My son is a left handed pitcher and his arm is dragging behind. His pitches to right handed hitters are generally high and outside. Any quick tips to correct this? Should he shorten his stride?
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quote:Originally posted by Brickhouse:
Should he shorten his stride?
No
Does he go low and in when he tries to correct? Sometimes that can be a result of opening early. That usually results in the arm being early rather than late and yet is often described as the arm dragging. Staying closed longer, within reason, is usually a good remedy for many pitching faults.
Remember that anything you get over the internet is just a guess and that your best bet is to get him to a good pitching instructor in your area.
Remember that anything you get over the internet is just a guess and that your best bet is to get him to a good pitching instructor in your area.
Yeah. I'm thinking that you are correct. You really have to see him to understand. I think that he is overstriding to the point of falling off to the glove side of the mound.
I agree with CADad that arm drag is usually associated with being too open.
I would also have to qualify my comments by saying it is just a guess without having seen your son. However, for a lefty to go high and outside or low and inside is usually a result of opening up too early as CADad says. I really wouldn't say it has to do with striding too far. If a pitcher is opening his shoulder up too early, his arm will drag and the pitch will tend to be up and to the pitching arm side. Then sometimes, if the pitch goes down and to the glove arm side it is also because the arm dragged and the pitcher tries to "whip" his arm through to try to catch up and results in that location.
One exercise for staying back and staying closed is the "toe tap" drill. Get him on a mound and have him lift his leg like he is going to deliver the ball. Then reach out with his stride leg and touch the ground with his toe and come back up with it. This should help keep the upper body back and consequently help keep the front shoulder closed longer.
The other thing to look at is his glove side arm. If he is pulling his glove off to the side or down, that may be causing his shoulder to open early. His falling off to his glove side may be a result of this. His glove side arm should be out in front, like a shield and he should bring his chest to it. Glove should end up somewhere near his armpit.
Once again, this is all speculation without having seen him pitch.
One exercise for staying back and staying closed is the "toe tap" drill. Get him on a mound and have him lift his leg like he is going to deliver the ball. Then reach out with his stride leg and touch the ground with his toe and come back up with it. This should help keep the upper body back and consequently help keep the front shoulder closed longer.
The other thing to look at is his glove side arm. If he is pulling his glove off to the side or down, that may be causing his shoulder to open early. His falling off to his glove side may be a result of this. His glove side arm should be out in front, like a shield and he should bring his chest to it. Glove should end up somewhere near his armpit.
Once again, this is all speculation without having seen him pitch.
If the arm is dragging there are a couple of areas that can help. Move him to the third base side of the rubber. This will help him with not throwing across the body and dragging, and could be a better angle for him. Also, focus on pointing the glove side elbow to the target. Keep it pointing their as long as possible and then focus on getting the back shoulder pointing to the target. These two areas have helped a number of my players over the years.
