Softball Fastpitch training aids.

Question
QUESTION: My daughter has been going to a good pitching coach for about 7 months now. She is 12 and been clocked at around 53-55 range. My problem or actually her problem is finding her release point. She has SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much trouble being consistant at it. I was told to try a couple of new drills and also to try something called the perfect circle pitcher aid. Is this something that could help her or will it be a waste of money? Or can you suggest anything for her to do to get her release point down???? PLEASE HELP

ANSWER: TO START OFF FINDING A GOOD RELEASE POINT IS ABOUT THE HARDEST THING TO DO! SO THIS IS NORMAL. BUT WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IS PUT A VELCRO STRIP ON HER HIP AND THAT WAY WHEN SHE RELEASES THE BALL SHE WILL FEEL THE VELCRO, IF SHE DOESNT THEN SHE WILL START TO REALIZE ON HER OWN THAT SHE IS NOT RELEASING PROPERLY. ANOTHER THING, INSTEAD OF SPENDING MONEY ON THE PERFECT CIRCLE PITCHER AID, FIRST TRY THIS, GET HER BAT AND MAKE HER STAND SIDEWAYS AND SWING THE BAT IN A CIRCLE (MAKE SURE NOT TO HIT THE GROUND) AS FAST AS SHE CAN. ABOUT 20 REPS 3-4 TIMES. THIS WILL MAKE HER CIRCLE FAST AND STRAIGHT. IF THIS DOESNT HELP THEN TURN TO BUYING THINGS TO HELP HER. YOU CAN ALSO HAVE HER GET ON ONE KNEE AND PUT HER GLOVE ABOUT 2-3 INCHES AWAY FROM HER PITCHING HIP AND HAVE HER SNAP THE BALL INTO HER GLOVE. IF SHE DOESNT RELEASE IT IN THE RIGHT SPOT THEN THE BALL WILL FALL TO THE FLOOR, OR GO TO HIGH. ONE QUESTION, DOES YOUR DAUGHTER THROW THE BALL TO HIGH OR TO LOW?

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QUESTION: Thank you for getting back to me. My daughter ALWAYS....ALWAYS releases to LATE. We have been working on this for months. We are now trying a new exercise where she is on one knee about 6-8 feet away from a net. I put a target about a foot up from the ground and she has to throw 10 balls as fast as she can one after another and try to hit the low target. I am only making her do 3 sets of 10. We also bought her the Finch Windmill, which is making her stonger, but not doing anything for her accuracy. We are not focusing on any pitches other than the fastball and changeup, which for some reason she almost always throws a PERFECT changeup low and no rainbow to it??? Was there something you wanted to add about her releasing to high???

ANSWER: not a problem. HAVE HER DO ALOT OF THE DRILLS WHERE SHE IS ON HER KNEE. THOSE ARE REALLY GOOD DRILLS. YOU SHOULD TRY FOCUSING ON HER ACCURACY  MORE THAN HER SPEED. BECAUSE FROM A COACHES POINT OF VIEW, THEY WOULD RATHER HAVE A GIRL THAT IS THROWING ALOT OF STRIKES WITH NORMAL SPEED, THAN A GIRL THROWING ALOT OF BALLS BUT WITH FAST SPEED. DO YOU SEE WHERE I AM GOING? SPEED COMES NATURAL WITH AGE. THE OLDER A GIRL GETS THE STRONGER HER LEGS GET, AND SPEED COMES FROM THE LEGS AND HIPS. SO IF SHE CAN START THROWING MORE STRIKES WITH HER SPEED SHE WILL BE AN AWESOME PITCHER. ABOUT HER THROWING HIGH BALLS. TRY THIS TIP: HOLD HER PONY-TAIL WHILE SHE IS PITCHING. I KNOW IT SOUNDS UNUSUAL BUT TRUST ME. THE MAIN CAUSE OF A PITCHER THROWING A BALL TO HIGH IS ACTUALLY NOT HER RELEASE ITS BECAUSE SHE IS LEANING BACK TO FAR. SO IF YOU ARE HOLDING HER PONTY-TAIL YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER HER BODY. IF SHE IS LEANING BACK THEN YOU CAN PUSH HER FORWARD, OR IF SHE STARTS TO LEAN FRONTWARDS THEN YOU CAN PULL HER BACK. ALSO, STAND BY HER. WHEN SHE IS PITCHING AND HER CIRLCE COMES TO THE RELEASE POINT THEN YELL THE WORD "NOW" OR "RELEASE" DO IT UNTIL IT GETS IN HER HEAD. SHE WILL AUTOMATICALLY START SAYING IT IN HER OWN HEAD! AND I FASTBALL AND CHANGE UP ARE REALLY THE ONLY 2 PITCHES SHE SHOULD BE WORKING ON. DOES SHE KNOW HOW TO PLACE THE BALL?

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QUESTION: We just started the one knee drill thing last week. She has 2 pitching lessons a week, and I work with her at home 2 times a week. I am going to have her start doing the bat drill everyday that you talked about, and the one knee exercise everyday, doing 10 pitches 3-4 times, with her focusing on a spot that made for her. She really does not seem to be leaning to far forward or backward from what I see. I can see her release point is WAY past her hip. We have only been going to a coach for 7-8 months and they are working her hard on all the mechanics now, such as the lift and drive so she uses her legs and hips more than just her arm strenght, which you discussed. There seem to be a lot of things involved in the softball pitch VS baseball, and I think it is going to take some time. She is wiiling to do whatever it takes. When you say place the ball, are you talking about hitting the corners? Meaning putting the ball where the catchers mit is? I appreciate you taking the time to discuss this with me. I knew absolutly NOTHING about softball before this last season, so this is a learning experience for me also.

Answer
well those two drills should help her alot! yes i do mean hitting corners and placing the ball where the mit is. a good drill to have her work on (and this is to help her with her speed) have her back up about 2 steps away from the rubber, throw 2 pitches then back up to more steps until she can not reach the ball to your glove. then have her move back towards you. you will notice the speed she has picked up when she gets back to the rubber. the purpose of this drill is the further she gets away from the normal pitching distance the more she will have to use her legs and her hips. that way when she gets back to her rubber she will still think she is pushing from the outfield(or  however far she gets) this drill works wonders.