Tricks Of The Trade (Review)

Just got done watching Tricks of the Trade. I think Mr. Hillhouse just released the new gold standard for the technical aspect of pitching in general. I would say it is a must have for parents teaching their daughters without the use of a pitching coach and a good aid for those that do.This is the basic fixes for all aspects of the pitching motion from beginning to end. Very good info. I didn't time it,but I think it was under one hour.

I just finished watching this dvd for the first time myself. I've gotta be honest here..... I've seen better. I would give this a C-.
SIKE!!!!!!!
No seriously this video is excellent! I have not met, heard, or seen another instructor that explains things as plainly and simply as Bill Hillhouse. This is definately a must have.
First thing though, if you are looking for an introductory video this is probably not it. While everything he says is fundamental, I don't think that most beginners would be able to watch this video and be able to go outside and start pitching. That said it is not an advanced video either. It is just as described an excellent video for trouble shooting and explaining why you should(and shouldn't) do certain things. Like I said, nobody does this better than Hillhouse.
One thing is for certain, this 1hr(atleast I think it was 1 hr) video, just summed up nearly 2 years of my own research(which to be honest was mostly reading this board and watching Hillhouse videos).
Gosh, this guy is good! I wish we lived closer to where he teaches. I for one am glad he is helping coach my Dawgs!
I hope everything gets cleared up with the rights to his first video. This dvd compliments it very well and I for one am glad I already own it(Bill I am sorry if I bought it from somewhere that doesn't benefit you).
My hat is off to you Mr. Hillhouse! You have created an excellent work and I look forward to your future videos.If you do not own this dvd get it. Even though I have seen most of this material before it is all now in one easy place. And there is new stuff too. I for one really enjoyed the bit on warm ups and practice.
I will offer one tiny bit of criticism. I am not very fond of the commercials. Even though I own atleast one of the products I felt like they detract from the teaching a bit and would be better served grouped together either at the beginning or end of the video. But it is not my video and he can put commercials anywhere he darn well pleases.
I cannot say great job enough!
I can offer one

I joined this site about 7-8 mos. ago in search of information to help my daughter learn to pitch. Numerous people on this site recommended the hillhouse video. I purchased the video not knowing any of the issues regarding the rights to the content. I will sell my video if somebody wants the "building a house" video and in turn use the money I receive to purchase the new material.
$15.00 plus shipping you can pm me if youd like.

After attending several clinics(Hillhouse, Kempf, Michele Smith, Gillis, etc.) and watching multiple pitching instructional videos produced by well known pitching instructors, I find it interesting how much difference there is in the emphases by the individual that it is either the wrist, the fingers or the elbow that contributes the most to creating speed during the arm whip and release. I would say that for the most part all the other parts of the motion are universally agreed upon, such as footwork, posture, arm circle, up together/ down together, etc. At least by competent instructors.
As to Bill's new video, the only "do as I say and not as I do" item I noticed is in regards to the top of the circle. Verbally he says point the ball at third base if you are a righthander but in the clips of his own motion he has the ball pointing towards the catcher. At least that is what I noticed in the first pass. I believe either works. I have pitchers that point towards third and then make the transition to palm up by 9 o'clock and I have pitchers that just pull the ball up on the front side and pull it down on the back side of the circle. Both get to the position they need to be to throw with good whip or IR at the bottom. As Bill stated you need to watch their wrist at the top to be sure they don't do something to mess up the release by cupping or bending it incorrectly.
I really like his thoughts on doing more "pitching to yourself". I've started using it more with my pitchers already to help them keep the glove where it needs to stay.
Like the video. Bill is so good at keeping it simple and fundamentally solid. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

The more I dig into investigating the best motion and brain tweaks for my DD at 16yrs old I think the best thing I could say to her, given all the analysis-paralysis out there, is "throw hard"/"twist hard"/hit your target". Plain & simple......

(of course this is given she is throwing "legally" and still excelling.)

Actually I think I am going to go more after tuning her head. I got her the book "mind gym". Any other recommended book on maturing the competitive mind of a pitcher?????

go4fpsb said:

After attending several clinics(Hillhouse, Kempf, Michele Smith, Gillis, etc.) and watching multiple pitching instructional videos produced by well known pitching instructors, I find it interesting how much difference there is in the emphases by the individual that it is either the wrist, the fingers or the elbow that contributes the most to creating speed during the arm whip and release. I would say that for the most part all the other parts of the motion are universally agreed upon, such as footwork, posture, arm circle, up together/ down together, etc. At least by competent instructors.

Click to expand...

go4fpsb, I agree with you. I watched "Tricks of the Trade" last night. Earlier this fall I ordered the Doug Gillis series. Gillis does emphasize the wrist and fingers more.

Hi everyone, thank you for the great reviews. I am very proud of the product and I really hope it's going to help a lot of pitchers, parents and coaches. I turned myself into a neurotic mess after filming: Did I say this? Did I get THAT point across? Was I clear on that subject? etc. I just filmed ANOTHER video last week and did the same thing, asking myself the same questions.

go4fpsb, you're right about the position of the ball at the 12:00 position. In my experience, a young pitcher who has the wrist cupped, curled, or pointed toward 2nd base is going to have something radically wrong at the bottom of the pitch during release. They will twist the ball instead of snapping it, creating bullet spin. Or they will turn the hand over the ball, creating a top side spin like action. Over the years I have found ways to "cheat" in my pitching but still get myself into the positions I need to be in to make the ball spin the way I want it to. Most young girls cannot get the ball to spin correctly with having shortcuts in their delivery. So, I get them to turn the ball sideways as they are training. This curl or cup of the wrist happens a lot without realizing it in young pitchers, especially when making that transition from the 11" ball to the 12" ball. I know "Boardmember" is very much against the "wiping the wall" drill that a lot of coaches use but, personally I have found that analogy of "wiping a wall" helps a lot of pitchers keep their hand in the right position and enables correct spin at the release. The other phrase I use for this is making sure the fingers point to the sky at 12:00, and then pointing to the ground at 6:00. Exaggerations for sure but they do seem to help in my experience.

The other part in question, about using the elbow as opposed to the wrist or fingers is pretty simple really. The way our bodies are designed and move kinetically, if she's snapping the elbow... the wrist and fingers are going to snap afterward in sequence. But teaching a pitcher to just use the wrist can promote a locking of the elbow. These pitchers with the locked elbow fall into the "hello elbow" category a lot of the time. Not always but a good portion. It's easy to teach someone to pitch with a locked elbow and to only snap the wrist at release (this is what happens with wrist flips for example). But it's not possible to get someone to ONLY snap their elbow, the wrist and fingers will AUTOMATICALLY snap afterward, which is what gives us that "whipping" during the delivery.

So, I do believe in what Gillis says.. using the fingers and wrist. I just believe using the elbow will promote those other 2 things even more, the way human beings are designed to work.

Thanks again everyone for their great reviews.

Bill

I've tried to watch the DVD on my computer using the Windows Media Player...no luck...something about the .BUP file extension...anybody else have this issue?

go4fpsb said:

As to Bill's new video, the only "do as I say and not as I do" item I noticed is in regards to the top of the circle. Verbally he says point the ball at third base if you are a righthander but in the clips of his own motion he has the ball pointing towards the catcher. At least that is what I noticed in the first pass. I believe either works. I have pitchers that point towards third and then make the transition to palm up by 9 o'clock and I have pitchers that just pull the ball up on the front side and pull it down on the back side of the circle. Both get to the position they need to be to throw with good whip or IR at the bottom. As Bill stated you need to watch their wrist at the top to be sure they don't do something to mess up the release by cupping or bending it incorrectly.

Click to expand...

I noticed the same thing about Bill sayint to point the ball to third but when he demostrated the ball was pointed towards home. This was one of those minor details I overlooked when I first read BM's," IR in the classroom", thread. When we first begn doing the drills ,dd had a lot of bullet spin. She had been taught and I had been reenforcing pointing the ball towards third. When I finally noticed BM was actually facing the ball toward home we began to fix this "minor" detail. Her spin began to straighten out.

Bill, nice job on the DVD.


PowerPush feedback.



We purchased the PowerPush. You suggest the pitcher put the heal of her push/pivot foot at the front of the pitcher plate, when DD does this very little of her foot is actually in the slot of the PowerPush. IMO, the PowerPush needs to extend another 8-10 inches for those that follow your foot positioning advice.