Monthly Archives: March 2009
Throwing inside? Check the feet
One of the common problems that crops up for pitchers is a tendency to throw inside, i.e. right handed pitcher throwing inside to a right handed hitter. While there can be any number of causes, one I’ve seen a lot is the throwing arm side getting in the way of the throwing arm. When that happens, the pitcher tends to push the ball away from that side in order to avoid hitting her hip and the ball goes inside.
If you’re seeing that, one thing to check immediately is where the pivot foot is going as she drives forward. (In case you don’t feel like thinking, the pivot foot is the foot that is on the throwing side. You’re welcome.) What you’ll probably see is that the toes of the pivot foot are going toward the toes of the stride foot after the latter lands. Often you’ll also see a walk-through, i.e. the pivot foot will keep going past the stride foot.
The simple correction is to tell the pitcher to take the toes of her pivot foot behind the heel of the stride foot. When that happens the hips stay out of the way, the arm stays on the power line, and the ball goes where it’s supposed to — usually. If nothing else it will go a lot less inside and will improve over time.
The nice thing about this instruction is it’s simple and specific. It’s not that difficult to take one foot behind the other, yet it can have a significant effect. Then all you have to do is remember to watch that the pitcher keeps doing it.
Loose elbow the key to feeling the release
Lots has been written about leading the elbow through the circle and keeping the arm loose to generate speed. But there’s another good reason to do it — high/low accuracy.
If you come through the circle with a stiff elbow, you’re going to “feel” the release being around the front leg. That will make it go high. But if you lead the elbow through the circle and keep the arm loose, you’ll feel the release closer to the back leg, and the ball will stay down.
Don’t take my word for it. Try making a circle with a stiff elbow and see where you feel your wrist snap naturally. Then loose it up and do the same. You’ll find the release point move back.
Thanks for your comments, and keep them coming
Just wanted to take a few moments to thank everyone for their comments lately. It’s important to get discussions going, as we all learn more.
I like seeing the activity. You don’t have to agree with what I say to comment either. I might argue with you, but only with the best of intentions. So keep ’em coming. Dialog beats monolog any day!
Embrace adversity
This is probably a direct result of Stacie at the Fastpitch Softball Blog. I saw her post yesterday “Feeling Quoty” and liked it. Then lo and behold, in my day planner this morning I ran across a quote I liked so much I thought I’d pass on. It reads:
“Kites rise highest against the wind — not with it.” The source of the quote is Winston Churchill, a man who knew a thing or two about getting through tough times.
So what does that mean? To me it says that facing difficulties in your life helps make you a better, more complete person. As long as you can stand up to the winds of adversity you will come out the other end at a higher level than when you started. And often it’s the adversity we face that makes us who we are. As another great leader said, “I don’t want to lose my pain. It’s what makes me who I am.” — Captain Kirk
Softball is a game built on failure, and failure is a form of adversity. When that happens — whether it’s striking out, walking too many hitters, booting a ground ball, dropping a fly ball, or not making a team you want to be on — you have two choices. You can feel sorry for yourself, get all down, go into a shell and make things worse. Or you can rise above it, learn from the experience, embrace the lesson and use it all to make you a better person as well as a better ballplayer.
What happens to you is often outside your control. What you do with what happens to you, and how you react to it, is entirely within your control. When the winds of adversity blow, be a kite.
Using the front elbow to throw
My partner in crime Rich and I have been running a little experiment the past few weeks. When we attended the National Fastpitch Coaches College, the coaches there were advocating a throwing technique where you point the front elbow (instead of the glove), then pull it back hard, like you’re trying to elbow someone behind you.
That’s a different technique than we’ve taught in the past. But, being open-minded coaches we decided to give it a try. We’ve been teaching it both to our own players and to some girls in a clinic we work in on Saturday mornings.
After doing it for about three months, I have to say I’m sold. Every girl we’ve done it with has learned to throw harder, straighter and with better overall technique than they were before. And they’ve done it faster than with the point the glove technique.
If you haven’t tried it, it’s definitely worth looking into.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 