Blog Archives
Vlog: Absolutes v Core Principles in Fastpitch Pitching
Today we’re starting the new year with something a little different.
Recently Rick Pauly of Pauly Girl Fastpitch and the High Performance Pitching certification program and I got together for a video discussion about several topics related to fastpitch pitching. The driving topic behind it was the difference between absolutes and core principles in athletic movement generally, and how we view each relative to fastpitch pitching.
The discussion then branched out to a few other related topics, including the importance of posture, the effect of motor preferences when determining what’s optimal for performance, and the often-overlooked significance of deceleration as part of the overall kinetic chain.
So what are absolutes v core principles? We go into it more in detail in the video but briefly it’s the idea of whether there’s one “correct” way to do things – basically a hard line – or if there is a more of a range into which good pitching mechanics can fall.
In other words, do you want your pitchers doing certain things exactly the same way or does fastpitch pitching allow more room for deviation based on a number of factors? And even within that are there exceptions, i.e., pitchers who don’t necessarily do things the way they “should” but are successful anyway?
Which ultimately leads to when do you make corrections/changes and when do you just let them do what they do?
I think you’ll find it to be a pretty interesting discussion that covers a lot of ground. To check it out, follow this link to the Pauly Girl Fastpitch blog.
Happy new year to all! Or happy whatever holiday is close if you’re reading this sometime in the future.
Helping Pitchers Cure Monkey Butt/Ninja Position
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
One of the common flaws you will see even in otherwise strong pitchers is a tendency to stick their butts out toward first base (right handed pitcher) or third base (left handed pitcher) after they land. I call it monkey butt, since that’s how many primates “present,” while Rick Pauly calls it the “ninja” position.
No matter what you call it, what you end up with is a posture issue where the shoulders are not stacked up on top of the hips. Instead, the hips are cleared out of the way so the arm can come through the release zone unimpeded rather than making brush contact.
You can tell pitchers they need to stay stacked, hips under shoulders, but they can’t always feel what that means. In other words, they don’t realize they are sticking their butts back; that makes it pretty tough to correct.
One description I’ve heard of how to encourage them to keep the hips under the shoulder is to imagine cracking a walnut between the butt cheeks. If you do that, you will tend to bring the hips/butt in rather than sticking it out.
The problem with that is younger pitchers in particular may not have much experience cracking a walnut with their hands. So while they may nod and say ok, they may not quite be able to understand what you actually want them to do or how much pressure they need to apply.
The other night, however, I found a good cue that not only relates to a fairly common human experience; it also has the benefit of being one of those funny things you don’t ordinarily talk about, especially in a pitching lesson. It feels like you’re conspiring on a secret.
What I told a couple of pitchers with this issue was “Imagine you have a little gas getting ready to come out, but you don’t want to let it out. As you land, do what you need to do to hold it in.”
The pitchers immediately got the concept, and went from monkey butt to upright posture immediately.
I won’t say it’s a miracle cure. After a while they would get back into monkey butt position again. But by saying “hold the gas in” they’d immediately get back to better posture. I expect as they gain more experience they will learn to get the right position automatically – just like anything else.
If you have a pitcher who just can’t seem to avoid pushing her hips/butt back, give this cue a try. You may get some strange looks at first, but I’m pretty sure you’ll get the results you’re looking for quickly.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 