Pitching lessons included in travel costs...?

I am starting a new team and was thinking about pitchers. Ultimately, they are going to need to continue pitching lessons to stay competitive. In my area there is really only 1 or 2 girls go to...or that even exist for that matter. Have teams kept a instructor on retainer, etc and paid for it out of team funds? OR is it always/typically up to the pitcher to pay separately? Would seem odd to charge more for a pitcher than other positions.....just looking into different options.

Will you be mandating that all pitchers on your team (now and in the future) only use the team's pitching instructor? How will you handle things if a good pitcher wants to play with you, but doesn't want to stop using her pitching instructor?

In our experience, players using independent specialty instructors (hitting, pitching, etc.) do so on their own time and on their own dime. For most players, remaining competitive against high-level competition requires extra work outside of team practices. The players not doing extra work will usually find themselves slipping out of the top 9 on the team.

simplyYours said:

I am starting a new team and was thinking about pitchers. Ultimately, they are going to need to continue pitching lessons to stay competitive. In my area there is really only 1 or 2 girls go to...or that even exist for that matter. Have teams kept a instructor on retainer, etc and paid for it out of team funds? OR is it always/typically up to the pitcher to pay separately? Would seem odd to charge more for a pitcher than other positions.....just looking into different options.

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It's your team, so you can do what you want. But as a parent, I would not want my fees going towards private lessons for another player. I will pay for my kid's private lessons, and I would expect other parents to do same. Do you really want to invest possibly thousands of dollars of team money into developing a pitcher that can leave for a better team with no warning?

Bad idea. IMHO

P Is so important.

DD and I will coach younger pitchers for free if asked., need to be asked.

Dislike other coachesi mucking with DD.

I think it is on us to pay for it.

I would certainly have an issue paying for some other players pitching lesson. I don't think that is what you meant though. Most pitchers playing top level travel ball already have their own pitching instructor. I don't want my dd getting pitching lessons from someone else.

The TB programs we were with provided pitching instruction and everyone’s fees were the same. A non-pitcher could get just as much “free” coaching time, but the catchers were usually the only ones who took advantage of it. On younger teams it was expected to use their coaches. As girls get older many have individual coaches, but are still expected to be open to what the program coaches are telling them. Doesn’t mean they have to do it their way, but if they’re struggling and refuse advice because “they have their own coach and he doesn’t do it that way”, don’t be surprised if they sit a lot.

I think whether people know it or not you’re helping pay for pitching instruction. If orgs don’t offer some type of instruction the good pitchers are likely paying reduced or even no costs at all. I’ve seen this often in TB and occasionally even in rec.

I personally wouldn't like a fixed instructor and paying up front. Hitting and pitching instructors can be as different as their clients. Some mesh better with others. My son would walk through fire for his catching instructor. But for hitting, he found that one of his former academy coaches helped him more in that area. But when you find a combination that works, you stick with it. Having a team dictate which instructor you use could limit kids.

Additionally, as a coach, there are things I want to see my players doing on their own; especially pitchers and catchers. If they have to be pushed to go the extra mile, it ultimately isn't going to work. But for kids willing to do the work on their own, competition will weed the rest out.