A message to coaches from a pitching instructor.

[BucketDud]

The unacknowledged problem is that the quality of coaches who give private lessons varies just as, if not more, widely.

The big problem is that every private coach thinks they know something, and quite a few don't. A lot of school coaches who don't know a lot also aren't trying to change too much, so they won't do a whole lot of damage.

Yes but generally a private coach who is an idiot fazes out because they aren't helping players. But a school coach who is walking and breathing can likely get a job for a long time if they want it.

But you're right plenty of private coaches who over-estimate their knowledge.

 

[curveballer124]

Yes but generally a private coach who is an idiot fazes out because they aren't helping players. But a school coach who is walking and breathing can likely get a job for a long time if they want it.

But you're right plenty of private coaches who over-estimate their knowledge.

I’ve never understood why it was so difficult to pick a quality private coach…. If your looking for a pitching coach look at what the best pitchers in the world are doing, male and female. Do their mechanics align with what that particular coach is teaching??

Can that coach effectively demonstrate those pitches?? Can that coach explain clear and concisely why he/she is doing it that way, and most importantly, does it make sense?!?!

Goes the same for hitting, catching, and in-fielding. Find someone that is teaching from a place of experience not some google chrome/YouTube coach.

Moreover, unless your head coach (travel or HS) is amazing at hitting, pitching, and fielding then he or she should respect the private lessons your kid is taking that you the parents are paying for


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[RADcatcher]

Can that coach effectively demonstrate those pitches??

Are you saying only a person who is physically able to perform the function themselves can teach it? I don't think so.

Simply,
Parts of mechanics can be demonstrated without actually having to throw pitches,
hit, field Etc...
___________________________

Would look for a coach / instructor who can demonstrate *communicating clearly what the desired results should be.
Basically after that, results are player/individually oriented to their effort and application of dedication.

 

[BucketDud]

I’ve never understood why it was so difficult to pick a quality private coach…. If your looking for a pitching coach look at what the best pitchers in the world are doing, male and female. Do their mechanics align with what that particular coach is teaching??

Can that coach effectively demonstrate those pitches?? Can that coach explain clear and concisely why he/she is doing it that way, and most importantly, does it make sense?!?!

Goes the same for hitting, catching, and in-fielding. Find someone that is teaching from a place of experience not some google chrome/YouTube coach.

Moreover, unless your head coach (travel or HS) is amazing at hitting, pitching, and fielding then he or she should respect the private lessons your kid is taking that you the parents are paying for


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One word: Demand.

There are way more students than good teachers. Couple years ago my DD pitching coach got job as P5 pitching coach and the HC wouldn't allow lessons. Took us about 4 months to find good coach and that was on favor from TB coach. She was young and inexperienced, but got up to speed quickly and is very quality person.

About month ago hitting coach we had for years took job at another P5 school and they have same rules. So we are on waiting list with a few good hitting coaches, but even the crappy ones are basically full. My guess is will take at least a year to get in and some coaches have multi-year waiting lists.

 

[CoachJD]

I’ve never understood why it was so difficult to pick a quality private coach…. If your looking for a pitching coach look at what the best pitchers in the world are doing, male and female. Do their mechanics align with what that particular coach is teaching??

Can that coach effectively demonstrate those pitches?? Can that coach explain clear and concisely why he/she is doing it that way, and most importantly, does it make sense?!?!

Goes the same for hitting, catching, and in-fielding. Find someone that is teaching from a place of experience not some google chrome/YouTube coach.

Moreover, unless your head coach (travel or HS) is amazing at hitting, pitching, and fielding then he or she should respect the private lessons your kid is taking that you the parents are paying for

A lot of parents don't know what to look for. They can watch a high level college pitcher and a struggling 14u pitcher and maybe they can see they're different, but they couldn't tell you how. They're not only not experts, but they're just not knowledgeable. This is why they're looking for an expert to do the teaching in the first place. (I know where they're coming from; I see people arguing in some of the hitting threads and half the time I don't see what either side of the debate is claiming to see.)

One of the Facebook groups had a person post suggesting that Rachel Garcia uses HE mechanics. This person has given pitching lessons, but to her credit, she said she was trying to learn and seems to have been convinced of her error.

I do not believe a coach necessarily needs to be able to do it to teach it. I think some level of physical demonstration is important, but they don't have to be a former pitcher and they don't have to be able to do everything at a high level to teach. My DW is very good at teaching our girls how to hit. She doesn't really swing the way she teaches because she was taught one thing and as a coach has done the work to learn better ways to hit. She spends a lot more time teaching than doing, so her swing has flaws she would immediately seek to fix in our hitters. But she's [redacted] years old and doesn't have a softball career to worry about, so does it matter that she can't do as well as she can teach?

I understand the idea that the team coach should respect what the family is paying for...unless it's wrong. I'm not a hitting coach, but there are some things that are taught that I think are wrong. I might not try to change everything, but if that wrong stuff is keeping her from hitting, either I try to fix it or she doesn't play. I'm not a pitching coach, but I definitely can teach and recognize some of the basics and I don't want any HE pitchers. Am I changing it? Well, I have tried to get a 10u pitcher to see a PC who isn't stealing money. If I'm working with her, I will try to get her to pitch properly. I do believe I can teach fielding as well as anybody. I have not had to deal with a private coach issue with fielding, but I have had to tell more than one girl that her travel coach was wrong about something (the coach would berate infielders if they ever tried to backhand a ball, which is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard).

If I know a player is seeing a private coach and I know they're being taught something detrimental to their performance, I'm going to talk to the parents. And I'm going to do so with a better choice in mind.

 

[uncdrew]

I’ve never understood why it was so difficult to pick a quality private coach…. If your looking for a pitching coach look at what the best pitchers in the world are doing, male and female. Do their mechanics align with what that particular coach is teaching??

Can that coach effectively demonstrate those pitches?? Can that coach explain clear and concisely why he/she is doing it that way, and most importantly, does it make sense?!?!

Goes the same for hitting, catching, and in-fielding. Find someone that is teaching from a place of experience not some google chrome/YouTube coach.

Moreover, unless your head coach (travel or HS) is amazing at hitting, pitching, and fielding then he or she should respect the private lessons your kid is taking that you the parents are paying for


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Even easier, and it baffles me that parents don't do this:

Ask the parents of the best pitchers in your area who they go to for lessons. Call that person. Book a lesson.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Ask the parents of the best pitchers in your area who they go to for lessons. Call that person. Book a lesson.

But you still have no idea if the private coach actually knows what they are teaching and if it's effective.

You either need to do a little homework on best hitting/pitching practices or have some way to measure the progress that is attributed to that private coach (directly).

It can be tough...

 

[Northball]

...You...need to do a little homework on best hitting/pitching practices...

It can be tough...

I hadn't done homework so my DD's first pitching coach was decent, my DD kept getting better even though he didn't teach in ways commonly referenced on this site. It wasn't until her college career started I started diving in deeper on best practices. in hindsight, I would have done it differently to get her I/R techniques from the start.

 

[curveballer124]

Are you saying only a person who is physically able to perform the function themselves can teach it? I don't think so.

Simply,
Parts of mechanics can be demonstrated without actually having to throw pitches,
hit, field Etc...
___________________________

Would look for a coach / instructor who can demonstrate *communicating clearly what the desired results should be.
Basically after that, results are player/individually oriented to their effort and application of dedication.

When it comes to pitching…. To a degree yes, I can’t speak on hitting and so forth but when it comes to pitching. I believe an instructor should be able to demonstrate how to achieve PROPER tight spin, because theory alone is not enough in my opinion.

Granted if a coach is unable to demo the pitch because of physical limitations or age that’s understandable. However, I’m sure that coach fully understands and can articulate what it feels like to correctly achieve proper spin!!

Teaching a kid to throw hard is not that difficult nowadays. You could watch enough YouTube videos and with some understanding be able to effectively teach your kids the theory of how to throw hard, how to throw a riseball, how to throw a drop ball, how to throw a curveball. The Internet, is filled with a ton of how to videos when it comes to throwing….

The thing is pitching and throwing are two different things and just because somebody can teach a kid how to throw a ball doesn’t necessarily mean they can teach them how to pitch, that’s just my .02


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[RADcatcher]

When it comes to pitching…. To a degree yes, I can’t speak on hitting and so forth but when it comes to pitching. I believe an instructor should be able to demonstrate how to achieve PROPER tight spin,

When you are saying demonstrate are you talking about the instructor themselves being able to be a pitcher? That is what I was
*Specifically asking... Do you think someone has to be a pitcher to be able to teach pitching?

because theory alone is not enough in my opinion.

Are you saying that someone who is not a pitcher themself can only talk about the theory of pitching and therefore because they can't physically do it themselves they can't teach accurately and effectively because they only know it in theory?

Certainly there are people who have never pitched before and are able to communicate how to pitch and have successful students. Same with hitting Etc.

How would you explain their success coaching and teaching when they have not actually done it themselves??