Another HE Confrontation and Interesting Result

We had joined a team two years ago where we saw right off the bat that the organizations pitching coach was bowling style and HE. We talked about it up front before signing on and were told by the team coach that it was no problem to use our own pitching coach and our own style of pitching so no problem . . . until two weeks later when the head coach marches out to my DD warming up and says loud and clear "tonight I'm going to teach you how to throw your fastball and you'll have a high finish with your elbow pointing straight at the catcher". That's when I hung up my phone call drug my butt out of my lawn chair and marched right onto the field. It was probably a bit rash but we had covered the entire subject in detail and were told "oh no problem, we love how she pitches, that's why we want her, blah blah blah". That was the beginning of then end with that team as I think we were labeled uncoachable, etc.

Funny shirt idea Bill, how about another shirt that says something like "My kid pitches fast pitch softball we have no spare time"

(well that made no sense with out the NO in front of spare!! good job me)

Ken B said:

Because sometimes, it's better than nothing. There were a few local PC's that my daughters enjoyed going to now and then. They had game experience that they shared and really connected well with the kids. They were great motivators and the girls looked forward to seeing them, knowing when to smile-and-nod and when to listen. One has since retired and the other is very ill. The two PC's I'd love to get lil DD in to see aren't available... What do we do? I give her as much as she'll take from DOD (dear old dad) and continue to keep my eyes and ears open for THE PC that I can fully trust to work with my kid and the kids I have to turn away.

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I can buy that. Getting the kid motivated is huge. And my experience is most kids (especially mine) take instruction from other coaches so much better than their parents. But I don't see how anything positive can come from telling a private coach in mid-lesson "you're dong it wrong."

FP26 said:

For example, DD's high school coach promotes the HE finish, but DD seems competent in using her I/R style and deflecting HE type comments. If the coach does make a comment about her elbow, DD will complete her pitch, and then finish with the high elbow long after I/R has been completed. Typically this is followed by "Great job kid!!" from the coach. She then returns to her typical finish until another comment is made.

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Like most, this coach really doesn't know what happens during the actual pitch. They are only looking at one or two cue points to judge the whole process.

cuzmail said:

Like most, this coach really doesn't know what happens during the actual pitch. They are only looking at one or two cue points to judge the whole process.

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Exactly. And this particular coach pitched in college herself. When she pitches batting practice she also has pretty nice I/R with a fake elbow point afterwards.

I feel really lucky when I see these types of postings. My DD has been seeing Rich Balswick for several months, and she has already seen a lot of improvement. Rich is great at breaking down the pitching motion, and explaining why he wants you to do it a certain way. He has some great videos on his web site, and his list of past students is very impressive (Cheridan Hawkins U of Oregon).

DD had her first lesson with Jonathon of Tincher pitching. VERY good teacher of explaining why to pitch with IR vs HE
she talked about it all the way home!!! very happy

Sometimes I'll see pitching coaches suggest a 'hand follow thru', which looks like a he, but isn't taught by making the elbow a point of focus. Sometimes this works by getting the student to accept the suggestion of a hard finger/wrist/hand snap if they haven't previously been able to accomplish that. Perhaps the reason you see it often, is because in some cases where a snap is weak, this bridges the mental gaps in the student.

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/240-snap-wrist-close-hips-2.html#post1882
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/4914-wrist-snap.html
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/26843-purpose-wrist-snaps.html

spleen1015 said:

Some folks think I am crazy because DD left a PC that was 10 minutes away for one that is 40 minutes away. Gotta make sacrifices for the good stuff.

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I'm fortunate we found a great instructor 15 minutes from our house. She lost her place a couple months ago, I said "I don't care where you find a new spot, let us know and we'll make it there." Fortunately she found another spot that is also 15 minutes from our house but I'd have gladly driven 45 minutes each way if I had to.

Davex66 said:

I feel really lucky when I see these types of postings. My DD has been seeing Rich Balswick for several months, and she has already seen a lot of improvement. Rich is great at breaking down the pitching motion, and explaining why he wants you to do it a certain way. He has some great videos on his web site, and his list of past students is very impressive (Cheridan Hawkins U of Oregon).

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We started with Rich but he turned us over to one of his former students. Angelica "Jelly" Seleden. Rich was awesome, but I can not say enough good things about Jelly and my daughter clicks with her in a way she did not with Rich.

Ken B said:

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/240-snap-wrist-close-hips-2.html#post1882
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/4914-wrist-snap.html
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/26843-purpose-wrist-snaps.html

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THROWMAX device. Helps keep a nice straight arm to maximize that big arm circle and then just SNAP the wrist at the bottom.
This is what DD was taught at the first pitching clinic she went to...