Email to explain IR to pitching coach

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Mar 20, 2012
131
16
Sacramento, CA
Has anyone put together an email to send to their coach explaining in a concise manner what IR is? Including links to the videos to support the motion.

I am in the process of vetting other coaches in the area to see if there is anyone understanding and teaching IR.

I agree with 80% of what our coach teaches, but the 20% i disagree with is now becoming a problem. I don't think our coach is going to spend the time to go through all the information in the stickies without first have a compelling argument as to why they should change what they teach.

Before I spend the rest of the day deciding what info and which videos to send I thought one of you might have already compiled this info and would be willing to share it.
 
Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
I've done it and it didn't work. I even had a player that pitched and I discussed it with her dad, sent him links and videos and explanations. No help. Said they were going to stay with what they were doing because their PC had a granddaughter that was an all star high school pitcher and he is the one that taught her.

Oh well, I tried.

So now I just work on my own kid. that's more than enough for me right now. :)
 
Mar 20, 2012
131
16
Sacramento, CA
I've done it and it didn't work. I even had a player that pitched and I discussed it with her dad, sent him links and videos and explanations. No help. Said they were going to stay with what they were doing because their PC had a granddaughter that was an all star high school pitcher and he is the one that taught her.

Oh well, I tried.

So now I just work on my own kid. that's more than enough for me right now. :)

Come on - I'm gung ho right now and on a mission. Don't rain on my parade.

I also want to use this info to just find a coach that agrees with it. I will also be going to watch lessons by some of the other coaches in the area.

I am not comfortable being her only pitching coach. She is advanced to the point that she is beyond me now.
 
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
This is usually the case, but not 100% of the time. Most coaches already know everything and don't need your opinion or your videos that may support your rediculous ideas....
My dd quit pitching because of this mentality by her HS coaches. She was forced to do push ups for not pitching with HE mechanics, this is after we'd spent nearly 2 years breaking those habbits.
Don't waste your time with this loosing battle. Instead, teach your dd to smile and nod to the unknowing coach and thank him for teaching her this or that....continue with the propper I/R and brushing mechanics.... odds are he'll be none the wiser, and will say something to your dd like "see how much better you are with these mechanics?!!" Both of you need to stay quiet and play along. If you speak up you'll be labeled as a bothersome, know it all, helicopter parent and dd will be the one who suffers for it.
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
It's a great idea in concept. Honestly though, the point Quincy and Doug are making is that you are taking your kid to them, for pitching lessons, because you don't know how to instruct pitching. Think about how weird that is for them if you tell them they are doing it wrong, or if you suggest how you would like them taught. They likely truly believe they are teaching it the "Right" way. That's going to be a hard sell, and beating your head against that wall will likely be less painful to endure.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
Has anyone put together an email to send to their coach explaining in a concise manner what IR is? Including links to the videos to support the motion.

I am in the process of vetting other coaches in the area to see if there is anyone understanding and teaching IR.

I agree with 80% of what our coach teaches, but the 20% i disagree with is now becoming a problem. I don't think our coach is going to spend the time to go through all the information in the stickies without first have a compelling argument as to why they should change what they teach.

Before I spend the rest of the day deciding what info and which videos to send I thought one of you might have already compiled this info and would be willing to share it.

If in fact they would not take the time to at least peruse this site and dismiss it out of hand is extremely problematic. It is time to move on to a pitching coach that knows they do not have all the answers and is still working to get better at their craft. If you have to persuade a PC to learn in order to best teach your DD then you are wasting your money.
 
Last edited:
Feb 3, 2010
5,752
113
Pac NW
Hello Coach,
We are seeking out a pitching coach for our daughter. In researching what to look for, it was suggested we find someone who studies the mechanics of the world’s best pitchers and can directly relate what they teach to slow motion video of these pitchers. As we’ve started to educate ourselves, we’ve found many discrepancies in what some coaches teach versus what we have observed ourselves when looking at slow motion video of elite pitchers. To better educate ourselves, we looked at the videos below of the world’s three best pitchers and found they all demonstrated similar characteristics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsbV1G37LiQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmiG4ji3onQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQz7CKn0SS4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6z39S19x8o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ObSX1hV5bs

What we observed:
-The ball and lower arm were being pulled down the back side of the circle in what seemed to be a lagged position.
-The upper arm paused at the side and the lower arm accelerated through release
-The ball/hand/forearm seem to rotate through release and transition from a palm up orientation, to almost palm down.
-We did not observe the forced wrist snap we so often hear about
-The follow through seemed unforced, loose and natural
-One of the most interesting things we noticed is that almost every high level pitcher rolls, or wraps their forearm around the hip/thigh during release

As we explored other videos of high level pitchers, we found that almost all of them demonstrated similar mechanics. Our hope is for our daughter to learn to pitch like these top pitchers; giving her the best chance at maximizing her potential.

We are also looking for someone who will hold our daughter accountable for homework, is a good motivator, a positive role model and who uses video as part of the instruction. Our hope is that you would be willing to allow us, or one of her coaches to be present so we can learn what our dearest daughter is learning to better support her outside of lessons.

Thank you,
Mr. and Mrs. Down and Out
 
Last edited:

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