Coaching Fastpitch Softball Pitchers: fastpitch softball clinic

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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Fastpitch Softball Pitching Takes a Lot of Work

Fastpitch Softball Pitching Takes a Lot of Work
By guest author: Gregory Covey

Fastpitch softball pitching is much harder than people think. Proper mechanics will make all the difference in the world for accuracy and speed. It must be a natural motion.

My daughter has been a softball pitcher since she first began the game. She has progressed each year but it has not come without a lot of time and effort.

When I talk about mechanics I am speaking about the motion the softball pitcher will go through as they deliver the ball to the plate.

There are some different beliefs as to which motion works best but I will speak to the one she uses since I believe it has worked very well for her, while at the same time not doing any harm to her back, arm, or shoulder since she has been softball pitching.

I am speaking from the perspective of a right handed softball pitcher, since that is what she is.

The first and most important thing is to stand almost straight up with your right foot on the mound and the left foot just behind the mound.

Your left foot big toe should be at the heel of the right foot at shoulder width apart.

This particular element of the softball pitching delivery will save on your daughters back. Many softball pitchers will lean way forward as they prepare to deliver the softball. The pitcher should have their nose just behind their hip. Leaning forward does not help with speed or accuracy. It is simply a bad habit that needs to be corrected.

One law of physics is that any action will have an equal or opposite reaction.

So every motion that your daughter has in her delivery needs to be evaluated so that you are not making unnecessary motions.

The next motion should be to present the ball to the batter. This is in the ASA Softball rules.

Next she raises her hands together with the right hand holding the ball inside the glove hand as if she is praying. They are now up against her chest together.

Then she moves her arms straight out still holding the ball inside the glove hand. The hands are straight out in front at shoulder height. A good way to tell if she is doing this correctly is that it should be blocking her view of the batter and catcher.

Then she separates her hands as she swings them back directly in alignment so that both go just as far back behind her back and at about should height and width apart or so.

Once the right arm swings back completely and starts moving forward is when she should start to be moving forward and pushing off the mound. The legs are a huge part of the speed she will get from her pitch.

Then both arms come forward with the glove hand slowing down and staying out in front almost blocking the view of the batter and catcher again while the right arm keeps swinging around. A great way to know if things are going well to get the most speed from the pitch would be to see the right arm behind at the same height of the left arm in front.

As the right arm continues around she should be pushing hard forward off the mound while stretching out her left leg and foot directly toward the plate. Remember in ASA softball rules a softball pitcher's right foot (if they are a right handed pitcher) can't leave the ground.

One thing to keep in mind is that the left foot as she is stretching out toward the plate should not be pointing up. If you are standing at the plate and you can see the bottom of her foot the left leg is coming to high off the ground in her stretching motion. This is wasting effort that will cost her in her softball pitching speed. Teach her to point her toe toward the batter and this should stop this habit.

The left leg and foot should be planted just as her arm is at her hip. This will cause a tremendous amount of force to be stopped and this is what creates the most speed of all. That sudden stop as she is delivering the ball is a mighty force.

The drag foot should create an opposite question mark like design on the ground behind her. If it is more like a check mark then she is wasting motion and her pitch will slow down. This will also be hard on her body.

I hope this was of some help.

May God Bless You and good luck!

Follow my daughter's softball career on my blog where I discuss the ups and downs that are sometimes embarrassing. Go to Playing Softball.

You can visit my blog where I talk about being a parent and all the struggles we as parents go through. My wife and I have four children and have been married for over 25 years, so we have some experiences to share.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gregory_Covey

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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Woman Softball Star Cat Osterman talks about Pitching Skill

Woman Softball Star Cat Osterman talks about Pitching Skill
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Cat Osterman, NCAA all time leader for strikeouts per 7 innings in Women's softball, and 2004 Summer Olympics athlete, tells us who taught her the art of pitching. ""I had some pitching lessons for my 11th birthday, because I have been on a little league team. Little league regalates how many innings a pitcher can throw in a week. I think we had a bigger game at the end of the week, so our coach needed a pitcher to come in to pitch two innings. The pitcher that has started alraedy had a lot of her innings, and our better pitcher they were saving for the end of the week. At that time I in the outfield, just picking flowers and not doing much of anything, so I volunteered and came in. I don't know if I struck out my first hitter or one of their better hitters. I still remember who it was to this day. I struck out one person and I loved it, so from then on I asked my dad for those pitching lessons. I wanted to try it, and as long as I was working at it, he was happy giving lessons. We went and sought out a pitching coach in Houston, his name was Tim Timmons. He gave me lessons for the first three years, then I went to another coach Bobby Smith, who is still a men's pitcher to this day.""

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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

5 Softball Pitching Drills

5 Softball Pitching Drills
By guest author: Marc Dagenais

Drill 1: Fast and Slow

Purpose: To practice changing speeds.

Procedure: Working with her catcher, the pitcher alternates fast and off-speed pitches. The goal is to keep the delivery the same.

Drill 2: Football Toss

Purpose: To develop correct rise-ball release.

Procedure: The pitcher throws a junior-sized football underhand to a partner. Grip it along the seam with all the fingers and with the thumb on the opposite side. The ball should spiral. If it wobbles in flight, the palm has turned toward the catcher at release.

Drill 3: Four-Corner Control

Purpose: To develop control and accuracy.

Procedure: The pitcher throws to the extreme four corners of the strike zone. When she achieves accuracy at one spot, she moves the target to the next corner. A catcher or a target on the wall can be used. To adjust for the in and out targets, the pitcher must adjust her body angle from her normal stance. She turns the toe on the rubber about a half inch in or out from the position she used to throw to the middle of the plate.

Drill 4: Wrist Snap Behind Back

Purpose: To develop the wrist snap by isolating the wrist, which prevents the pitcher from using the elbow to snap the ball.

Procedure: The pitcher stands sideways 5 to 10 feet from the catcher or a wall. The glove side faces the target, and the ball is behind the back. The pitcher flips the ball by snapping the wrist.

Drill 5: Oversized and Undersized Ball Spins

Purpose: To make the pitcher practice throwing a riseball.

Procedure: Using a baseball or an 11-inch ball may help the pitcher make the correct movements to get underneath the ball. The smaller the size of the ball allows the fingers to be more flexible and allows the correct movements to occur with less effort. A pitcher can use an undersized ball when initially trying to create muscle memory for the correct spin movements. An oversized ball is helpful in speeding up the wrist snap because the hand must pass under more area in the same amount of time. The oversized ball can also illustrate the spin to a pitcher who may be struggling with the backward concept. A 14-inch ball seems to be the perfect size because the pitcher can hold on to it comfortably throughout the circle before snapping the wrist at release. The routine used with these balls can mirror the routing used with the Spinner-starting close up without the circle and adding distance as well as the full circle.

Marc Dagenais is a softball peak performance coach that provides softball tips, softball drills, and information on techniques for hitting, pitching, coaching, and training through his blog at http://www.softballperformance.com/blog

He also helps softball players and coaches improves their game by sharing with them the tips and strategies used by the world's best softball players and coaches to achieve extraordinary performances. You can sign-up to get his FREE Softball Tips at http://www.softballperformance.com/softball-tips.html Go Sign-up Now!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Dagenais

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1455709
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Monday, July 26, 2010

Michele Smith Riseball Tip from WCWS (Coach's Clinic)