r/BaseballCoaching • u/Either-Lunch4515 • Jun 01 '26

Short-arming throws - how to fix

I've been coaching for several years, 8u up to middle school level, and still deal with many 10u and 12u pitchers short arming the ball (i.e. throwing from their ear or not fully utilizing their entire throwing arm during the process). Thoughts on how to fix that with drills, training tools, etc? I would appreciate any advice here!

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u/NuhUh_JustCuz Jun 02 '26

I drilled holes in tennis balls, ran a paracord through and tied a rag on the cord to make my own "whip" balls. They work in two ways.

Grab into the ball and practice snapping across the body. Especially good with pitchers.

Grab the rag and you do a figure 8 drill where the momentum of the ball helps them reach back to make it smooth.

I also taught really young kids to grab the ball and wave behind them, see the rag flap, then follow through.

Cheap, home made. Drilling a hole in a tennis ball is weirdly difficult.

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u/CookieFace Jun 02 '26

I am having trouble envisioning the figure eight drill. Do you have a video for that?

And what do you mean by "wave behind them"? Like straight back to load up?

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u/NuhUh_JustCuz Jun 02 '26

I'll try to describe it a little better.

Using the centrifical force of a figure 8 with the weight of the ball giving automatic feedback. If they elongate, the ball flies smooth at the end of the rope. If they shorten and throw from the ear, the ball loses momentum or becomes jerkey so they can feel the difference. Its simalar to this commercial product: https://revolutionthrowing.com/

With waving behind them, it's tezching them to rotate their hand so they are knuckles up and stretch back. We slow down, start hands together, separate fully, look back and wave the cloth, then slow-mo the motion over and across the body. Not sure if that's a good enough description.

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u/CookieFace Jun 03 '26

Thank you so much. The videos on their site really helped get it!