Let’s start the throwing process from the bottom up.
Yep, back to the feet. I can’t stress enough the importance of the feet for someone learning to throw a ball or hit a volleyball. The feet are responsible for creating the foundation. If the feet are poorly placed, other issues will follow and compound as we get up to the throwing arm.
I was reminded today of a great example of how important foot position and footwork are in all sports, not just volleyball.
I was the assistant-coach-with-absolutely-no-responsibilities at a high school that was a football powerhouse. It’s a great gig if you can get it.
During a summer "open gym,” the football coaches had their O-line at the far end of the gym. They spent an hour working on foot position and taking the first step after a snap. They would get down in the proper stance, wait for the coach to simulate a snap, and take one step either right or left.
They did this over and over and over. It was monotonous. It looked boring. But the coaches were making sure each player could do it correctly without thinking. They wanted to make the movements innate.
This attention to a minute detail may be one of the reasons they had been so good.
With that story in the back of your mind, let’s continue.
Obviously, getting the players’ feet in the foundational position is crucial. With the feet properly positioned – make sure the lead foot is slightly open to the target – rewind the movement of the throwing hand just a few frames. If the player is holding the ball, she needs to hold the ball with her hand turned slightly away from her target. Her elbow needs to be above her shoulders slightly bent.
If she is reaching back to grab a ball as in the drill I mentioned earlier, her hand still needs to be turned out with her arm relaxed and slightly bent ready to turn and reach for a ball behind her.
Now she can begin the throwing motion.
Simultaneously, she needs to begin a short step toward the target with her lead foot. Then with her weight on her back foot, reach back slightly with the ball, turning the shoulders and hips as she reaches. Remember, the ball needs to be turned slightly down and away from the target.
This motion will activate her core – stretching it slightly like a slingshot being pulled. When her hips begin to turn toward the target – releasing the slingshot – the elbow, hand, and ball will follow. Don't let her turn the ball toward toward the target immediately. This happens naturally as the elbow and wrist follow the shoulders and waist. Turning the hand with the ball too soon diminishes the whipping effect of the arm, diminishing the speed and power of the throw.
The step that she takes needs to be short. The biggest mistake I see young girls make is taking a huge step. That huge step lowers her entire body…Including her eyes. This is not a huge problem when she is learning to throw; but when we take this motion and use the basic concepts to hit a volleyball; a big step/lunge forward is problematic.
As her lead foot hits the ground, she begins moving the ball forward with her hips. The shoulders, arm and ball lag behind slightly creating a whipping motion with her arm. Remember, her arm needs to be relaxed which means the elbow, although high, is slightly bent. She should not consciously turn the ball toward the target. This will naturally happen as her elbow comes forward.
As she turns her hips toward the target, the back foot should push slightly toward the target and end up with the toe being pulled forward after the hips turn.
DO NOT LIFT THE BACK FOOT OFF OF THE GROUND. When that happens, she eliminates the anchor for her throwing motion. This affects the power of her arm and overall balance.
As her shoulders turn, the relaxed arm will follow. As her relaxed arm comes through past her shoulders, it should straighten out as she releases the ball. It will happen fast. Her elbow should come through first with the hand lagging slightly behind. As her elbow extends, her wrist will break.
Through repetition, she will learn when to release the ball to hit the target. If her target is high, she will learn to release the ball earlier. A low target requires a later release. This can be practiced by putting one target eight feet off the ground and one on the ground. She should hit each target with the same motion changing only the release point. Don’t let the player drop the elbow to change the height. She must change only the release point.
As she releases the ball, her throwing shoulder should move past her other shoulder. After releasing the ball, her hand should cross her body and land on her lead leg. The throwing motion is a controlled twisting motion.
The player's feet and hips should finish square to the target. She should be standing on her lead foot with her back foot on its toe. It should have been pulled forward, following her hip to be beside the lead foot.
I haven’t forgotten about her lead arm. As I said, it begins pointing at the target. As the player begins the process of throwing the ball, the lead arm acts as a counter balance. It also helps begin the forward shoulder movement. After lead arm initiates the turn, it can be forgotten as it drops to her side.
Honestly, I can't remember ever not being able to throw a ball. And most of the girls I deal with struggle.
So I did some pondering.
Is there a throwing gene only boys get? Now, admittedly, I didn’t do well in biology, but I think I would have remembered something like that.
More pondering required.
What I do remember is going outside spending every free minute playing. Most of my playing required throwing something at something ... or someone. Baseballs. Footballs. Basketballs. Acorn battles. Snowball fights. You name it, and I probably threw it when I was a kid.
I had to learn to throw or be pummeled with acorns and snowballs. I would have been relegated to the most embarrassing position in baseball. Right field. Baseball hell for a young boy. I would not have been allowed to be the quarterback in the neighborhood football games. It was pure self-preservation.
The one thing I don’t remember is any girls throwing stuff with us boys. Never. Not a one girl. I'm not sure what they were doing, but throwing stuff at other people was not included.
Not needing to throw anything for neighborhood self-preservation is probably a better explanation than a male-only throwing gene. You don’t learn what you never do.
As I alluded to in an earlier post, people who have played sports at a high level struggle to understand why anyone finds it difficult to play the sport. This lack of understanding can lead to frustration and an unwillingness to deal with less gifted players.
If you find it hard to believe anyone needs step-by-step instruction on how to throw a ball, try this experiment ... throw a ball with your non-throwing arm. Go ahead. Try it. I'm guessing when you throw with your other arm, you look like some of the kids you are coaching. Uncoordinated. A bit silly. And frustrated.
Bottom line, you have never been required to do much with your off-arm. It take some thinking; some focus. You can’t just pick up a ball and throw it. You have to learn how to throw again.
We need to realize some of the players we deal with feel the exact same way when we expect them to master these skills. Throwing a ball is an innate skill for us. But for them, it’s like throwing the ball with our non-throwing arm. They need to understand how to throw because they have never needed to know how.
We have to give them simple, direct, understandable instruction.
Put them in the correct position.
Show them how.
Help them move through the process.
In time, with repetition, desire, and proper help, they will get it.
Take a few minutes to run through the process I laid out on how to throw – using your off-hand. If you did it enough, although it would be frustrating, you could become proficient. So can your players.
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