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I will preference this by saying I am not a throwing expert and most of my coaching experience has been with 15U and below players. From my experience the majority of the time a kids throw is off it has more to do with what he is doing with his body then with his throwing hand. Mainly what they do with their glove hand when throwing. Most kids have a tendency to drop the glove down next to the body or to throw it down and backwards. This stops them from lining up in a straight line to the target. You are supposed to take your chest to your glove.
I will also say its hard to diagnose throwing issues without actually seeing the person throw. You maybe describing a problem with the one thing but something else on the body is screwing you up.
No video posted so here are my hunches based of watching a lot of players do the same thing.
1. You thumb could be off set and under your index finger. Try to get it more to the middle of the ball.
2. When you are pulling down on the baseball you are exerting more pressure with your index finger than with both fingers equally.
3. Your elbow is dropping and you are getting under the baseball when you throw.
These are the most common errors I see that cause this problem.
Try to keep the ball on your fingers as long as possible. There can be many reasons why you are having this problem, but here is something you might try.
Take a baseball and a magic marker. Draw a line that cuts the baseball in half directly across the 4 seams. When a position player throws the ball correctly you will see the straight line you made on the ball. Then work on late release from your fingers. Remember that your hand and fingers are at their greatest speed/power when your arm stroke has started downward. Obviously you can't go too far but you will find the spot.
I know this sounds fairly simple, but without actually seeing you throw it is impossible to help a lot.
Here is a video of a couple throws made today from different angles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsrqVyyr3a8
Thanks PGStaff, I will apply...
Would love to hear more.
Throwing today was amazing..
Here is what I applied:
-Focused on keeping a strong front side..
-Taking my chest to the target
-Once started, I kept the arm moving with no hesitation and finished with authority across the body
-Also focused on keeping my fingers, with a loose grip, on the baseball for as long as possible.
The only times I struggled was when having to get rid of the ball in the infield whether with a guy flying down the line or the turn up the middle.. ... there is a lot of anxiety involved sometimes. I don't know how to deal with not being able to find the seams on time and whether or not I have the correct grip of the ball, which leads to me to either death grip the ball, or rush it, completely leaking, or doing both at the same time leading to error.
So my question for you is how I translate my throws where I'm free and easy to making quick routine plays that demand me to get rid of it?
All in all, I am very excited to get back to throwing again..
I appreciate all your help.
Best,
KT
Warning - This may be totally a minority POV and not necessarily sound mechanical instruction...
One thing that has worked for me and some of my players regarding grip and quick transfer throws - Yes, always strive for finding 4-seam grip (two seams) but become comfortable with only finding one seam. This can greatly reduce the "death grip" and "oh s$%t" throws. Just mental confidence that you don't always have to have the perfect grip to make a strong throw with conviction.
To relieve the anxiety...Practice your exchange. Keep your glove on it the house and practice pulling the ball out with the proper 4 seam grip. Practice it thousands and thousands of times. It will become second nature.
Thank you. Will update with progress.
