Handling a Hello Elbow coach

So I've run into my first issue with someone who wants to teach Hello Elbow, and I need to stop it before it really gets started.

A new teacher at our school played HS ball and was a pitcher. She wants to coach, so she's going to run the junior high team and work with our pitchers.

Today I had a pitcher I'm developing (naturally has the whip, no HE, arm circle looks really good for someone so new to pitching) come for some practice and I had the new coach come to observe, give pointers, etc. I also wanted to see what she taught. I'm no pitching expert, but I've been on these boards long enough to know what the right side of the IR/HE debate is.

She gave our new pitcher a few drills (most I would classify as not great, but probably not harmful). At one point she sort of told her to bring the elbow up as part of her follow through. I forget exactly how she described it (she didn't say "Hello Elbow"), but her demonstration was HE all the way. Our pitcher never really did it though because it's so unnatural for her, and thankfully the new coach didn't belabor that point.

The new coach did, however, notice a couple flaws that I hadn't picked up on, so it's not like she doesn't know anything.

So my dilemma: I want her to be part of our staff. In every other way, she's demonstrated enthusiasm and knowledge for the game that I like. And it's not like we have a long list of coaches to choose from at the school anyway. So what's the best way to tell her that I don't want her teaching HE to our pitchers? Yes, technically I'm the "boss" of the softball program and can just say to stop that, but I haven't known her for long, and the last thing I want to do is just tell her she's wrong. People don't always react well to that. As of now, the only real idea I have is to just link her to some of the threads here (and hope she doesn't find this post ).

Start gently. Increase insistence as needed.

If I was in your position, I would start by cautioning her to be careful of giving instructions that might be in conflict with what the players are being told by the pitching instructors that their parents are paying for. Sometimes kids interpret things in different ways, and might get confused by trying to follow two different sets of instructions. That kind of stuff is a recipe to ruin performance and consistency.

Good luck!

My suggestion would be to not show her the message boards, but to just sit her down and have an honest discussion on how to proceed. Acknowledge her experience and what she brings to the table, highlight all of the positive things you've seen, and then talk about the HE/IR thing (My dd doesn't pitch so I'm clueless). During this discussion bring up the reasons why you don't want to follow an HE method. You are just building a relationship with this coach and want to promote open discourse.


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Eric,

Unfortunately, I'm the only pitching coach for any of these girls right now (those poor, poor girls). My brightest prospect has her parents on board for pitching lessons, but money issues are holding her back on that front for now. I do hope she gets started soon though, because that will be the easiest route to take, especially since I know where she's going to go for lessons and she'll be taught the right things there.

Cyder, the good thing is she is incredibly easy to talk to, so that's a positive. I think instead of sending her to the boards and having her read it all, it might be better to find certain videos/clips and just show her and see what she thinks.

Like I said though, my biggest concern is not with the one pitcher we worked with today, but a lot of girls who she'll be teaching from scratch.

While I'm here, may as well ask: Do the T-drill and K-drill serve much of a purpose for a warm-up?

I would just approach cautiously no need to go all crazy but its OK to let her know if you need to intervene (in private not make a scene but also don't let bad instruction continue either yes its a fine line) that in your opinion proper mechanics does not include HE or pat your back or any other cues and follow through should be natural. If she throws BP it might be OK to grab some video who knows might even be able to find some old game video of her to see if its what she does? 90% chance she does not but don't bet on it because I've seen kids with college scholarships pitch HE or pretty close so it is out there.

I don't think the K and T drills hurt anything as long as their mechanics are correct. But the K drill (like in clip below) should be the first drill I don't think T is really needed. What is REALLY bad is the progression drills wrist flips then elbows flip then T drill because it encourages improper mechanics. Starting with this as the first drill of warmup would be good.

Ok, so don't listen to me.

I have always found as a head coach the best way to go is to say here is what we do and why. Also, it doesn't hurt to say why we don't believe in other things. I have used video etc. to make my point and have found that sometime it starts a great discussion. I try not to be abrasive but my style is straight forward and so, that is why I mentioned to not listen to me.

Give her a homework assignment and ask her to read the entire IR sticky thread on DFP!

IMO there's two ways to approach this.

Option 1 - If your only concern is making sure your girls aren't receiving conflicting instruction then I would follow Cannonball's advice and let her know what will be taught to the pitchers and why.

Option 2 - If you're interested in her finding the "right" way to pitch then I would suggest sending her info from here and even videoing her pitching to demonstrate that she doesn't really do what she teaches when she is pitching. The best possible outcome there would be maybe she adjusts what she's doing and you have a ready made pitching coach for the girls in the area.

Get a video of her pitching in college.

See if she used IR in college...she almost certainly did.

Then, the discussion is, "Let's teach them the way you pitched."

MightyMO said:

IMO there's two ways to approach this.

Option 2 - If you're interested in her finding the "right" way to pitch then I would suggest sending her info from here and even videoing her pitching to demonstrate that she doesn't really do what she teaches when she is pitching. The best possible outcome there would be maybe she adjusts what she's doing and you have a ready made pitching coach for the girls in the area.

Click to expand...

Surprised no one suggested this earlier (just noticed Sluggers post as well) - it's not clear if she deserves to be put into HE Quarantine with all the other PCs, as we don't know if you've seen her pitch. As already mentioned - she may very well be teaching what she _thinks_ she's doing - it may just take a few minutes to go outside with her, have someone else catch, you video, and have her throw with her regular windup. From what you've described, I really doubt she's the type of person that would persist in trying to teach mechanics different from what she uses herself (and likely had success with).

I would even start with the video before sending her to, or any information from, DFP. Just a "hey, humor me for a few minutes - let me get a video of you pitching so we can show the girls what to do" - and see where it goes.