OMG.....Miller will have some great stories about working on brush. Great kid/great pitcher.
How Critical is Brush
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OMG.....Miller will have some great stories about working on brush. Great kid/great pitcher.
RB....I am probably about to reiterate what a lot of people already know, but hope this may help some newbies.
I certainly haven't found a one size fits all formula but the one process I find gets the best results is what is termed as "deliberative practice". Practice at a very slow/low tempo that ensures the desired movement can be repeated. The absolute last place to learn/correct something is from the mound. Learning/correcting needs to start up close at a very deliberate speed.....begin with the "backward chaining" of the pitching motion.....slowly increase distance/effort.....move your way up the pitching mechanics chain.....as soon as things fall apart move back up closer, lower the energy level, and revert back to the previous acceptable sequence in the chain.
Side note: I do have an obscure method I began using in conjunction with the above suggestion.....I use a dog clicker for a reward system.....google TagTeach and read all about Operant Conditioning............sounds crazy but it really works. This is one I am guessing I may have pioneered for pitching. (not sure anyone else is up to trying these kinds of "crazy" ideas). Ken......ask Anna Miller about the dog clicker....it may have been the key to her unbelievable performance improvement. I have written a "Fastpitch Pitching Clicker Protocall".......as a matter of fact I just used the clicker on a student today.....really works!!!!
Here is an article about the deliberative practice process that is very relevant to pitching:
Learn Faster by Playing Slower: Muscle Memory Techniques that Work
5 Comments Published by David Motto January 25th, 2010 in Muscle Memory, Music Practice Tips
When I speak to groups of music students about music practice tips, how to learn music, and achieving goals, muscle memory is always one of the main parts of the discussion. When your muscles can correctly and automatically play all the notes in your music, your performances are easier and more fun.
But, one aspect of muscle memory always seems to make music students uncomfortable. It’s the idea of playing very slowly so the muscles don’t learn mistakes. Many students think it’s unrealistic to practice this way because they simply don’t have enough time to practice everything slowly. They feel they’ll never get through all the material they need to play.
I try to reassure them with two ideas: First, very slow practicing is most important for the really difficult sections of their music. You don’t have to play everything slowly, and for most practice sessions you should skip the easy stuff anyway (which will save you time). Second, even though you may feel you are spending too much time when you practice slowly, this is actually the fastest way for your brain and muscles to learn.
Let’s look at a typical practice session for many musicians:
You’re working on a four bar section that is really tough. You play through this section a little under performance tempo and make two or three little errors. So, you go back through the section, maybe a bit slower. Some errors still happen, not necessarily anything consistent. You stop and restart a lot. You feel a little more in control each time. On the sixth try, you get it! You figure that’s enough for today and you will come back to it again tomorrow.
From the point of view of your brain and your muscle memory, what exactly did this practicing accomplish?
1. Your brain learned that there is no single, correct way to play this passage and may have put all the errors into your memory.
2. The signals sent to your muscles were inconsistent so they didn’t learn one correct sequence of actions.
What if you tried the “Slower is Faster” approach?
In this case, you would play the same four bars very, very slowly–so slowly that you play absolutely perfectly the first time. The second time you play correctly again. Then, you go just a bit faster (but still well under performance tempo) and play it accurately a couple more times.
Again, from the point of view of your brain and your muscles, here’s what happened:
1. Your brain received memory impressions that were consistent and repeated. Basically, a single chunk of information for playing this music was successfully put into your memory.
2. The neural messages from your brain to your muscles have been consistent, and your muscles have learned the correct pattern of motions to play this section correctly.
No matter which practice method you use, you’ll still have to come back to this material tomorrow. That hasn’t changed. But, the Slower is Faster method makes you better prepared for tomorrow’s practicing. You’ll be able to start this section already knowing how to play it and will be able to get the section to performance tempo sooner.
Unfortunately, most music students have no idea how their memories actually function. And, neither do their music teachers. So, practicing to maximize the efficient use of your memory isn’t emphasized in most music lessons.
The key to the Slower if Faster method of practicing is placing a correct, single chunk of information into your memory for each small section of your music.
According to neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin, the human brain creates the strongest memories with repetition. In his book This Is Your Brain on Music he writes, “The strength of a memory is related to how many times the original stimulus has been experienced.”
This means the “stimulus” you send to your brain (the correct playing of a section of music) must be experienced over and over. The signal must be consistent and repeated.
If you want your musical memory to be strong–which you know you’ll need to have a stress-free performance–your brain and muscles need repetition.
You can’t send different information to your brain each time you play and expect to learn your music accurately. If your practicing is full of errors, your brain will have no way of knowing which version should be kept in memory!
Playing correctly from the beginning, which is the essence of the Slower is Faster practice method, builds muscle memory and really is the fastest way to learn your music.
I hear she had some pretty good instruction!
I've been very intrigued by this method and was thinking about it today with some kids. I may be pulling the trigger on this one.
If time allows, I'll ask Anna about brush and the clicker. I'm hoping to just set up the clinics and sit quietly on a bucket, but if she has time before, in between or after--I hope to spend some time chatting.
javasource
6-4-3 = 2
Hey now... I've been clicking away up here in NY for years! Still hoping we can put something together on this! You ran off to Georgia when we started talking about it!
Regarding slower is faster... I've struggled with this concept over the years, Rick. Please realize that you're one of my mentors... so I'm in no way criticizing you... but rather... trying to open up dialogue for all of us to continue to learn and improve at our craft of teaching it.
As a musician, I get it. I use it, and I use it successfully. There are loads of tempo trainers out there where you can loop a section/track over and over... starting slow and building speed as you go.
As an athlete, I don't always see this in action. Not simply being contrary here... because I can see the application in SOME areas of softball. I definitely agree that when you're training many kids to throw the ball underhand... slowly working through the progressions (for those that require this) is the best way I've witnessed.
This said, I recently (little over a year ago) decided to start working with those under the age of 10-11... and added a couple 8 year-old beginners. Both of them are incredibly high-strung, zero attention span, etc... but they both just throw the ball underhand absurdly fast/hard with zero concern about the results. Balls flying everywhere and they're juicing it at 100+%. Think, ADHD on speed.
For these kids, I couldn't bare to see them slow it down... it was the most exciting aspect in working with them. So... out comes the clicker. I perform ONE fundamental absurdly slow - to show them - and then grab their arm and show them the same move in slowmo. I tell them they get a click if they pull off the one move, no click if they don't. I put a bucket a foot from their side and sit there like Johnny Bench waiting to 'catch' that move. Granted, I've been staring at the forearms/hands of pitchers for years... so I'm pretty decent at seeing this stuff... Most importantly, they understand what I'm looking for. They do it at 100% speed, getting clicks for success and nothing when they miss. I find that it's not that I need slow it down for them, it's that I need to slow down my explanation... and qualify that they understand what I want them to do... and then let them try/train that move at 100% speed. Both of them have developed wonderfully in the last year...
Here's another thing I've come to notice over the years...
I don't believe (more than willing to be proven wrong) that you can train ballistic movements this way. When you go through things like the stretch cycle, the forearm positions required in each pitch, overlapping movements, etc... these are all things you cannot train (IMO) slowly. It's like that East Coast hitting craze years ago where it became really popular, really quick, to teach swing down mechanics (A to C, hypotenuse...). There is no argument that this move happens... but if you isolate it, training it statically... you end up with a whole bunch of disconnected wood-choppers that can't center the ball... IOW, it's horribly unsuccessful when you stand there slowly taking the hands down to the ball from A to C... because you cannot perform this move in slow-motion correctly. Alternatively, you get those that have learned to 'swing up' or level... and that fails miserably, too.
Another example...
Take the rise... I'm not a fan (again, just my humble opinion) of teaching a kid to throw a rise statically, through slow drills. Drills like flipping it to yourself with backspin are good as a demonstration of a forearm cue... but not really what makes a pitcher learn to spin that ball in a full pitch. So, IMO, spending countless hours spinning the ball backwards is counterproductive to learning the pitch... and one of the reasons I believe that so many stumble on this pitch (see next blip on speed of pitching). Now... I do realize that you have utilized this method, spinning to yourself and/or spinning so the ball bounces backwards. IMO, this is teaching an articulation that doesn't occur, but in the rarest forms (like Nelson's screw ball). You ever notice how a kid can spin a really nice axis while standing still... and then that axis becomes corkscrew when throwing a full-speed pitch? Part of your curvilinear thoughts... and a product of full-speed repetition/training.
Speed blip... and the rise...
One of the things that obviously taxes those that learn the rise is... at what speed can you throw it at? Typically... it's one of the later pitches learned for many. What I've come to realize over the years is that we spend so much time learning to do stuff slowly, we prevent our body from successfully performing it faster. I've heard years of ridiculous stuff... like speed is for tall people (what about Tincher?), or only the special can throw 60+, etc. What if... the kids can't hit these speeds because of:
- The association their physiology has made with performing the task?
- The 'control' stigma. Meaning, I can't lose control athletically... I need to maintain control... as that's how I learned to 'put in there'?
- They've never asked their body to pitch at greater than 80% of total effort (this is like 95% of pitchers out there)?
This is when teaching the rise became, by comparison... simple for me: Throw through it, not to it.Here's an interesting illustrated example of what I believe to be one of the most telling visual differences between a drop and a rise. Take a look at this picture below... they were consecutive pitches, one was a drop one is a rise. From this angle, which is which and how do you know from this simple still?
From this angle... they really look identical right? If you're under that impression, take a look at the throwing elbow on each pitch. Notice a difference? Note that the elbow is tucked in to the rear ribs on one... and to the side on the other. Both undoubtedly are in contact with the side... i.e. brush. She's not that much more open than the other, etc... but you can definitely see a lot of jersey on both sides of the arm on one... and very little on the other, right?
Ever notice how a 'roll-type' drop pitcher's arm stays tight to their body... in their effort to get up/down the ball? Ever notice how a rise ball pitcher's hand/forearm blasts quickly through release? This is why telling a kid to stand still and work their hand over the ball and down it in-place, in drill... absolutely kills me. You cannot replicate that movement when your arm is travelling at a speed of 1800+ feet per second. There is no static drill to teach it... you learned the motion when you learned I/R. So why beat that horse to death... instead... perhaps we could turn our attention to maximizing the contraction, and LIMITING some forward movement of the arm/hand, via proximity into our body... so that we can MAXIMIZE the upward movement of the fingers during the contraction. On the opposite side of the spectrum... what if when learning the rise... we turned our focus to teaching the forearm articulation required to move down the back of the ball... and once we get there... works our fingers through this position with less focus on proximity (meaning, you still brush, but it's the level you'd achieve while performing the "frenchman's kiss" move) and more focus on getting through the pitch... or as John said, 'up the barrel'.
Just throwing this stuff out here for good conversation... but one of the larger points that may have been lost in my endless diatribe is: does teaching kids to perform a power/speed activity slowly, create a ceiling, and prevent them from reaching their potential? Again, it's not just the, "learn the fundamentals slowly" ... or "learn control slowly" issues... it's also the psycho/physio damage we implant by teaching 'slow'... and can it be overcome by the masses (not the exceptions... which is what this sport has been about until recently)? Would it be wiser to prevent ceilings... teaching kids to learn to pitch with 100% effort from day one... and allow time/repetition and coordination/strength to deliver the 'control'?
I'm not saying anything is 'wrong' per se... so read this as just two cats sitting down and chatting over a cup of java....
Best,
Mike
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
What if... it's people like us... that create a ceiling... because we spend so much time glued to the floor, doing things slowly? I ask you (as well as everyone one here this) because of a revelation YOU provided me in an exchange of dialogue over a year ago. You sent me a clip stressing the importance of working the hand through release... when learning the rise. It occurred to me that I already spent a large amount of time teaching kids articulations... so asking them to just sit there and spin a ball backwards to yourself was redundant... they already knew what it meant to throw with a pronating forearm, or neutral, or supinated. What if I just told them to STAY SUPINATED.... by working the fingers DOWN THE BALL... and most importantly... through it. As a comparison... I think back to my days of martial arts... I was told that if I was to punch a person in the face... to think about sending my fist through their face... not simply to their face. Sorry for the gory example...
Lots of gems in your post. This above is a 'keeper' as a solid reminder.
When Rick Pauly talks about the fingers and wrists being largely responsible for direction/location ... this is what I think of.
When Mike White speaks of getting through the ball ... this is what I think of.
Gold level post there Java!
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Over on a different DFP forum there was often talk of performing a slow motion drill … referred to as the 'matrix drill' … promptly named after the 1999 American science fiction film “The Matrix”. It always struck me that the demonstrations were evidence that what was being performed was incorrect. Completely lost in the demonstrations was the energy flow process. Not only was the energy flow process completely removed from the drill, but often the movements being performed were incorrect … since in ultra-slow motion, with the energy flow process removed, you can demonstrate virtually any muscled, high-resistive path imaginable. What the drill ended up reflecting was a perception of ‘positions’ without the correct ‘movement’ … and when it comes down to it, that notion is backwards, since IMO it is the ‘movement’ that should dictate the ‘positions’ that are 'passed through'.
Oddly enough, the real matrix is performed at full speed and then slowed down. Watch how the “Slow Mo Guys” demonstrate how the Matrix is performed at full speed and then slowed down.
What we saw in virtually all of the Matrix Demonstrations performed here at DFP was the opposite ... a slow motion representation that didn’t match reality of fast motion movements.
Oddly enough, the real matrix is performed at full speed and then slowed down. Watch how the “Slow Mo Guys” demonstrate how the Matrix is performed at full speed and then slowed down.
What we saw in virtually all of the Matrix Demonstrations performed here at DFP was the opposite ... a slow motion representation that didn’t match reality of fast motion movements.
Um........ This page 6 in the How Critical is Brush thread is among the richest (with regards to pitching) here on DFP!!! A substantial post from Rick and another from Java. Oh my goodness! A lot to think about!
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FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Rick, Anna sings the praises of her time with you. She feels very fortunate to have worked with you.
Anna's initial comment on the clicker was that, at first, it made her feel like a dog. She grew to really enjoy the simplicity. When working on a particular trait ... such as body position, or release angle, ... if she received a click she knew she had it right. If she didn't receive a click she would either get the correction herself or you would provide it.
From my perspective ... it sounds like there was timely active feedback that kept her brain engaged on the task at hand.
It also sounds like you were personally very engaged in the training.
I contrast this to other stories in which I hear of pitchers coming back from their mid-college experiences in which they don't perceive the pitching instruction to be highly helpful, or anywhere near as richly engaging.
Agreed and I'm also going to need some time to process the slow-to-fast vs start fast approaches. I get keeping things relaxed and natural, but going 100% then tweaking from there...? Gotta admit, sometimes I struggle with new ideas/change, then kick myself later for doubting! I wish I knew now what I didn't years ago...
