Rec League Clinic

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May 15, 2011
126
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I have been asked to do a pitching clinic for our local rec league (ages 6-14). Any suggestions anyone has for what to cover in the basics and some useful drills to use? Thanks.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
I have been asked to do a pitching clinic for our local rec league (ages 6-14). Any suggestions anyone has for what to cover in the basics and some useful drills to use? Thanks.

There is only so much you can do with one clinic - ideally you have one league wide clinic and then have weekly clinics fpr those interested. This is how our rec league built up our pitching depth.

At the clinic:
Get as many quality pitchers as you can to help out - from within the league, travel teams, high school, ex-players, etc, etc.
Every participant must bring a catcher/parent (and a bucket or something to sit on)

Drills:

- Start with throwing under handed after throwing over hand to warm up. This is THE foundation for a pitch. Many will struggle with this, but it is a great first step and most should have some success.
- 'w' drills. Or K or whatever letter you like to do your half throws from. Loose follow through. NO HELLO EBLOW - simple natural follow through. If they want direction either follow through to your opposite shoulder or follow through to a punch the catcher form. Either is fine for the clinic.
- Demo full pitch - get some quality pitchers of as many ages as possible to demonstrate and help.
- Steps - Starting position, round widnmill to 'w' position and freeze, then follow through. Footwork is hardest here to teach in a short time frame.
- Then do it all in one motion.
- Have your demo pitchers pitch to show what it is meant to look like.

And that will take at least 90 minutes...and is probably as good as you are going to get in that time frame.
 
Last edited:
Mar 31, 2016
18
0
It is hard to get what you really want in a few hrs clinic.. I do agree that every player should have a catcher.. what we have done is past is have a pitching and catcher clinic at same time .. each set of girls on different fields for first hr then paired up ... still hard to get what ya need in .. teaching parents that are willing to be involved is the key hard to do that homework (which is a must to progress) alone ....now that our rec league is coming to an end we are implementing a skills night once a week at the fields.. we have several coaches and some high school ballers that will be helping.. we are going to keep this going as long as we have girls that want to show up.. main goal is to not have to start from scratch for next rec league
 
May 16, 2016
946
93
IMHO... Pitching clinics are as much for Parent as the pitcher. Pitching requires a time commitment beyond scheduled practices... not just for the player, but also the parent. Also remind parents to BYOB (Bring your own bucket) ;)
 
Nov 8, 2014
182
0
PITCHING IS THE LIFEBLOOD of our sport. Without competent pitching at 10U, the kids will sign up for lacrosse the next spring and we will lose em for life. Thank you for teaching this clinic. I'm sorry I missed your original post from 5weeks ago.

My advice:

Each kid MUST bring a parent/older sibling to catch. Period. Teach both kid and parent. These pitching lessons are taught by going in reverse order of the actual pitch. I learned this method from my first clinic when DD1 started playing in 4th grade in 2004 and I haven't deviated from it since and have taught these types of clinics for years. That instructor is in the Softball HOF as a pitcher. His method works great.

First,- the standard C-grip.
Then wrist snap for 15 tosses using NO ELBOW at all. Make sure each pitcher/catcher is spaced at least 12 to 15 feet from the nearest group. Kids are wild at this age group and parent face safety is of the utmost importance
then the follow thru by finishing high demanding the 12 to 6 rotation. Middle finger is last to touch the bal. In this drill progression, the ball starts low at the waist and the elbow must be used. No shoulder
Then the K position for 10 to 15 pitches. Shoulder allowed, just no hips or stride.
Then the foot position on the rubber.
Then the wind up. IT IS IMPERATIVE that you describe the arm circle as a ferris wheel. If their arm circle is perfect, they will be on their way to success.
Finally, show them how to land and finish in an athletic fielding position.
As each step is performed, back the catchers up gradually until they are regulation distance. 35 feet to 43 feet.

At this point, 30 to 40 minutes have elapsed. You have 20 to 25 minutes left. Let them pitch like this for 10 more minutes Make sure the parents are reinforcing every aspect of the pitch. Also encourage the parent to throw the ball back to their kid with grounders, pop ups, short hops and normal throws.

In the last 5 minutes, bring everybody together and remind them of all the steps you just covered. Finish the session by getting behind the plate yourself and have each and every kid throw you one pitch WHILE THEIR EYES ARE CLOSED and everyone else is watching. Kids and parents LOVE it when I announce this. It gets real fun and it really energizes both kid and parent. When they can trust their muscle memory while 20 to 40 people are watching and can throw a strike or come close, they are well on their way to becoming a pitcher.
 
Jul 24, 2013
91
6
the key is to start them young, where the expectation is low... 7-10. each kids brings a catcher. show them the proper warm up. Emphasize no cutting corners. And show them AND their parents the motion you want to see. Drills, and an example 20 minute home work out for them to do as HW.
 

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