Opinions on Issue with PC, Please!

[superg]

My daughter (13yo) has a pitching coach that she (and I) like. Her teachings seem very consistent with IR. (We started working on IR a few months ago after I found this thread, and we started lessons with this PC about that same time). However, the PC believes that my DD's glove-arm swimming is a major problem, and doesn't want to move on to other skills until it is "fixed." Needless to say, it is not as easy a fix as PC thinks it should be, and now my DD is finding herself focusing entirely on keeping her glove arm "under wraps" while pitching. (It seems to be a habit so engrained that the only way she can not do it at this point is to really focus on not doing it.) When she focuses on glove hand, her speed/accuracy drop (I think understandably?), but also her confidence. She is not a particularly confident girl, and this glove arm thing is not helping. In getting in reps yesterday, I found her working exclusively on her glove arm because she has a lesson today and is concerned about showing her PC that she has made progress on the swim.

Any way this can be presented to the PC without tension or coming across as someone who thinks they know more than her (which of course I don't, but I do have informed opinions)? I really feel like the time is better spent on her release, leg drive, drag foot, and other things that need work. From a layman's perspective, I do not see that the swimming is causing any leaning or balance issues (at least to my untrained eye). But the PC has already made is clear that she believes it is a very important fix and has a no nonsense approach (told my daughter that if she doesn't fix it in a month, she isn't serious enough), which I appreciate, but perhaps not on this particular issue?

Any ideas on how to approach this with the PC? Really like her and want this to work out, but want DD to stop focusing so much on glove arm. Or maybe just go with it until it's fixed?

Thanks everyone!

 

[JJsqueeze]

I would ask what performance issue or improvement is being sought by the work on the glove arm swim. There are valid reasons for working on it but there is also a lot of "glove swim"="bad" and that is not necessarily the case. I would also question it from the angle of "hey, she doesn't seem to be improving this so maybe there is another area of lower hanging fruit to address". Spinning your wheels on one topic for too long doesn't help anyone, maybe there is something else that can be worked on and then come back to that issue if it really is an issue.

With private instruction you are not going to buy in 100% to everything, you have to make a decision on the overall value of the time and money spent and whether or not it is productive and has value.

I took lil DD to a catching lesson the other day. We love the instructor and about 70% of the workout was valuable. The other 30% were rapid fire catching drills that by definition cause a breakdown in mechanics. I am not a fan of this at all but I kept mum because I think the other parts are valuable. I just told the kid to make sure she focuses on form as best she can during those rapid fire drills and that most likely she will never have a pitcher throwing her 1 ball a second that needs to be blocked The other skill work was good, the endurance work was good and this kid is such a great role model that just having DD hang out with her every once in a while is valuable.

 

[FastPitchCat]

my DD had pretty bad glove swim when she pitched 12u and 14u. although it was a concern, none of her then PC's did anything to fix and did not even deem it an issue.
then i found this site and had DD start doing the correct IR mechanics and somehow, the glove swim went away.
i think if you posted a video, the guru's on this site will be able to help you better.

 

[Ken Krause]

One thing you might try is asking the PC why fixing the glove swimming issue is so important, and why nothing else can happen until it's fixed. Not in an accusatory way but in a way that shows her you're trying to understand her reasoning. Then see if she has a valid reason for it - you might end up agreeing with her.

Once you know the reason, shoot some video and see if the theoretical cause/effect matches what's actually happening. For example, whether it's causing her to close her shoulders too early so she can't get good whip. Maybe that ends up being a different conversation.

In any case, do it from a standpoint of seeking to understand rather than figure out who is right and you should be ok.

 

[djcarter1966]

It would be nice to see a clip and see how bad it is, it can cause issues but it depends how bad it is.

The easy thing I did when teaching my self to reduce it was just practice along side a wall. You don't have to be right up against it just a natural arms length, it should allow a little swim out but if its more than that it means you are probably pulling too much and not centered.

 

[Crystal Brown]

If the arm swim is due to mechanical flaws, such as over rotation of the shoulder, then the focus should be directing this vs focusing on the glove swim. But, it will be easier if you posted a video so that some of the gurus here can see what is causing the arm swim and if it is even a problem.
Sometimes, by fixing a flaw in her mechanics will correct something else...such as the glove swim.