- Jul 17, 2012
- 1,086
- 38
I have several issues with this approach. Too many to list.
How about a top 5?
I have several issues with this approach. Too many to list.
Wow... I hope they teach that in lesson 2 because that was greek to a 40 YO dad, nevermind a just turned 10 year old!!!! LoL
How about a top 5?
First off, I am not, nor do I EVER claim to be an expert. I'll make more ecommendations on this board about the less technical points that come up until I get my Crazy Dad certification. My wife has already nominated me several times over her short 2 year softball career (Former coach pitch hall of famer!!) I think I mentioned that I tested her in the front yard by myself for about , well close to 2 months now. I bought the Hillhouse DVD, borrowed a couple books from a friend whose daughter is advanced beyond the basics, and well, spent countless hours browsing through posts on this forum. I didn't committ to laying out the small fortune it's going to cost to send her to a pitching coach until I was convinced she really wants to do it and is willing to spend the time working and practicing. She did, so I bought in to the lessons. Keep in mind, that video is the best one out of 10. The others were not quite as balanced and smooth. I really took the video so I can have a video of the official start point of the lessons so I can measure her progress. I decided to post it to see how far along she is. When I tell you she's going to wear out the carpet in her bedroom doing that move in front of her mirror by the end of the month, I kid you not. I can't believe her arm is not KILLING her from throwing from 3:00 and 12:00 in the basement against the carpet I hung. It's to the point where I have to tell her to STOP and give her arm a rest. This has been going on for 3 days now since the lesson. After the lesson the coach told me that she did really well in listening and understanding what she was telling her.Just a couple of suggestions about this board. Get your self a avatar, post something else in another thread, that shows that you do have expertise in, or connection to Fastpitch that can be helpful to us Dads with 10 yr. olds. I was very happy to see your capabilities in the posting of a video!!! This is key to getting help on her. But I find it hard to believe she has had only one "basics" lesson. I makes me want to change my whole plan and get a assistant PC. LOL !!
I'm glad to see you don't know greek. As far as I know they have never had a Fastpitch team in the Olympics, men or women, and were not @ the 2012 Championships last week. I do know that:
2012 World Championships
And a young fellow like yourself can understand that... right? .... I'm going to post this now, and finish in the edit....want you on the top by 9...Its my copy and paste break point.
> Not only are we teaching DD's to pitch or catch, with expectation of a higher yielding scholarship and expecting 6 other's to watch & cheer as their shot diminishes because they have no experience in the skills. I now Hopefully, they can hit home runs, and get a half ride. I just say this to bring to your attention that there are other reason for teaching her to focus, and devote her spare time at hurling projectiles at others. Self Defense. The pitching motion is a very effective way of delivering a incapacitating punch to the solar plexus. If she quits pitching, and finds her self in a inner city state community college......( I hope you can finish this for me.) Anyways, not just the motion, but the throwing something can be very effective. I believe, that underhand training came first from grenade throwing study's. Don't quote me...this video is for out fielders, but when you have ran them into a tunnel, some one must be very precise and focused and trained on making the perfect throw at less than 50'
You never stop the follow through for any reason. Its like a swing, you don't stop at contact do you and say oh gosh I found the contact point? In golf especially they tell you the ball is in the way of the club and it must keep going.
It is a myth that you can feel the release point on a fastball (Faster than a blink), and even if you could (let's say Michele Smith can after thousands of pitches) doing any partial swings (for control especially) will not mimic the real release point that occurs with the legs driving and the full arm swing and follow through. And young kids learn to slow the arm down with this approach. I prefer you learn a peel drop to feel your fingers and balance but that is a later lesson.
In fact, there is a release zone as our friends from NY call it.
Separating the legs from the arms is good for short drills and is a construct to extend lessons. I am glad your daughter went ahead and pitched anyway. You put them right back together again.
Well that's four, sort of.
OK went back. Five sort of. Let the follow through extend to where it wants to go, not some predetermined point (I can understand using a reference so this again could be the kid trying to explain it). It naturally goes across the body if you are open when pitching. As some say, you don't really teach the follow through you teach for it to be there.
OK, last what is this pinky hitting the thigh. I don't like hitting your hip or thigh for any reason. The pinky is the least used finger in pitching. It is for balance on the ball and if your hands are small to help you hold it. That is it's only job.
Just a clarification. She only recommended stoping after release when she was doing the softer 3:00 throws. I think she may have done that because the first 10-15 she was releasing way to late and throwing the ball high left. I think she wanted her to try to stop at her hip so she wouldn't release it late. Just what it sounded like to me. I don't think I was perfectly clear on that.
I assume you call out the release "zone" as opposed to a release point?
She wasn't instructed to actually hit her thigh with her pinky, but rather to use the proximity of her pinky to her thigh as her trigger to release.
On the seperation of the Legs and the throw, I think that's a VERY brief instruct as it came from a question DD asked "What should I practice this week?". DD was incredibly clumsy when she was doing it there. What the instructor showed her differs a little bit from what we had worked on in the front yard. She had her leaping up and out. I was only having her do a very controlled hard stride, not so much an up and out burst. Like I said, DD has been practicing it in her room in front of a mirror for 3 days now, so that may be why she looks like she can put it together. At the time of the lesson, she was clumsy and off balance.
Can you explain the timing aspect or point me to a post that might discuss timing for a beginner? When to release it seems far more difficult to teach a beginer than where. Does that make sense? I'm just thinking from my own perspective.The softer 3:00 throws are a waste of time. Try it yourself and you will throw them high, too. Very hard to control (and I am always unclear where 3:00 is, to me that is behind me in the circle, so yes waste of time). Of course drills without throwing are fine, but you stated you were not allowed to put legs with the arm....not me. I also hate mirrors for this. A golf swing maybe, but not pitching.
If you continue with this train of thought it brings years of misery. I know from being a pitcher. Do not try and release perfectly at the hip. It is a timing thing not a positional thing, so you need to do the pitching in the fullest form possible.
If you MUST not include legs, then do three circles and let go. That helps the kid harness the momentum. However, you do NOT give 2 S---- where the ball goes when doing this drills when first learning them.