Step 11

K Position with Stride

Combine steps 4 and 10.

Hold both arms in their starting positions until the left toe is close to touching the ground then begin the arm swing. The elbow should be accelerating all the way to the bottom with the hand lagging further behind until the whip starts once the upper arm gets to the straight down position.

Waiting until the toe almost touches the ground before moving the arms may lead to a problem with the hips closing early. It is more important to keep the hips open until the hand passes by than it is to get the timing of the toe touch. Another potential problem is the tendency to move the body weight forward too early. At the time of toe touch the upper part of the right leg should be leaning slightly back so that the right hip is in front of the right knee. If the pitcher is having some trouble, the position of the upper right leg is more important than the timing of the toe touch.

Also check the timing of the left leg straightening as the left heel touches the ground. The purpose behind the straightening of the leg is to stop the forward movement of the body. The energy from stopping will get channeled into the arm and hand, driving the whip effect.

This step is the most important one in being able to deliver a great pitch. To the naked eye, it is easy to see the different styles at the beginning and end and girls will often emulate their favorite pitcher. In general that’s fine, but the point of everything that happens before the toe touches the ground is to get into perfect position. The point of everything after is to release stress.

The next two steps are more like drills than a natural progression of delivering the pitch, but they have a very important place in the sequence.

Go To Step 12