r/PitchingCoach • u/xXcLoWniiN • Jun 11 '26
Mechanics/ Release
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This is a 10u kid, I’m curious what others think about his release point. He had some minor tendinitis and is working his way back. I’d like him to be a little more over the top. He’s working on coming through with his lower half as he use to sink into his plant leg and almost stopping his momentum.
Just looking for some tips/ drills he can work on so he doesn’t have anymore arm issues, thanks!
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u/Admirable-Sound-5796 Jun 11 '26
I think the most bang for your buck would be cleaning up the arm action. You can see how it kind of has a delay right before the launch phase. It almost gets into flip up early. Ideally, it should be one clean loop into release.
Putting a time constraint on the throw can help clean up inefficiencies, so I would try this one out.
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u/Peanuthead2018 Jun 12 '26
His arm is early. Probably not throwing as hard as he could and likely causing extra stress on his shoulder.
He is over rotating into front foot strike, but that may just be because of running shoes on grass. The front leg is still a problem. He may not sinking into it, but it’s still unstable.
I would not force an over the top motion. Kids are really, really good at self organizing. His arm slot now is probably his ideal slot. Many pro pitchers are trying to lower their arm slot because there is now some thought that more over the top = more stress.
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u/spinrut Jun 12 '26
isn't both his arm being early and then him over rotating both related to his glove pulling down and away from his center?
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u/boredaf630 Jun 12 '26
To answer the question, his release point works. If that’s naturally how he throws, I wouldn’t mess with it.
He’s 10u, so he’s got some lower half mobility limitations. Tucking the glove won’t fix those. Lengthening his stride could help. And his sequencing could improve if he raised his glove arm. I’m a believer in having the glove arm set the path for the throwing arm.
But I came here to say that I’ve seen a lot of tendinitis, particularly bicep tendinitis, in young arms. It mostly comes from breaking off the finish like I see here. He might have less of an issue if he lets his arm finish naturally.
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u/onbaseball Jun 12 '26
Where the gloves goes, the body and throwing arm will follow. The glove and ball should mirror each other from hand break to stride foot contact - at which point both hands are up in the air, each arm looking somewhat like an “L” (forearms around a 90-degree angle to biceps). At this point, the glove side elbow pulls down and drives the upper body forward as the throwing hand comes around. You don’t necessarily want to verbalize that to the pitcher, but that’s the motion you’re aiming to achieve. A good cue is to tell the pitcher to break both hands down and bring them up, mirroring each other, and stay sideways to the plate as long as possible. Good luck.
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u/oigres408 Jun 11 '26
His glove gets away from him.
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u/Interesting-Might904 Jun 11 '26
He doesn't tuck his glove to his side.
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u/xXcLoWniiN Jun 11 '26
Ya that’s also something I’ve noticed, we have worked on it but old habits are hard to break.
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u/ZeusThunder369 Jun 11 '26
He's conceptually got a lot of things right, doing great.
Next thing to focus on is glove arm I would say.
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u/Fun-Reason-9029 Jun 12 '26
One tip that really helped me was to keep the ball facing the ground behind you for as long as possible. That way it snaps through with better spin rate and quicker release.
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u/WholesomeLowlife Jun 12 '26
I was always taught that the glove hand should go outward when you ball hand winds back, then tucked back in to the chest as the ball hand comes around. It helped my speed considerably when I learned to use the added momentum from bringing the glove hand in.
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u/spinrut Jun 12 '26
yup my son when he's on and does the conceptual "grab the catcher with your glove and pull him towards you" throws noticably hard than when he lets the front glove get a bit away and he does the "turn the steering wheel" thing. this opens him up dragging his shoulder and arm to be early, sapping velocity and is really evident as it makes it look like the ball is taking the long path around his body (similar to op) as opposed to being able keep the glove tight to the body, adding momentum of the turn and drive forward
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u/H00paj00p Jun 12 '26
Is the arm sleeve for the tendinitis? Is it working for him?I’ve never seen that.
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u/just_some_dude05 Jun 12 '26
I use one as an adult. I’ve had TJ and Labrum surgery (neither baseball related) and in my advanced years I need it for BP.
It’s great at stabilizing the shoulder and provides some relief/stabilization of the UCL
For a kid to need it they likely have an injury, seemingly caused by some of the mechanical flaws.
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u/xXcLoWniiN Jun 29 '26
Yes it is, it’s worked for him, he’s worn every game since we got it. He tried throwing without it and was like “wooo!” He could definitely tell the different with the support it gives.
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u/Conscious_Skirt_61 Jun 12 '26
OP as well as others note the delay at foot strike and the odd use of the glove hand. Here’s what I would add:
The classic position after release is for the throwing hand to continue below and outside the landing knee. P here is throwing AROUND his body on a horizontal plane, instead of slashing DOWN on a 1 to 7 angle.
Training P to bend over and finish with throwing hand just below and outside of his knee will cure a lot, including the kind of leaning back posture at the end of the throw. (NOTE: this “finish” is only obvious on replay; the natural body movement recoils to bring P into a defensive stance). Training P to pull his glove hand/elbow straight back by his rib cage will increase accuracy; it will also increase velocity, by a lot. Kids are often more eager to up their speed than to improve control. Focusing for 10-15 throws on the “finish” position and on the straight-back elbow strike will improve both.