Increasing Speed

Ken B said:

I think arm circle speed training is generally ineffective, unless combined with speeding up the drive. Here's some cues I find that add speed right out of the box:

-2 Step sequence or other cue to get out quicker with the legs and hands.
-Pull the drag toe into release a little quicker. (Squeeze the knees a little quicker.)
-Use the glove side to pull into release--up together/down together.

You can't speed up the arm without throwing off sequence. Train the whole body to be more efficient for increased speed.

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Interesting, because I was just having a discussion about this with someone last night. He is the head coach of the team one of my pitchers plays for, so props right there just for coming out (probably a 45 minute drive) to see what she is learning.

Afterwards he was talking about another pitching coach a couple of his pitchers go to, and what he doesn't like about what she teaches. Apparently it's all drills, drills, drills. According to the HC, the PC says she is trying to perfect each piece of the motion. He and I both agreed that's fine if there is an issue, but it's not the same as throwing full-out pitches and learning to get all the individual pieces to work well together. That's what you're going to do in a game, so you need to practice that way. To me, there is a huge difference between getting one piece of the puzzle right and getting them all to work right together.

Unfortunately a bunch or drills, pitching gadgets, and teaching every pitch known to man provides a high perceived value to the parents footing the bill. If she is doing all this stuff and using various gadgets she must be learning and getting better! Right?

I would have to think if, "She pitches around 47 to 49 and will touch 50 every now and then. She is 5 foot 9 and weighs around 150 pounds" then there is a significant mechanical issue that must be looked at and that would require posting of a video.

riseball said:

Unfortunately a bunch or drills, pitching gadgets, and teaching every pitch known to man provides a high perceived value to the parents footing the bill. If she is doing all this stuff and using various gadgets she must be learning and getting better! Right?

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The other thing the parents see is loss of control when a pitcher makes large changes to the delivery and the timing is off. The parents will often feel their DD has regressed. What I make sure my parents know is learning to pitch is a series of forward and backwards steps. Usually when you make big changes it takes time to get things back in time again.

lhowser said:

I would have to think if, "She pitches around 47 to 49 and will touch 50 every now and then. She is 5 foot 9 and weighs around 150 pounds" then there is a significant mechanical issue that must be looked at and that would require posting of a video.

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Had a girl I worked with a few years ago. She was big and strong. 15 YO, 5'11" and #160. She wanted to be a pitcher desperately. She worked all the time. Unfortunately, she did not have an athletic bone/muscle in her body. She would hit 50 at times, but that was it. There was no quick-twitch muscle in this poor girl's body at all. I tried everything I could think of to get her loose and quick. Nothing worked. I don't know if she gave up trying to pitch or changed coaches. They stopped calling.

On the plus side. This girl could make the strings of a violin hum with precision. She'd won numerous musical competitions, and she was a top 1% in her high school class academically. So she had other options.

riseball said:

Unfortunately a bunch or drills, pitching gadgets, and teaching every pitch known to man provides a high perceived value to the parents footing the bill. If she is doing all this stuff and using various gadgets she must be learning and getting better! Right?

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True. I generally refer to that as "entertaining the parents." It's like the approach a lot of businesses take when they generate endless reports no one reads or acts on. It's the illusion of doing something instead of actually putting your efforts where they will do the most good and accomplish something. We do seem to live in a society that believes complicated is better.

Sparky Guy said:

The other thing the parents see is loss of control when a pitcher makes large changes to the delivery and the timing is off. The parents will often feel their DD has regressed. What I make sure my parents know is learning to pitch is a series of forward and backwards steps. Usually when you make big changes it takes time to get things back in time again.

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Agree completely. Whether it's hitting, pitching, catching, or some other aspect I always try to warn the parents that what we're doing is likely to make their daughter "worse" before it makes her better. But it will make it better. My favorite quote is from Remember the Titans - it's like Novocaine. Give it time it always works.

Pitching is new to me.

riseball said:

If you are not working on location, then the catcher or bucket parent needs to be standing.

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Why so?

agreed on the long toss. Nows the time. We make a game of long toss. Try to hit the ball off the tee during long toss. Or sometime me, the catcher. More leg too. Jump ropes helps

Creatine!

In all seriousness one of the biggest opportunities is girls trying to aim the ball. Have them throw all out! Don't worry about where the ball goes.