Girl’s Windmill Pitching

Volume 391 May 07, 2013

Still On Mechanics

When you observe a pitcher, whether your daughter or another, have you noticed how the stride leg lands?If you are catching her or if you are behind the backstop, it is hard to see how she lands and that is extremelyimportant to pitch speed and in some instances to pitch control.Study these photos and try to determine what the pitchers have in common with their stride legs and feet.

From the Renfro sisters to Jackie Traina, all among the best in the country, and all have two things in commonno matter which pitch they are throwing. The stride foot lands at about 45 degrees and the stride leg is about165 degrees. All land on a firm front side and use the resistance created by the firm front side to help providevelocity. Whether pitching or hitting, you do not cave your front side. If you do your power is lessened andyour head moves down instead of staying on plane. If, as the photos show, the front side is firm with a slightlybend stride knee, that also shows they do not land on a stiff knee which will throw you off balance and causethe ball to be pitched to the inside when facing a batter who bats on the side you throw (righty to righty/lefty tolefty). If the foot lands at a 90 degree angle or 180 degree angle, the arm slot is not created by which the ball

Bill Dryden

hand can get past the hip because the hip will affect the slot. Again you will pitch inside as above, because youwill have to bring to upper arm away from the body to get by the hip.

Now something that isn’t part of the stride foot landing and correct knee angle but is also quite obvious is thefact that the drive leg is not locked at the knee. In each case it is bent and the reason is twofold. First if the dragfoot (drive leg) rolls properly to avoid a crow hop or leap, the drive knee must bend. If the knee locks out, youbutt will go out and you will bend at the waist. By pushing off the pitching rubber hard and turning the ankle todrag the foot you are getting your drive leg under you faster and it is not acting as an anchor, holding your bodyback, which does not allow you to come strong to the front side, and once again is a culprit in impeding yourvelocity.Each part of the mechanics of the pitch is vital and one part is no less important than the other. No one wants tothrow the ball over the backstop and no one wants to be so slow they throw batting practice. Also, we must doeverything possible to prevent injuries. Believe me, they still occur but proper mechanics help reduce the risk.Those strains, sprains, tears, etc occur mostly when you use improper mechanics and keep doing the same thingover and over again. Then to alleviate the pain in one area you change another and compound the problem.Work on mechanics. You can’t wish for it and get it done.

Photos

Chincoteage Little League 9-10 year old grounds crew.

Chincoteague’s next generation of ball

players

Cristen Quillen of Delaware Storm 12U m owing down

the com petition

University of Maryland Softball bus meets flying turkey.Bus win...for the most part anyway.

Hope Abell, a 9-year-old pitcher from

Chincoteague M inor Little League

opening at first quarterForm er student and Bucknell senior Cassie Greenhawk flanked

by m y two good friends, Cassie’s parents, Jim m y and Jan

Greenhawk

Lexi Black of Delaware Storm 12U

in line during a pitch at the

Rehoboth Tournam ent

M addie Swain of the Delaware Storm 14U during her gam e at

Rehoboth Open USSSA Tournam ent

Grandaughter Olivia Dryden does

her thing for M illsboro M ajor

League

The Delaware Storm 12U’s M aggie Cannon drives

from the m ound

Payton M cnure of the Chincoteague Little

League M ajor Division enroute to her first no-

hitter

Granddaughter M arlee in Tee ball now but

will this be her spot in a couple of years?

Olivia Tullous delivers a pitch at Chincoteague M inor

gam e

Contact a Delaware Storm member to get your chance to win this truck or various cash prizes. Allproceeds benefit the Mackenzie Travis Education Foundation. If you don’t know a Storm memberContact Jerry Kirby at Jkirby1964@yahoo.com or Bob Tomlinson at address on the flye

Tips

After the first week of varsity ball, I received a text from Polytech sophomore Shaina Reed (MorrisCounty Belles Gold) with the following information:“Hey, Mr. Bill:Just wanted to let you know that I emailed 11 schools, including Liberty and Fordham with my first weekstats.”I literally preach this to all my students and unfortunately, some don’t do it, but you must realize this fact.Those that do email and follow-ups have put themselves ahead of those who don’t do it.

Girl’s Windmill Pitching

Check out my website, http://girlswindmillpitching.com. You can find my newsletters, some links, photos, andsome of my students’ video clips. Just click on the title in blue above or paste the URL into your browser.

Girl’s Windmill Pitching Private Lessons

I am teaching Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, at the Givens’ Facility west of Georgetown, DE, Thursdayswest of Harrington, DE and Fridays at the Lower Shore YMCA in Pocomoke City, MD. Also, I have begun

lessons at the Givens’ Facility on Sundays. Get in on these new limited time slots through the school ballseason and perhaps longer when I am not at tournaments. Email me today!

billdryden1@comcast.net

NEW NEW NEW NEW

Beginning Friday, May 10 , I will be offering private lessons at 3093 Tulls Millpond Road in New Church, VA.th

From the north take US 13 across the VA line. Turn left directly after the Royal Farms Store on Davis Road.Then turn left on Tulls Millpond Road and go to the 2 house and turn into the driveway. Follow it back to thend

concrete building. This should give us more flexibility with the lessons, allowing me to accept a few morestudents. For those coming from the north, it is only a few minutes farther than the Lower Shore YMCA. Emailme if you are interested in lessons. billdryden1@comcast.net

Competitive Sports PerformanceThis is the website of Dominick Flora, the personal trainer I recommend for all of my private students and everyone I have sent is well satisfied with their improvement since beginning with him. Check out Dom’s website orvisit his place.Visit his site: Competitive Sports Performance or find Dominick Flora on facebook to see the sport specificworkouts.

Recruiter MOM This link will answer some valuable questions for the parents and student/athletes hoping to become prospects. Ihighly advise you to visit the site that has been set up and researched by Jan Greenhawk by clicking on the titleabove or by pastinghttp://recruitermom.org/index.html in your browser. Check this link. I’ve gotten good feedback.

Andy Givens’ Hitting InstructionAndy Givens is the former Delaware Technical and Community College Assistant Baseball Coach, and formerHead Softball Coach. He is currently the Head Softball Coach of the Delaware Diamonds 18U Black team andgives private hitting instruction at his place between Georgetown and Laurel, DE. If you are looking for a superb,patient instructor to help give you an edge, contact Andy at (302) 228-7960 or email him at:ragivens@comcast.net

My daughter, Ashley is a Mary Kaye Director in Qualification. If anyone is interested in becoming arepresentative to earn extra income or if you wish to purchase products or host a party contact Ashley throughher website at: http://www.marykay.com/asomers6/default.aspx , click on the logo above or call her at (302) 228-3829.

Do you see the logo above? That is the logo of the Visalus weight loss and fitness program. Two of my daughters,their husbands, my wife and myself are on the program and have had great results, losing pounds, increasingenergy. The proof is in the photos below:

Seeing is believing. Is it a magic bullet? No! It is a program that can help anyone who is willing to take a challenge. Iwent to the cardiologist January 2 and he told me he didn’t really care about me losing more weight. He just wantednd

me to stay active. I will shoot for 200 lbs anyway. My heart rate (electrocardiogram) was 56 bpm. My oxygen rate was98.75% and my blood pressure was 122/70. I feel great and have energy. I am now at 208 which is 42 lbs lighter. Mywife Cheryl had knee problems and could not walk much. Once she started the program, she got up to 40 minutes a dayon the elliptical and when we go to Sam’s Club she will say “let’s leave the jeep here and walk to Walmart.” That is aworld of difference. Ashley and Ray belong to a gym and workout and Kim does a spinning class plus walks trails.This is a completely new world for all of us and the Visalus program transforms people. It is even certified Kosher forthose who adhere to Jewish diets.Take the 90-day challenge and see the difference.Go to my website at Bill’s 90-day Visalus challenge , step on the mound and take the challenge.

News and Tournament Results

Although Snow Hill has not had a banner season, Shelby Smith (Morris County Belles Gold) has been able toget a Daily Times Student Athlete of the week award, and blasted 4 homers on the season with 2 of them beinggrand slams. She has pitched well for the team. They closed out the season with a 10-5 win over St Michael’s.Shelby had 9 K’s, 5 walks, allowed 4 hits and offensively was 2 for 4 with a single and grand slam.Stephen Decatur has gotten some top notch wins, but has then dropped games they were expected to win.Amanda Parsons (Morris County Belles Gold) has hit well, as has Taylor Black (Delaware Diamonds 18U Gray)and Jesci Iacona, who has also pitched well in her final season.

Me From end of July untilJan 6 down 40 lbsth

Cheryl from end of July untilJan 6 down 28 lbs

Ashley from spring untilnow, down 58 lbs

Ash and Ray before and now. Rayhas lost 73 lbs

Daughter Kim from springuntil now down 40 lbs

Visalus Family, Son-in-law Bob (down20 lbs), Kim, Cheryl, me, Ray, Ashley

Polytech’s Shaina Reed (Morris County Belles Gold) has been on fire all season with no-hitters, 1-hitters, and 2-hitters being the norm. The last I knew she had only one loss and Friday another no hitter was pitched as shecame within one walk of a perfect game. Delaware should offer some interesting tournament games with thequality pitching they have.

As well as Delaware Technical and Community College played all season, capturing the number one seed for theRegion 19 Tournament, they were dispensed with in two straight games, losing 5-0 and 5-4. They had a greatseason and both Sam Muir and Brittany Donalds did excellent jobs on the mound.

In her senior year, during her last regular season series, Lauren Gibson, former pitching student and absolute starof the University of Tennessee and Team USA, set the School record for homers in a single season with 18. Thisyoung lady from Pasadena, MD continues to epitomize the meaning of scholar/athlete and of class. She hasrepresented her team, Team USA, Pasadena and Maryland with grace and class. It becomes a bit of a cliche’ tosay there will never be another like her, because somewhere there is a young one who may be able to, but youngladies like her are few and far between. Now LG, close out the SEC Tournament the same way. Be sure andcatch the SEC Tournament all this week on one of the ESPN channels. (Never believe it’s the channel they say itis because they will switch them.)

Long time friend Walt Bondarenko sent me the following email recently:“Hey Bill, Just to let you know that I'm back at it again with High school ball at Benjamin Franklin HS in BaltimoreCity. They are a 2nd year start up team in Div 3 in Baltimore. Last year for a group of girls that never playedbefore or even seen a ballfield, went 9-7 for their 1st year. God only knows what we are going to do thisyear. We won our 1st game 20-6 against KASA.”

Walt Bondarenko Benjamin Franklin HS Bayhawks Softball Coach

Yeah, Walt: I had thought about coaching high school again, but then I remembered I was scheduled to have myfingernails pulled out with pliers and chose the one I’d rather do. I’ll miss my nails.

University of Tennessee player Lauren Gibson

7

W. T. Chipman Middle School 8 grade pitcher, Kerrigan Simpson (Delaware Express 14U) pitched a 6-0 th

shutout over Millsboro Middle School. I was able to watch parts of it as I also watched my grandson, BradDryden play baseball for Millsboro Middle when they played W.T. Chipman. Brad played shortstop and was 3for 4 at the plate with 2 doubles. Before either game was over I had to leave for pitching lessons.

Sam Frungillo, sophomore at Fairfield University, got her leg cast off on March 29 and was ready for action.th

She has begun to pick up her hitting as she worked her way back.

Two Saturdays ago, I was able to go to Chincoteague, VA and watch some of my Little League students. Thefirst game allowed me to see Payton Mcnure pitch her first career no hitter. She did an excellent job and it was apleasure. Game two featured two of my Minor league pitchers sharing a game. Hope Abell started the game andOlivia Tullous finished it. Unfortunately they lost, but it was great to see such young pitchers working on themound, knowing they are putting in the time during practice and at lessons. I see the potential they both have,and think they will be very good. While there, I was introduced to many nice people and was impressed withhow friendly they all were to me. I appreciate the fine folks I have met there and feel privileged to teach theirdaughters.

This past Saturday and Sunday I was able to watch several of my pitchers pitch at the Rehoboth USSSA OpenTournament. Maddie Swain did a good job in a 3-2 loss for the Delaware Storm 14U. I the Delaware Storm12U’s Cristen Quillen and Maggie Cannon throwing hard in their wins and Lexi Black finishing up a gamestrongly on the mound. They went 6 and 0 in the tournament.

On Saturday I also stopped by Millsboro Little League to watch granddaughter Olivia Dryden catch for herMajor League team in a strong win. She also had several hits.

My grandson closed out his Millsboro Middle School baseball career May 6 in grand fashion. He broke theth

school record for hits. He also finished 2 all time in RBI’s, 2 all time for career strikeouts as a pitcher, 1 allnd nd st

time in career innings pitched. His coach said it was a pleasure to coach him and he particularly enjoyedwatching him grow from a sixth grader on a team of eighth graders into a mature 8 grade leader. He was a trueth

model the other kids could look up to and he was so proud of him on so many levels. Well done, Brad. Keep up the great work.

Brad Dryden Closes m iddle school

career

8