Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right

[GOINGDEEP]

I was asked by a friend to come watch an indoor pitching practice last night. Their DD is left handed like mine and has started with an instructor. 11 YO.

So I'm just chilling and enjoying the view. ( the instructor is about 22 and cute ) So warm ups are done and she asks for a curve. The ball is thrown outside. ( from pitchers view ) After about 7 more I ask "that's her curve"? She replies yes.

I'm sure you can guess the next one. PC asked for a screw ( which needs lots of work ) and it is thrown inside. ( pitchers view ) So now I'm like WTH??

After the lessons I ask the PC in private, did she realize she is calling the wrong pitches for a lefty? A screw from LH breaks out, curve from LH breaks in. We politely argued for a few mins.

I tried to explain you call the PITCH ITSELF not the LOCATION. Of coarse she was a RH pitcher fresh out of college and knows everything already.

Am I wrong? Are they calling pitches/locations different in college now a days?

 

[abbygale]

Maybe the pitching coach was a lefty batter and her sense of inside is different than yours? Of course, I'm with you on which pitch is being thrown vs. inside / outside.

 

[bobbyb]

Ha ha...did you ask her which way was north and which was south?

I would get confused myself doing it that way. I don't what college coaches do with that but imo...Your right!

 

[chinamigarden]

Blame the instructors or blame the expectations, but I have a feeling that if an instructor didn't teach girls 4 pitches by 11 YO they wouldn't be teaching very many kids. Now of course the point is that she was not only wrong on the direction the ball is supposed to be headed, but is obviously not teaching the correct spin either. But calling pitches to one side of the plate curves and ones to the other side screws, high ones are rises and low ones are drops... It probably give a PC plenty of time to work on fastballs and changes. Which is what most 11 YOs need work on in the first place.

 

[PA SB Dad]

You're absolutely correct (at least in this universe).

From a simpleton's POV,
RH pitcher, curve= R to L break, screw= L to R break
LH pitcher, curve = L to R break, screw = R to L break

I'm pretty sure I knew EVERYTHING about everything my first few years out of college also! As a RH's pitcher, she's probably never taught a LH'd pitcher before. I would most be worried about FB and CU as well, and that perhaps the spins on these "movement" pitches are at least in the right direction, otherwise this will be hard for another PC to fix!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

In order to instruct a lefty, I have to move my glove to the right hand, or I get it wrong, too. You can also face the girl and do mirror images, with her.

I am thinking about buying an ambidextrous glove. There has been one on Craigslist.

Denny Throneburg (IL.) was a lefty pitcher and he learned to pitch right handed, in order to teach. (If I recall...) My HS band director was a lefty, that had to change to right handed, in order to direct the band correctly.

 

[Coach Stan]

I love teaching lefty pitchers they are a challenge for me because I am a righty. But before I tried to teach a lefty I practice everything left handed. So the curve for a lefty breaks like a righty screw ball and the screw ball for a lefty breaks like a curve for a righty. A lefty pitches all her pitches like a righty pitcher the pitches just break the opposite way.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

I normally would stay out of this mess but the owner of the facility is a friend of friend of mine. He just opened the place over a year ago for baseball instruction. ( he pitched MLB for 7 years and a dang good hitter ) About 6 months ago he expanded to softball instruction. ( the softball instructors rent the lanes and cages per hour )

I called him this morning because he is a great guy and sponsors my DD's HS program. I also didn't want his place to get a bad name over something so small and correctable. He got a good laugh at it and explained she has only been teaching there about a month. And like most of you have posted.........that was her first lefty client. He is going to talk with her about it next time the lefty takes lessons. ( that way I'm out of it )

 

[Coach Ron]

I've been coaching HS varsity and travel for 18 years, however I am not a pitching instructor! Having made that qualification, I have to say that what struck me about this thread was not the lefty/righty screwup, but the pitches! You've got an 11 y/o kid and her pitching coach is calling for her curve ball and her screwball? Really?

When I'm evaluating new pitchers at tryouts, and I ask them what pitches they throw and they start giving me a laundry list of advanced pitches, I mentally "roll my eyes" at them. Yeh, sure. Much more often than not, the pitches all look the same, and they're not breaking anywhere! There are way too many "pitching coaches" who are stealing money. I understand that they're under pressure from the parents to show their little darling 5 or 6 pitches, so they can tell people they have 5 or 6 pitches. But I don't count it as a usable pitch unless she can make it go where she wants it to go. Show me an 11 y/o who can hit her spots consistently, change speeds while still hitting spots, and maybe throw in a drop, and I'm taking that kid!

I know there are some exceptional kids out there who can do that, but I've got to tell you that the great majority can not. If I had a $1 bet on each 12U pitcher who claimed she had multiple pitches but who really didn't, I'd be a rich man with the money I won off those who didn't.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I wasn't certain that he was talking about the 11yo. I have 12yos, w/o a good change up, so I tend to agree with you, Coach.