Pitcher continually misses Inside/ arm side

Turn the cap around and observe his eyes not focusing on the catcher's web. When he "winds up' his head turns. The arm action looks strong. Is it 60'6' pitcher's distance?

Does he play a defense position? Is he a left handed hitter?

Bob

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your input. I see what you mean. Also, I think at front foot strike his arm is lagging way behind and not in proper position. When I watch pros at front foot strike the ball is at much more advanced position essentially more forward whereas he has it way back…. So I think he could maybe benefit from separating his hands sooner. Thoughts?

And thanks for compliment. Yes, distance is at 60.5 feet. He is a 13U class 2027 and has been up to 74 mph from mound and sits 70-74 in games. He also plays short stop and center field when not pitching.

Thanks again I am going to make this adjustment you mentioned. I would like him to start finishing g glove side and more middle consistently. Right now he is like almost blocking the ball which is why it’s always arm side on catcher/ inside to righties.

remember the arm action is different at SS. CF is OK. watch his feet position on the rubber. adjust left middle or right side.

Bob

https://community.hsbaseballwe...68#74515014866255968

can you explain further for me? I will be implementing stuff this week in pens backyard to try to fix this consistent miss arm side to catcher, and taking video.  Thanks

do you have a pitching rubber on the mound? have you son practice with his right foot on the left, then middle , then right side of the pitching plate

Yes, there is a pitching rubber on it. Okay ,i will have him play around with setups too.

Almost everything he does makes it difficult to get the ball to the glove side of the plate.  He throws straight over the top.  He starts on the left side of the rubber and strides center.  He doesn't finish across the body at all.  He tilts left and falls hard left.  Each of these tend to lead to the ball staying arm side.  Combine all and it is inevitable.

Start with two basics.  1.  Get the stride line to the desired location.  If he starts with his right foot in the middle of the rubber, have the landing foot land very slightly to left of center so that the stride line is aimed at the desired result (glove side of the plate).  2.  Finish extended forward, down and across.  He doesn't have to keep this finish down the road but, combined with the adjusted stride line, it should give him a clear feel for getting the ball to that side of the plate.

Yes, some other things mentioned can also cause this location tendency, but this is where I'd start.

PS - there are plenty of high level P's that are very successful with a similar over the top motion and hard fall off.  The movement can be very effective.  But other components are in place to allow them to work both sides of the plate.

  Tagging onto Cabbagedad’s comments I would add this.
  Almost all pitchers struggle to stay closed as they travel down the mound and your son is no exception. The chain reaction of flying open too soon always begins with the toe of the stride foot. When a pitcher flips the toe open and points it toward the target it causes the lead hip to open too soon, and then the front shoulder follows by also opening too soon. When you combine the front side opening too soon with the extremely long arm action that your son has on the back side the arm can’t catch up to the position that the body is in and the common miss is high on the arm side. So all that is what’s going on.
  My advice would be to work only out of the stretch while trying to implement change. Besides starting in line and staying in line there are other key things to focus on. He is very loose with his glove side mechanics. That needs to be tightened up. The stride foot should land slightly closed (think 2 on a clock). The arm action in the back should be shortened up for a more efficient and quicker delivery - IF POSSIBLE. Some pitchers just can’t adopt a shorter arm action - but they are better off if they can. When stride foot strikes the hips should open before the shoulders. This hip/shoulder separation creates torque that increases arm speed. Your son appears to have the flexibility to do this well. The back hip needs to get up and over the stride leg and not spin around it to the 1B side. The chin and the chest should extend toward the target as long as possible as should the arm after release.
  Besides all of that, here is the most important piece of advice I can give you. Find a qualified pitching instructor to teach your son the things that have been discussed in this thread. Don’t try to do this yourself. Most likely your relationship with your son will suffer if you do. Ask around and find the best person in your area. Don’t take the first recommendation that you get. Find the best HS & college pitchers in your area and find out who they work with. Get references and check them out. Do your homework.
  Best of luck !!

One thing that I have used to get players to understand how opening the stride toe is not good is to compare the pitching stride to a hitter’s stride. You would NEVER see a hitter point his lead toe towards the pitcher as he strides to begin his swing. It would leak all his power and pull him off the pitch. A hitter has to stay closed to stay on the ball. The same is true with pitching. A pitcher has to stay closed traveling down the mound. Most kids get this analogy immediately.

Agree with everything cabbage and adbono are saying. One thing that I see that might be an easier pitch-thought adjustment is to focus on the glove side and try to control the glove closer to the torso on the finish.  This one adjustment might lead to better arm timing.

Great expert advice from the "HSBBWEB school of tough love!"

You asked a question and got the answers. Best of all: use a professional pitching instructor while he is young.

I will attach still frames of the above videos of him at front foot strike (FFS) for all of above videos where he is having this problem. For all of them at FFS he isn’t flying open with his upper body at all. His shoulders are square or actually slightly closed to where he is throwing. This is the correct thing from what I have read.

Often amateur pitchers I understand fly open with upper body…. But that isn’t what is going on here clearly. I think it is more issue of where the ball is at FFS…. It is too far back or basically “late” so then he has to just throw from that point. I think this leads to the missing arm side repeatedly.

I appreciate all advice, but he clearly isn’t flying open with his upper body based on where his shoulders are at front foot strike. If you notice something else I appreciate it.  Thanks.

What I notice the most is that you are ignoring the best advice you got:

Find the best pitching instructor in your area and sign your son up for lessons with him.

https://community.hsbaseballwe...79#74515014876305679

Yeah, I caught that part. He has done plenty of lessons over the years and this is we’re we are at. Just wanted feedback on this one issue. Thanks

Then you just haven’t found the right guy. I could get into a long explanation of what he is doing with his upper body to compensate for his lower body not staying closed. But I’m not going to. You can’t do this online with video very effectively with a young pitcher. Lessons with the wrong guy is sometimes worse than none at all. I understand the frustration but expand your search until you find the right guy.