Combating Hello Elbow

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Jan 6, 2014
38
6
It is frustrating and I have had similar problems. What I always keep in mind is, if I am worried about this, then everything is great with my family, etc. Softball is such a small part of our world, over all.

Does she also play rec or travel ball? Then, give her this chance to work on a second position. It sounds like she might not pitch, even if she was Cat Osterman. Work on hitting and tell her not to take the nonsense to heart.

You are absolutely right Amy, she's a straight A student and recently was selected for all district band (sorry luv bragging about her :)). She plays Travel ball but because of availablity plays for a team one age group up and they have established pitchers who get all the innings (completely legitimate). Because of that, I put her in rec just so she can get innings, but she blows by all of the players she faces. As far as hitting goes, she's a contact hitter and the coaches (middle school) preach pure power hitting (lots of swinging and missing) so that only adds to my frustration as they've modified her swing for more power (a 5' 3" 100 lbs girl). It is what it is and we fix both sets of mechanics whenever we get time, I'm really more venting than anything else.
 
Mar 28, 2013
769
18
Its a long season with allot of games, allot of vacations with a few injuries sprinkled in. Tell her to contribute have fun and work on hitting along with another position meanwhile perfecting her IR in the weeds. sure enough a game will come along where a situation occurs and these under informed coaches will point at your DD and say get in sister. My guess is she will make her point then. Just be ready and be positive. also have a plan on how to wipe the I told you so grin off her face when its over. That's the only way I've ever been able to prove anything to a hello elbow coach. Even then the best you can hope for is they just leave her alone. Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
I'm not there so this is just a guess but if you tell the coach she isn't going to pitch for her or him, then they may just sit her altogether. I don't really have a good answer. Maybe have her fake it the best she can so she can get in games and pitch the way she knows how.

Pitching repeatedly with bad mechanics is detrimental to the pitcher IMO though.

Good luck!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
Don't most pitchers have a pitching coach? Shouldn't all coaches know this? Given that, shouldn't all coaches respect this. If a coach thinks he/she wants to make a suggestion regarding pitching mechanics, it ought to be of this form.... "You might want to discuss this suggestion with your pitching coach. See what he/she thinks about it." Or, simply discuss the matter with the pitchers pitching coach.

I fail to understand why it has to be a whizzing match between coach and outside pitching coach.
 

javasource

6-4-3 = 2
May 6, 2013
1,347
48
Western NY
toquin,

Here's a sad story, my friend...

My DD throws upper 50's and spins a controlled axis (depending on the pitch) at over 20 rps. She has control of a hard 8-2, 7-1, and 6-12 drop, and throws a nasty horseshoe change. She dominates in TB... but in HS (plays JV as 8th grader) she's not allowed to pitch because she doesn't hello-elbow it... and their other catcher can't consistently catch her (no joke... it was a subject discussed at a team meeting).

The coach wants balls down the middle... and every time my DD throws an inside pitch... she gets on my DD's case. She has taken video of her at practice to study at home (because my DD 'does this weird turn-over thing with her hand').

As you can imagine... I need to stay as far away from this as possible... to the point where I sit as far away as possible (my wife supplies the duct tape). Love the other pitchers (as people)... but the truth is that they don't work at their craft enough - and have succumbed to all the H/E pressure. By the end of the game... they are all bent forward at the waist guiding their pitches... it freakin' kills me.

The real insult... my DD is the best catcher, too... so... she has to catch these other pitchers... and watch these upper 40 meatballs get drilled into the outfield... or by the end of the game... watch the opponents walk around the bases.

We don't quit anything.... but we've decided that having a HS priority in years to come will be less of a focus than TB. For the remainder of the season... she is focused on getting as many outs as she can for her team... as the catcher. Had two 2nd base throwdown outs on steals last game, three picks to 3B (one a steal attempt, and the other 2 we're over-aggressive runners), and a double play on a bunt (1-2-3).

So... point being... we are doing whatever we can to turn this negative into a positive... and make it a priority for her to be a good teammate and contributor.

I'd recommend getting her into a league with better competition...

Wish you the best... stay positive! ~JS
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
Every coach knows that fast pitches on the corners are inferior to slower fat pitches. I think this is just another case of you making things too complicated with this whole "spin" and "corner" thing. Buy the coach a nice pie and make nice. You can find a good recipe for a chocolate pie on "the Help" website.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
Where did you get this? The OP said that she didn't want to come across as uncoachable, not that the coach said she was.

I found a hole and pulled it from there.

Look, I don't give a fart if the OP said this or that. It's been my experience that coaches will quickly invoke the "She's uncoachable" if the player resists changes to her pitching mechanics.

On the hitting side of things, we all know coaches to teach taking your hands DOWN (down too far) resulting in endless chipping. Does that coach want to hear about what's causing their endless chipping problem? No. But if one of his batters prefers to keep her hands higher through the swing to avoid chipping, she's labeled "uncoachable."
 
Last edited:
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
toquin,

Here's a sad story, my friend...

My DD throws upper 50's and spins a controlled axis (depending on the pitch) at over 20 rps. She has control of a hard 8-2, 7-1, and 6-12 drop, and throws a nasty horseshoe change. She dominates in TB... but in HS (plays JV as 8th grader) she's not allowed to pitch because she doesn't hello-elbow it... and their other catcher can't consistently catch her (no joke... it was a subject discussed at a team meeting).

The coach wants balls down the middle... and every time my DD throws an inside pitch... she gets on my DD's case. She has taken video of her at practice to study at home (because my DD 'does this weird turn-over thing with her hand').

As you can imagine... I need to stay as far away from this as possible... to the point where I sit as far away as possible (my wife supplies the duct tape). Love the other pitchers (as people)... but the truth is that they don't work at their craft enough - and have succumbed to all the H/E pressure. By the end of the game... they are all bent forward at the waist guiding their pitches... it freakin' kills me.

The real insult... my DD is the best catcher, too... so... she has to catch these other pitchers... and watch these upper 40 meatballs get drilled into the outfield... or by the end of the game... watch the opponents walk around the bases.

We don't quit anything.... but we've decided that having a HS priority in years to come will be less of a focus than TB. For the remainder of the season... she is focused on getting as many outs as she can for her team... as the catcher. Had two 2nd base throwdown outs on steals last game, three picks to 3B (one a steal attempt, and the other 2 we're over-aggressive runners), and a double play on a bunt (1-2-3).

So... point being... we are doing whatever we can to turn this negative into a positive... and make it a priority for her to be a good teammate and contributor.

I'd recommend getting her into a league with better competition...

Wish you the best... stay positive! ~JS


Clearly your DD's coach doesn't know or give a fart about your understanding of pitching mechanics. This is all too common among HS coaches. They are generally not the least bit interested in what pitching experts have to say, particularly when those pitching experts are dads like Javasource.

Look, Javasource, if you and the coach got into it about pitching mechanics, you'd hand him is donkey and he'd deny you had.
 

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