Coach wants DD to switch PCs

Lightning said:

DD's all-star coach wants DD to use his daughter's PC and I don't want to switch. Not only is this PC a big believer in HE, but she charges twice as much as DD's PC to dole out this advice.
Coach tells me that DD isn't serious enough about pitching because we have no interest in his PC. He's threatening DD's pitching time.

So far my husband and I have told DD to pitch the way she pitches and then let her results speak for themselves. But her coach is spending practice time questioning her mechanics because, for example, she doesn't keep her arm totally straight during her windmill.

How do we handle this?

Click to expand...

Tell the coach that you have done your research and you are not paying twice as much for inferior technique coaching and he really should look into your PC who teaches the latest and greatest techniques available today used by the best pitchers in the world. If he questions you, you can always say that you are happy to share what you have learned but you are not changing your mind.

To EricF's point you can also say that even if you were to use 'their PC', she isn't going to learn a whole new way to pitch in a few weeks anyway so we are going to stick with what already has been proven to work.

All-stars are just a temporary thing and if it is a problem, there are travel teams out there who would be thrilled to add a competent pitcher. If they continue to be idiots about it, you may have to step in and say that they need to stop instructing your Daughter - they are not PC's and you have that covered. That may sound confrontational, but it is best to be clear. At her age it is still a little much to ask her to handle it by herself.

Hell, just tell the coach OK if he agrees to pay for the lessons.

Worst case scenario she gets two lessons and can be "uncoachable" in the HE lesson.

If you're close to San Diego, maybe you consider a tertiary opinion. Grab a one-time lesson from Jason Iuli, and ask his professional opinion on your daughter's current approach vs. her coach's alternative PC vs. his own. Either way, you know that one has walked-the-walk and that opinion may, or may not be of value in your daughter's young athletic journey.

If interested, here's a couple of contact links...

https://www.factoryfastpitch.com/private
https://twitter.com/iulikrew?lang=en



Chris

Lightning said:

DD's all-star coach wants DD to use his daughter's PC and I don't want to switch. Not only is this PC a big believer in HE, but she charges twice as much as DD's PC to dole out this advice.

Coach tells me that DD isn't serious enough about pitching because we have no interest in his PC. He's threatening DD's pitching time.

So far my husband and I have told DD to pitch the way she pitches and then let her results speak for themselves. But her coach is spending practice time questioning her mechanics because, for example, she doesn't keep her arm totally straight during her windmill.

How do we handle this?

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

This hits a nerve with me.

Tell coach where to go.



Or, maybe tell coach to step out of the dark and see the light.

OP here.

DD's team had their first practice with live pitching. DD had a rough start with coach nitpicking everything and then she tuned out the noise and started throwing some nasty strikes and her teammates couldn't hit her.

Coach shut up for the day. So I think we'll continue to grin and bear it and encourage DD to keep her chin up and keep doing what she does, which is also a good life lesson.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Keep it up!! Good luck!

Good luck! Hopefully the coach is open to results of her pitching, not the technique. Some pitchers out there pitch IR with a forced HE finish to placate coaches, but it sounds like that might not work with this coach.

I'd caution about going to a coach that doesn't teach what your other coach does. Before I went to Coach James's 2016 pitching Woodstock, my DD went to 2 or 3 lessons with a coach that I had observed two lessons and though she taught 'mostly right'. She started to try to teach some natural IR out of my DD and when I asked her why she was doing that, basically said 'IR' was advanced and after getting the 'HE' like basics down, she'd go back to 'IR'.

Messed my DD up and it took about 5 hours of working with Rich Balswick to fix what about 90 minutes of wrong instruction had broken.

Lightning said:

OP here.

DD's team had their first practice with live pitching. DD had a rough start with coach nitpicking everything and then she tuned out the noise and started throwing some nasty strikes and her teammates couldn't hit her.

Coach shut up for the day. So I think we'll continue to grin and bear it and encourage DD to keep her chin up and keep doing what she does, which is also a good life lesson.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

"Hi, Coach. I know my daughter doesn't pitch with the same mechanics you prefer for your daughter, but this is what she has trained with for a while, and it works for her. I'm concerned about making changes to her mechanics right before we start playing tournaments. I know your intention is to help her, and I appreciate that, but I'm worried that the advice you're giving might conflict with what she has learned to this point. The last thing any of us want for a pitcher is confusion in her delivery that interferes with her consistency and control. When the all-star season is done, maybe we can look more into making some changes. For now, let's just let her focus on doing the best she can for the team with the tools she has."

Or something like that...

Eric F said:

"Hi, Coach. I know my daughter doesn't pitch with the same mechanics you prefer for your daughter, but this is what she has trained with for a while, and it works for her. I'm concerned about making changes to her mechanics right before we start playing tournaments. I know your intention is to help her, and I appreciate that, but I'm worried that the advice you're giving might conflict with what she has learned to this point. The last thing any of us want for a pitcher is confusion in her delivery that interferes with her consistency and control. When the all-star season is done, maybe we can look more into making some changes. For now, let's just let her focus on doing the best she can for the team with the tools she has."

Or something like that...

Click to expand...

How many people think that would work with their coach or assistant coaches? How many PC's have you tried to tell or show something to? They are the experts and all too often considered unapproachable. I've had one who actually started reviewing some of the DFP threads and was open to the concepts. Don't get me wrong Eric, I love the wording and the direct approach but I'm guessing that 90% of the time there will be some backlash and other changes will result. Quite frankly so be it, but just be prepared because your DD's career as a softball player is likely to be over before some of these old skuhl coaches change their mindset. Hallelujah to those willing to embrace change and improvement to the game!

Tatonka said:

How many people think that would work with their coach or assistant coaches? How many PC's have you tried to tell or show something to? They are the experts and all too often considered unapproachable. I've had one who actually started reviewing some of the DFP threads and was open to the concepts. Don't get me wrong Eric, I love the wording and the direct approach but I'm guessing that 90% of the time there will be some backlash and other changes will result. Quite frankly so be it, but just be prepared because your DD's career as a softball player is likely to be over before some of these old skuhl coaches change their mindset. Hallelujah to those willing to embrace change and improvement to the game!

Click to expand...

You make a valid point. Some coaches aren't so good at taking input from "stupid parents". I guess approaching the coach with something like this is largely dependent on the coach. From my point of view, as a former all-star and TB coach, I made an attempt to stay out of the way of the instruction players were getting from paid instructors - whether I agreed with it or not. In those situations, I focused more on mental approach.