 hours of my email to her. Penn State head coach was handing out her business cards to anyone who wanted them. These are just 2 examples. If I had a nickel for every college coach who said that they are just the current keepers of the knowledge and that their job was to pass it along.......I'd have a lot of nickels.