Need some help with my younger players dropping their elbows when throwing.We are working on towel drills and a few simple drills.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
get about 5 ft of gray surgical tubing/hose. Wrap it SECURELY around a pole, indoors is preferable as rain can loosen the knot. After tying one end of the hose around the pole, leave yourself about 3 feet or so of free hose. Walk with the hose in hand until there is no more slack. Tell your young player to keep his back parallel to the pole and have him SLOWLY perform his throwing motion with his feet shoulder length appart. This drill improves armstrength and forces you to have a correct throwing form. If your elbow drops, the hose will snap back to the pole. If your arm slot is too high, you wont be able to finish your motion. Stress that your player finish his motion by having his throwing hand touch the ground. If you have any questions about the specifics or need anything clarified, respond to this message, I have email alert on.
Mike,
Tell them to stop watching TV...
We worked heavily on the throwing drill series to prevent this.
Tell them to stop watching TV...
We worked heavily on the throwing drill series to prevent this.
So often the reason a player drops their elbow is because they don't understand how to get their arm up and out. Drill work is the best for this starting on the knees and working on form. A quick fix is to start with the concept of a circular motion to help the player get the idea of how to get the ball loaded for the throw with the elbow in the proper place. If nothng else, use the old "thumb to the thighs, knuckles to the sky" phrase to get them into the idea of a circular motion of the load. BTW, this is predicated on the concept that the reason their elbow is low is because they take the ball out of the glove and use a short stroke attempting to get into the throwing position. I hope this helps.
Another cause of a low elbow is throwing with the body instead of the arm.
If you use your arm to throw it'll be quite clear that you have a problem throwing if your elbow is low.
If you use your arm to throw it'll be quite clear that you have a problem throwing if your elbow is low.
KNIGHTS...
Not sure how young the kids are, but they can be forced to throw with a higher elbow if you put them behind a fence (or some kind of obstacle) that is at least a few inches higher than their heads.....have them throw several balls over the fence (as in playing catch, for example).
This will not cure their bad habit of dropping the elbow, but it will allow them to have some repetitions throwing the ball more properly.
Not sure how young the kids are, but they can be forced to throw with a higher elbow if you put them behind a fence (or some kind of obstacle) that is at least a few inches higher than their heads.....have them throw several balls over the fence (as in playing catch, for example).
This will not cure their bad habit of dropping the elbow, but it will allow them to have some repetitions throwing the ball more properly.
This worked with my son - long toss a lot - took a while but it worked.
Hours of "catch" will do the trick--not much different than long toss but easier on Dad's arm
Get them in the "power posisiton" and reps reps reps reps etc. It takes a short time to get into bad habits and a long time to get out of them. You must constantly reinforce that fact that it is imperative that they get the elbow up. Everytime they dont you have to point it out. Everytime they throw this should be a point of emphasis.
