Telling daughter that her coach is wrong

[CoachKevin]

I have a 16 yr. old student that is a soph. She is learning to pitch and has thrown some innings. Her wind up (pre-motion) was all convoluted and all over the place. With her hands together, she would take the ball up high and over the back of her head. Then, come down, separate the hands and swing the ball way up behind her. Then, she would push the ball, at release - with the biggest shoulder shrug I have ever seen.

So, I eliminated all of the pre-motion and worked on what she really needed, learning to pull the ball instead of push it.

She came in this weekend and said that she had been "stiff, with some minor soreness." "Amy, the pitching coach at the HS, makes me have the really big pre-motion up over my head." So, I said "Who is she?" She is the coach's daughter. She told my student that she is going to strain something, w/o a pre motion.
We discussed the problem and they said that the head coach is all about preventing injuries, so they might have a chance with him, but not the daughter.

I had her bring the arms straight up and out from the chest, but not over her head. And then, add the back swing. But, I do explain to her what is correct and how to teach younger girls.

First I am NOT a pitching instructor in fact I couldn't tell what is being done correct/incorrect anytime. I do have to ask this Amy, to me it looks like 80% or more Major D1 pitchers do have a "big pre-motion" and bring the ball over their heads. So are they all incorrect in your opinion? Not trying to start anything I am interested because a well known PC in my area teaches the same thing, little to no pre-motion yet thats not what I see at the College level.

 

[Cannonball]

As I have always said "I'm not paying $40 for hitting and fielding lessons for a high school coach to change the way she hits" most problems we have had revolves around hitting/bunting. Now if a college coach that my DD wanted to go to, or after she gets in college wants to change the way she plays go for it, shes already made it by then and the coach is paying for it from then on.....

Wichita, why do you think that the person you are paying knows more than "a high school coach?"

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I used to let the girls do whatever pre-motion that they wanted, but after my DD was injured, I started studying it. My DD did the stretch up high, with both shoulders, and hyper extend at that point. So, she was engaging her shoulders twice, instead of once per pitch. She developed a shoulder problem and the surgeon said "no more pitching."

So, I started to study and find out what good all of this pre-motion does and I found out that it is just for show. It causes wear and tear on the shoulders and doesn't do anything to increase the speed of the pitch. So, I have eliminated teaching it at all. Not even a back swing. The back swing, that some girls are using is causing them to dip forward and stretch their back, every pitch. Or it goes way back and off plane.

I teach my girls, now, hold the ball and glove at your side and pitch. It simplifies things. Please realize that my girls are mainly 8-12 YO or older beginner pitchers.

Most girls just imitate what somebody else is doing and they don't know why they are doing it.

 

[CE98Coach]

In my opinion, at least in our area, you can't compare Boys HS baseball, basketball coaching to HS/MS softball. It's obvious which teams have good coaches and which ones that don't. Our HS has a constant stream of top flight travel ball players flow through it yet they can never sniff the state playoffs. Yet when a a school down the road, who's AD happens to be a former Jr. USA Olympic women's softball coach, hires a former D1 player and a current tb coach to take over the HS team, she takes a group of under classmen and 8th graders to the state playoffs her first year...and this is 6A ball in Alabama. Go figure

We are still in midd school and my daughter knows that her coach is a moron when it comes to coaching softball and her immature interaction with the team. We appreciate her enthusiasm and her time but she's just clueless when it comes to basic softball coaching principles. Are there worse? Sure...and they're are better. We've taught our daughter to respect her because she's an adult first and she's the coach but there has been and will continue to be things she teaches that my dd knows is not fundamentally right and that she had a choice of what she wanted to do. She only has one year with this coach so not worried about any long term repercussions from coach.

 

[Rooster98]

I know some "high school coaches" who give private lessons. Should they refund their fees?

It's funny sometimes that a parent who doesn't know how to teach hitting believes they are able to qualify or disqualify a hitting instructor.

There are good high school instructors, as well as bad. There are good private instructors, as well as bad. There are good college instructors, as well as bad. There are good students, as well as bad. There are good parents, as well as bad.

I do have a problem with a high school coach who also gives private lessons for payment "highly recommending" the players on the team come to them for hitting even if they have another hitting coach. Or putting on clinics and "highly recommending" they attend. But that is just me. It happens.