Help.. Help.. Help. your $0.02 please.

Instead of saying "you're doing it wrong," show her some video of her favorite pitcher and say "Let's get you pitching like her" (then just use all the IR info you find here). If she doesn't have a single favorite, show her some of the best and say "Let's get you pitching like them."

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Yes, yes, yes. Great idea.

Cat Osterman

Keliana Ricketts

Rachel Garcia

She wants to throw almost every day.

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You have is a kid with some talent who likes to practice. She can go a long way.

. Every pitcher is different and every video says something slightly different (much like having 2 coaches)

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Not really.

Every good or great pitcher has these elements:

1) Leg Drive
2) Brush interference
3) Front side resistance
4) Internal rotation

When you watch good pitchers, you see those 4 things over and over and over again. A weak pitcher will be missing one (or more) of those 4 things.


What are the sources of confusion:

1) Pitchers do things to shut their PC (or fathers) up. E.g., there is something called a "Fakey HE". A "fakey HE" is when the pitcher does IR, and then pulls her arm up into the HE position. Here is a video of a fakey HE: Fakey HE (We love Amanda. She does a great job at her clinics.)

2) Pitchers throwing breaking pitches. The arm and hand move differently if spin is put on the ball.

3) Pitchers teaching different from how they throw...Jenny Finch being the prime example. Her instructional videos show HE. her game videos show IR.

h8weakness said:

Great questions!

1. Yes, I do try to learn the motions myself. At least 5x a day I find myself going through the motions. I can feel the difference between hello elbow and IR... that's why I feel it's important to make this change.
2. Time on the pitching forum... A LOT? at least an hour a day. Sadly, I just find myself becoming more and more confused. Every pitcher is different and every video says something slightly different (much like having 2 coaches)

I already need shin guards If I had a dollar for every stitch mark I've had on my shins... I'd almost be able to pay for most of her softball training.

She's got great drive and determination for a 12 year old. She wants to throw almost every day. They talk about the DD getting worn out.... Some days, I think I'm getting worn out. lol.

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It's even worse in technical hitting. but here's the thing, once you do find a good IR coach, you become his able assistant because you are able to understand what he/she is trying to do. We have been fortunate to have found the right PIs at the right time - chrispotts and now java. the basics are all here i DPF, the 4 points, overlap, drive, whip. but like my signature says, the map isn't the territory. stay with it!

sluggers said:

Not really.

Every good or great pitcher has these elements:

1) Leg Drive
2) Brush interference
3) Front side resistance
4) Internal rotation
.

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You are in my head. The more I study, watch and learn the more I have zeroed DD in on these principles as primary in the work she does. I’d guess (at least for DD) #3 is the toughest to master.

If you were building a pitcher from scratch (or almost) What order would you attack these in? 4/2 , 3, 1 seems to make sense to me. Thoughts?

coachbubbles said:

4/2 , 3, 1 seems to make sense to me. Thoughts?

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Yes. Brush and good IR will create easily 80-90% of the velocity and all the accuracy and are the main components of the pitch. By far the most important.

Drive and FSR are adders that you lay a good foundation with a new pitcher and build as they mature. Great drive and FSR will require a degree of strength and body control that many won't develop until 14U and beyond. So you want the foundation laid when they are young, but those two shouldn't be the focus.

I’d guess (at least for DD) #3 is the toughest to master.

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Mastering FSR is the Myth of Sisyphus for pitching. FSR is always a work in progress.

That is why the "walk through drill" is so important...it is the alpha and omega of FSR. My DD did walk throughs until she quit pitching.

Watch the Cat Osterman warm up video. One of the greatest pitchers ever, and she spends time working on FSR. She does a few pitches where her FSR isn't perfect, and she immediately starts working on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-87V8cskuIg&t=58s


As to what to teach first:

The most important thing to a young kid is to have success in the circle. The kid doesn't like walking 10 people in a row any more than the coach does.

For the kid to have fun pitching, she needs good control. The only way to get consistent control is brush interference.

With a newbie pitcher, BI is easy to teach...just tell them to stand up straight and let the arm brush the body. The real problem with BI comes when with kids have not been taught properly or who "lost it"

Teaching internal rotation is fairly simple as well...the kid has to do about 1,000,000 of of the "lock it" drills that Boardmember brought with him when he descended from Mt. Sinai.

Good lower body mechanics are essential to a kid becoming "good". There are no good college pitchers out there without good lower body mechanics. But, IMHO, I think working on that can wait until the kid is 14YOA or 15YOA.