Looking for a tip

If he's in the windup and he's 6 inches in front of the rubber then how does he move it back? Once the foot hits the ground he should be bringing his front foot up to get to balance point. I can't visualize when or what point he could move it backwards unless it's a deliberate stop to make it happen.

Am I correct in what I'm picturing?

Regardless the two things I would do right away are if you're going to have to play him in a game I would have him throw strictly go from the stretch. The second is have him in practice or after practice go to the bullpen and do his wind up around 1000 times until it's full muscle memory.

Now this is assuming there isn't some other issue causing this but I can't picture anything else.

How old is this kid?

The kid is a coming up freshman. I have seen this before on another team that was more drastic than my kid.

Personally i don't know how he does it. I am pretty sure your picture is correct. He is a left and he places his left foot 6 inches in front of the rubber and the slides it back before he puts his weight on it by lifting his leg.

Is there anyway you can post video with a close up that really shows his feet and overall motion?

Only thing I can think of is as he's going forward his push slides his foot back to the rubber before he finally lifts off.

Has an umpire or other team said anything about it?

I will work on the video.

No one has said anything but that is because he is an 8th grader. The more serious the play gets I am sure someone will say something. I did when I played the other team that did it.

I have seen pitchers do a "toe tap" with the pivot foot before putting it down for good but they usually do the "tap" in the same place where then plant the pivot foot. The "toe tap" seems to be just a rhythm mechanism. I'm not sure there is anything illegal about what your pitcher is doing but I suppose it could be since the rules allow "one step back and one step forward".

I think the biggest concern is that the step back to the rubber gets part of his body moving in the wrong direction from where he's going to throw the ball and it will likely make him slower to the plate.

I'm not sure what's the best approach to fix this. It seems he would have to stall over the rubber in order to reposition his pivot foot so maybe put some focus on keeping the center of gravity (think "hips") moving forward continuously after the step back (or to the side).

quote:

Originally posted by boom:
I got a new player last night who has a wind up problem that I have seen on another team. What he is doing is that when he turns his pivot foot he places it down about 6 inches in front of the rubber then he moves it back before he pitches. I talked to him and his ex coach to find out that it is a problem he is working on but can't seen to stop doing it.

Now I have not spent any serious time with him yet to try and fix it but I just wanted to see if anyone has seen this problem before and how did you fix it. You would think just telling him to stop would work but it didn't. I think it is a subconscious thing.

I'm not understanding how, within the rules; i.e., he must be in contact with the rubber to initiate his wind-up, how this could be physically possible?

He starts the wind up with a weight shift to the non pivot foot, then moves his pivot foot forward in front of the rubber, and then somehow moves it back before or during the forward shift towards the plate???

I guess it must be possible but would wonder why, how would you stay balanced while maintaining rhythm and momentum? Undoubtedly he has fast feet, make him a position player if all else fails??

Make him throw strictly from the stretch for a short while and see what happens. This might break the habit or give you a better indication of why it is happening.