Softball Pitching Mechanics: Forearm Fire

[@elzurdico851]

great advice and extremely important to reduce bicep soreness, which is what's been happening to me for many years

[@DeniseDaehler_ADHD_PQ_Coach]

Great advice and description of the mechanics of using the elbow and forearm in release. Thank you for the great videos.

[@katydolan9067]

Phil my brain about exploded when you used the wood board and karate chop through. That is a really great example that I will be using!!!!!

[@FastpitchPower]

I updated the video description with a link to the full article on Fastpitch Power. We don't have one that we filmed, but the article includes a second video of Yukiko Ueno from a great front angle. Hope that helps!

[@FastpitchPower]

Hi, thanks for your comment. I believe we're probably from different areas of the country and it's just a matter of terminology. Where we're from, "elbow snap" refers to finishing with your hand on your shoulder and your elbow pointed at the catcher. We probably teach the same or very similar releases. We just came up with the term "forearm fire" because we found that it's easy for our young students to understand.

[@FastpitchPower]

Thanks for the comment. This particular video was addressing just the release aspect of the pitch, which is why the rest of the circle and the feet are not shown. Please take a look at the rest of our videos. Hopefully you'll find them helpful.

[@tslayer4569]

Forearm snap occurs before release of ball along with wrist as there is a bend in the arm during rotation. What you are calling forearm snap is just the follow through. The ball is already out of the hand at that point so weather your arm bends up towards the shoulder (which I agree is not good for mechanics,) however it has no effect on ball after it has been released. All top pitchers come across the body and up for follow through.

[@johnfeld1504]

forearm snaps across the body then up to the hello elbow zone.

[@fredfeld1607]

been coaching for 24 years and never heard of "forearm fire". When I teach elbow snap I do not teach it by following through up to the shoulder but across the body.

[@YAOG]

I'm going to try this with my daughter this week...she just pitched her first couple innings ever and her accuracy is good but her velocity/mechanics, while not bad, are not in line with what the pro pitchers are doing with regard to pushing off, generating momentum, and of course, release. This video seems like it makes a lot of sense.

[@damienbell3155]

Thx coach great instruction

[@courtneyo9087]

I have a pitching student who used to release using forearm fire, and she was complaining of shoulder/elbow problems. When we reverted back to "elbow snap" (except her elbow doesn't finish that high up".... She actually seemed to gain speed, accuracy, and her joint pains went away. Have you seen any similar injuries with forearm fire? It looks as though it puts a lot of stress on the elbow joint...

[@FastpitchPower]

Hi Courtney, forearm fire does not cause stress on the elbow at all when done correctly. However, because it's so difficult, there are a million ways it can go wrong, and as with anything in all sports, performing incorrect mechanics can definitely cause injury. It's impossible to know your student's specific issue without seeing her, but if she was experiencing pain with forearm fire and gained speed when switching to the slower elbow snap, I can guarantee she was not performing forearm fire correctly, and my guess would be that her arm was actually straight throughout or that she was tightening her arm through the release instead of relaxing it.

[@courtneyo9087]

Thank you!! I'll definitely look into this release as we head into the winter season!

[@FastpitchPower]

Hi Stephanie, I can't post links in comments, but I updated the video description to include a link to an article where I break down hand and ball position with images. I hope you find it helpful!

[@Titus_Vespasianus]

Phil, good afternoon...I have a kiddo on my team that is being taught "hello elbow" by a D1 college pitcher who used forearm fire...I asked the mom to have the instructor teach her to pitch the way she did it...the response was that forearm fire is an old men's style...I was a bit bewildered as I have "never" heard that before...can you speak to this...

[@FastpitchPower]

Thanks for your comment, I am going to recommend that Coach Phil addresses it in a video, look for it in the next few weeks! But for a quick answer you can show this person these videos! Here is Yukiko Ueno, the fastest overall female windmill pitcher in the world, doing perfect forearm fire in slow motion: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIiXqa18Yq2nlZY And Monica Abbott who has the record for fastest single pitch thrown by a woman: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anStd5ehprSbqMk Note that they are both warming up in these videos so don’t watch their feet but you can see their arms whip!

[@casie2002]

Ive watched your video several times and would like to know if you can post a more informative video on hand and ball position and what your arm and hand should be doing thru the windmill arm rotation. there are many videos on you tube that show many different motions and pitching techniques, and I want my daughter to learn the most simple and effective fore arm fire technique.

[@robt9906]

Seems a lot like the I/R pitching conversations but might be a bit easier to explain.

[@arthurmedina2496]

Sir I'm trying to work with my 9yr old daughter on forearm fire..she been going to a pitching coach for about a year but her speed is staying the same and is not getting any faster..thks for the vedio and ill see if I can't get her to some more speed with the way u just showed on vedio..thks again..

[@tslayer4569]

The only difference in your two descriptions of pitches is follow through. If ball is released properly, after forearm and wrist snap, there should be no contact with ball, in turn means no affect on it what so ever. Proper follow through is important to pitcher as to preserve health of the pitchers shoulder and arm.

[@FastpitchPower]

M Thayer You're right, there is no contact with the ball during follow through so in a vacuum it should have no effect on the pitch... however, we believe that the follow through should be relaxed and carried by natural momentum. In that case, the follow through only turns out a certain way if the whip/snap/whatever you want to call it before the follow through is correct. So in addition to preserving arm health as you say, it can be an important indicator.

[@funcrazyfamily8493]

Why might I be throwing high consistently when switching from elbow snap to forarm fire?

[@jeremyhines4328]

My daughter is 12 and really just now getting into pitching. She does the forearm fire but her accuracy at this point is terrible. She also bends pretty far on setup before she strides out. I've watched multiple videos and some pitchers bend, others don't. Should she be bending before starting her windup?

[@jillianstephens7418]

Hi Jeremy. There can be a lot of things that affect accuracy, forearm fire definitely helps with accuracy (as opposed to things like hello elbow) but it is not the only thing that causes command problems. As for bending during the pre -motion, yes some pitchers do it and other's don't. The key is that you have to get all the way tall again when you push off into the pitch so if your daughter is struggling with this you might want to have her bend less. It is difficult for us to tell though without seeing a video of her pitching.

[@jaimelozadanieves3534]

Hello How do begin teaching forearm fire to my daughter

[@FastpitchPower]

Hi lumbeeinsane, I just sent you an email so I could answer you in more detail!

[@billyboy7565]

phil you just showed us how to push a ball lol

[@travisscissell5169]

That’s the same as Tincher Pitching.

[@dmobley1089]

Not exactly as Tincher because Tincher keeps glove up instead of it slapping leg.

[@johnfeld1504]

hello elbow is not a good to do at all. The hip should fire linear then rotational and he just does rotational therefore hello elbow.

[@healthynon-conformism3822]

For goodness sake stop talking and demonstrate!? I watched 3 video's and you are like a vacuum cleaner salesman ... yak yak yak! When we eventually see some action it's lame?

[@gmrrnracr]

Healthy Non-Conformism He did demonstrate so what are you talking about? He’s also a fantastic coach who not just demonstrates but teaches what’s going on. Learn first then watch watch and learn

[@marjmy]

Does not have a clue what he is doing