My rec league hosts Fall pitching clinics, and our division (3rd grade) will begin kid pitch ½ way through the Spring’18 season. Based on what I saw last winter, the instructors (former D1 pitchers) were doing the wrist-snaps and follow-through emphasis that indicated HE mechanics. (I posted a separate thread looking for advice on how to best determine their teaching style).
Below is a rough summary of the usual pros/cons I’ve seen used, and tried to describe my current situation as best I could, with the disclaimer that I may have left out/forgotten/glossed over things to avoid spending all day drafting this post. So here’s my summary and pros/cons of the IR/HE dilemma:
Question 1: I’m not sure #'s 2 and 3 are valid selling points for the parents and players in #4. The “safety” issue reference in #1 would give me the strongest argument/justification to either just stick with a team-based DIY approach (#6), or suggest #7 as a (more expensive) alternative. But I can’t find evidence to support #1 (it’s safer). Have I been mis-interpreting what I thought was people’s concerns regarding the long-term effects of an HE delivery?
Question 2: Am I doing the girls a disservice by suggesting they try at least one round of the clinics to become familiar with the position and the level of practice success will likely require, and risk the "exposure" to HE, or is it possible to spend 15 minutes after a few practices, introduce drills like “lock-it-in”, maybe work with them over the winter (if time / space allows), and have them ready for kid-pitch by May of next year?
Question3: Might as well add one more - I've seen lots of posts about HE vs IR when it comes to their own daughters. Has anyone had success introducing IR at a rec-league, team level?
Sorry for the length of this post - thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!
Gags
Below is a rough summary of the usual pros/cons I’ve seen used, and tried to describe my current situation as best I could, with the disclaimer that I may have left out/forgotten/glossed over things to avoid spending all day drafting this post. So here’s my summary and pros/cons of the IR/HE dilemma:
- I understand IR is a more natural, efficient movement for pitching, but I’ve also seen it referenced to as being safer. But when I searched the threads trying to find examples, such as “HE mechanics can lead to “x” types of injuries”, or “HE increases the stress on [elbow / wrist / shoulder joint]”, I couldn’t find anything resembling concrete evidence (or even just a detailed explanation).
- IR is used by the vast majority of college pitchers, and likely all NPF and Olympic pitchers
- HE mechanics may be more accurate at first, but the ceiling for speed is around 50-55mph
- These are 3rd graders in a rec league. There will likely be girls who want to try pitching, and should be given the chance, but will not be looking to pursue TB or a starting spot on the varsity roster, due to a variety of factors (skills, drive/desire, other interests, etc.).
- Cloning only works for sheep. As HC I still need to develop catchers, rework throwing mechanics (thanks, Austin!), and further ingrain proper hitting mechanics. And do it in only 90 mins of practice each week. Add in pitching, and I'm beginning to think it’s a losing battle.
- I’m not a PC. I’m still trying to teach myself (and way behind on my progress and practice time), but my 6th grader picked up (what I think is) the correct motion fairly easily, and my 3rd grader understands the basics (pull the ball, brush, natural follow through), so I think I could do a decent enough job steering those interested down the right path with the BM and Java drills.
- There are Tincher-certified coaches in my area, but I would expect the cost for comparable amounts of instruction to be higher than the ~$125 fee for the ~6 week pitching clinics offered by my league. (Note: For now, the Tincher system is as close a match to the IR methods shown on DFP as I could find in the NoVa area. I’m way too new to this process to speculate if a side-by-side analysis of the Tincher method with those taught by the Pauly’s, BM, or Java would result in a 85%, 95%, or 99% match).
Question 1: I’m not sure #'s 2 and 3 are valid selling points for the parents and players in #4. The “safety” issue reference in #1 would give me the strongest argument/justification to either just stick with a team-based DIY approach (#6), or suggest #7 as a (more expensive) alternative. But I can’t find evidence to support #1 (it’s safer). Have I been mis-interpreting what I thought was people’s concerns regarding the long-term effects of an HE delivery?
Question 2: Am I doing the girls a disservice by suggesting they try at least one round of the clinics to become familiar with the position and the level of practice success will likely require, and risk the "exposure" to HE, or is it possible to spend 15 minutes after a few practices, introduce drills like “lock-it-in”, maybe work with them over the winter (if time / space allows), and have them ready for kid-pitch by May of next year?
Question3: Might as well add one more - I've seen lots of posts about HE vs IR when it comes to their own daughters. Has anyone had success introducing IR at a rec-league, team level?
Sorry for the length of this post - thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!
Gags