1st day of pitchign lessons!

[Hoover's Dad]

My 8yr old dd had her first session of pitching lessons yesterday from a very good instructor. I was blown away by the progress that they made in two 45 minute sessions. The first session she warmed up and pitched a few to me with him filming, he then showed her in slow motion the obvious faults that she had and some footage of some of the Olympic pitchers.

The second session was drills for her to do to correct the minor problems that she has, the last 25 minutes were her pitching all out. I could not believe the accuracy and speed that she picked up with some minor tweaks.
To any parents here on the forum that have been thinking of taking there DD to pitching lessons, but have been putting it off because you thought you needed to wait till she was a little bit older like I was doing. Find you a good instructor and carry that DD to him/her.

It is priceless to see the look on your DD's face when she is doing long toss from 43', when yesterday she had to give it her all to throw a ball 35'.

Great instruction is money well spent!!!!!!!!

 

[Doug]

Awesome!

I like the one-on-one. The only experience I had with a PC, he would have 2 or 3 girls pitching at the same time. I wasn't crazy about that.

Do you mind my asking what he charged?

 

[Hoover's Dad]

He charges $35 for a 45 minute session.

 

[fastpitch]

ah. a new pitcher's dad. congrats. welcome to the club of being one of the crazier dads in your town. i'm the president in my town. jk. but not really. just from my own experience it seems that most pitcher's dads are "crazier" than the non-pitcher's dad. it's not really a bad thing. i find that if you are aware early about that tendency you may be able to hide it and appear more "normal" than others. in private embrace the role and take your dd to new levels. my dd's pitching coach says that behind every great pitcher is a "crazy daddy". i think its true. good luck and enjoy the time you spend with her. they grow up way too fast.

 

[jacketsfan]

pay attention, and learn. these lessons are for you too, because, like it not, you have bought yourself 2-4 days a week of pitching prctie, bruised shins as she learns new pitches, watching her call her family on the way home from a tourney because she played great, amd long quiet car rides home when she didn't. And, you woldn't change a minute when you look back.

She will need your help, and her pitching coach won't always be there. In fact, she will likely change coaches over time, but you will be the one constant for her as she moves through this journey. You will be the one she will look to for help. So, learn all you can - you will know her pitches, her strengths, her weaknesses, better than anyone else possibly can.

 

[tomzpc]

My 8yr old dd had her first session of pitching lessons yesterday from a very good instructor. I was blown away by the progress that they made in two 45 minute sessions. The first session she warmed up and pitched a few to me with him filming, he then showed her in slow motion the obvious faults that she had and some footage of some of the Olympic pitchers.

The second session was drills for her to do to correct the minor problems that she has, the last 25 minutes were her pitching all out. I could not believe the accuracy and speed that she picked up with some minor tweaks.
To any parents here on the forum that have been thinking of taking there DD to pitching lessons, but have been putting it off because you thought you needed to wait till she was a little bit older like I was doing. Find you a good instructor and carry that DD to him/her.

It is priceless to see the look on your DD's face when she is doing long toss from 43', when yesterday she had to give it her all to throw a ball 35'.

Great instruction is money well spent!!!!!!!!

Where do you live???

 

[redhawkridge]

Jacketsfan had the best comment I've seen in a while. A pitching coach/tutor should make sure he explains the drills and mechanics to the parent as much (if not more) as the player. It's the dad or mom or brother who should be tuned up on the techniques and fundamentals, so they can keep the player's practice as productive as possible. I've seen girls who practice forever/throw 10,000 pitches and never improve -- it's because they aren't doing anything right. They need someone who understands the delivery, and how to work on it.
(I see Tiger is looking for a swing coach, so everybody needs some help, no matter how proficient they are !!!)
jim

 

[Hoover's Dad]

Where do you live???

We live in Alabama

 

[txfirewife99]

To any parents here on the forum that have been thinking of taking there DD to pitching lessons, but have been putting it off because you thought you needed to wait till she was a little bit older like I was doing. Find you a good instructor and carry that DD to him/her.

The best thing ANYONE can do for their daughter who is an aspiring pitcher is to take them to a great pitching instructor. We didn't beat around the bush when our 99 lefty thought she MIGHT want to enter the circle. We spent a few weeks researching and looking for that "perfect" instructor for her and us. Like others have said above, an instructor not only teaches her the techniques but also you as well. You are the one working with her outside the 45min or hour lesson each week and have to be able to HELP instruct her on the proper form.

Kudos for making this next step!!!! In a matter of days/weeks/months/years you will see the benefit a pitching instructor brings to her game.

 

[3'sDad]

Best of luck to you!! DD is a '97 and has been pitching for 3 years....I remember the 1st year well. I bought a bucket of balls (DD started with the 12", so she really never had to adjust from small to big ball) and took DD down to the school a few blocks from out home to practice several times a week after her lesson. I would measure off 40' and set my bucket up about 10' from the blank brick school wall. Why the wall - because I quickly tired of chasing down the horrible pitches DD threw until the arm circle began to be a circle (about 90 days). Next came finding the release point as DD would throw the ball directly over the plate but it might go 30' or go ove my head. That took anothe r45 days or so.

DD was ready to pitch in the Spring after practicing all Fall and Winter. It's a bit different once you put a batter in the batters box as they don't like to hit their friends who are batting. DD had some success (more strikes than balls and eventually winning a few games).

After learning to throw the fastball, she was taught the change-up, drop curve and this past year the screwball. The change needs work and that will be this Winter's project.

Fast forward - she is still with the original pitching coach and in her 2nd year of travel ball. Most important - she still enoys pitching.