Congrats Rick Pauly...

[GunnerShotgun]

I bought some of his videos before I even knew he posted here. There was an issue with my order and he handled it with class (even throwing in a free video) and I came away impressed not even knowing who he was or his resume.

Just my two cents.

 

[Rick Pauly]

Thanks to all for the kind words. I haven't met most of the people on this forum in person, but feel I have gained a lot of friends here. As my wife tells me: "all your friends are softball people". She is probably right, but man I have some really great friends. As you all make the journey with your DD's hopefully you will feel the same.
I had made a comment a while back that I have probably learned more about pitching in the last 5 years than in my previous 60 years....well this forum is one of my best learning tools. Let's keep it rolling.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Rick,

"....I have probably learned more about pitching in the last 5 years than in my previous 60 years..."

I'm curious... Given this statement, if you could go back to when you started with Sarah with the current knowledge of pitching you now have, what would you have done differently in terms of initial things you would work with her on?

 

[Rick Pauly]

Great question Doug
A few things that come to mind:
1. I would have worked more on my patience
2. More emphasis on the change up or offspeed pitch
3. More emphasis on the dropball
4. More backward chaining and less pitching full motion/full distance

Way back in her early career I had never seen or used video analysis (it probably was non-existent then).......I had to rely on what my eyes told me or possibly what I felt when I pitched. Well the eyes don't always see everything you need to see in a pitchers mechanics and as we've seen hundreds of times in video......what we think we do and what we actually do may be two different things. For example when we look at video on this site it is often slowed down to 30 FPS/frame by frame and we still miss lots of mechanical issues. High speed video of the elite pitchers in the world would have been fantastic back then 'cause I may not have made so many mistakes or gone down the wrong path so often.....or I would have seen that videos that were being sold by "pitching gurus" were not indicative of what the best in the world actually did.

You all know the old saying, "I probably have forgotten more than you know" is very similar to "I have tried all the gimmicks out there and thrown most away" might fit me a bit. In the past I have experimented with every trick/drill/tool/gimmick that looked reasonably applicable to pitching.....have probably scraped most of them. Now I am very skeptical and selective as to what I use in my instruction.

Rick,

"....I have probably learned more about pitching in the last 5 years than in my previous 60 years..."

I'm curious... Given this statement, if you could go back to when you started with Sarah with the current knowledge of pitching you now have, what would you have done differently in terms of initial things you would work with her on?

 

[1bucketmom]

World tour maybe...?

What he said!!!!

 

[YOCOACH]

World tour maybe...?

I'm thinking Rick and Sue Enguist should team up for a Superstar World Tour! Week long seminar? New family vacation destination to wherever they were speaking

 

[FP26]

Great question Doug
A few things that come to mind:
1. I would have worked more on my patience
2. More emphasis on the change up or offspeed pitch
3. More emphasis on the dropball
4. More backward chaining and less pitching full motion/full distance

Way back in her early career I had never seen or used video analysis (it probably was non-existent then).......I had to rely on what my eyes told me or possibly what I felt when I pitched. Well the eyes don't always see everything you need to see in a pitchers mechanics and as we've seen hundreds of times in video......what we think we do and what we actually do may be two different things. For example when we look at video on this site it is often slowed down to 30 FPS/frame by frame and we still miss lots of mechanical issues. High speed video of the elite pitchers in the world would have been fantastic back then 'cause I may not have made so many mistakes or gone down the wrong path so often.....or I would have seen that videos that were being sold by "pitching gurus" were not indicative of what the best in the world actually did.

You all know the old saying, "I probably have forgotten more than you know" is very similar to "I have tried all the gimmicks out there and thrown most away" might fit me a bit. In the past I have experimented with every trick/drill/tool/gimmick that looked reasonably applicable to pitching.....have probably scraped most of them. Now I am very skeptical and selective as to what I use in my instruction.

I wonder how many DFPers can relate to the #1 on this list? I know I sure can!! Thank you Mr. Pauly for so willingly offering your great insight.

 

[Doug Romrell]

I know that #1 really does hit me hard! It reminds me of how impatient I was tutoring my two daughters in math. It didn't add anything. In fact it took away a great deal from the effectiveness of my tutoring. It's the same in coaching/helping our DDs and other players. It's a tough lesson to learn. But you know, the eloquence Rick uses here and in his education clips makes it hard to believe that he was ever impatient.

 

[Rocketech1]

While we are at it, #2 is absolutely correct. I see so many fast pitchers who rarely or ever practice or use a change-up or similar offspeed pitch. The batters get used to the speed and start hitting her hard. One fall, DD took a break and didn't play softball for a season, just focused on getting her flip change in order and working on it so it was consistent for games. No pitcher should be without a good changeup/offspeed pitch, no matter what the age.

 

[Doug Romrell]

While we are at it, #2 is absolutely correct. I see so many fast pitchers who rarely or ever practice or use a change-up or similar offspeed pitch. The batters get used to the speed and start hitting her hard. One fall, DD took a break and didn't play softball for a season, just focused on getting her flip change in order and working on it so it was consistent for games. No pitcher should be without a good changeup/offspeed pitch, no matter what the age.

Yes, given DD is back to pitching, at pitching practice today, I had her throw a near equal number of change-ups, fastball-drops, and riseballs. It was easy, as I have the black electrician tape one way for the fastball-drop balls, another way for the riseball balls, and nothing on the change-up balls. If she threw the pitch poorly, I simply threw the same ball back for her to throw it once more. It seem. Also, to help keep my mouth shut, I had my earphones in with music from the 70s and 80s playing. I occasionally got up and walked up to her to give 1-2 suggestions, then went back to catching with my earphones in. It was probably our best pitching practice ever. Of course, it helps that her new boyfriend is a star catcher on a local HS baseball team. She seems to want to excel at sports in a competitive way with her boyfriend. Competition is good!