An instructors "Bag of tricks" for teaching pitchers.

[halskinner]

Are you sure you didn't work for the CIA?

No, no CIA. However, in reading the other responses it made me remembe I also kept a roll of duct tape and some thumbtacks in the bag. I used those to break pitchers of slapping their legs. I would take a piece of duct tape and push a few thumb tacks through the tape in the middle. I would push them through from the sticky side. Then I would stick ther tape to the outside of the glove EXACTLY where it would hit the leg. Show it to them and then have them pitch. like it was no big deal to me.

First 5 or 6 pitches,, accuracy went WAY South but they didnt slap the leg anymore. Several no slap pitches later, I took off the tape and handed it to dad. He would bring an empty roll of duct tape to the game, with maybe a foot of tape left on it. If the bad habit popped back up, just hold it up and she would stop doing it.

My students seldom EVER forgot what they learned from me.

 

[halskinner]

Not sure what the monthly rent was on the last academy I worked at. The liability insurance for the owner and the building was just under 2,000 a month. Individual instructors were 'Private contractors; and had to have their own business licence and liability insurance. In peak season all instructors combined would see over 3,00 students a month. It costs a lot of bucks to have some facilites. 2,800 sq fotter that one was.`

 

[Bucketmom]

No, no CIA. However, in reading the other responses it made me remembe I also kept a roll of duct tape and some thumbtacks in the bag. I used those to break pitchers of slapping their legs. I would take a piece of duct tape and push a few thumb tacks through the tape in the middle. I would push them through from the sticky side. Then I would stick ther tape to the outside of the glove EXACTLY where it would hit the leg. Show it to them and then have them pitch. like it was no big deal to me.
First 5 or 6 pitches,, accuract went WAY South but they didnt slap the leg anymore. Several no slap pitches later, I took off the tape and handed it to dad. He would bring an empty roll of duct tape to the game, with maybe a foot of tape left on it. If the bad habit popped back up, just hold it up and she would stop doing it.

My DD is a leg slapper. Have been wondering if its a bad thing or not because we see so much of it.

 

[slingnit]

My DD is a leg slapper. Have been wondering if its a bad thing or not because we see so much of it.

My daughter slaps also. Some on here say it's a bad thing, I disagree. DD's future college coach did video analysis of her pitching and of everything that was talked about not one word of the glove slap. I would like to know some of the reasons people have for not wanting a glove slap. Or if it is just preference?

 

[halskinner]

It is not a good thing because of the bruising on the leg, hitters use it to time the pitch, etc. Do a search on leg slapping here. Been discussed alot.

 

[halskinner]

My daughter slaps also. Some on here say it's a bad thing, I disagree. DD's future college coach did video analysis of her pitching and of everything that was talked about not one word of the glove slap. I would like to know some of the reasons people have for not wanting a glove slap. Or if it is just preference?

Biggest reason on my list; SELF-DEFENSE. It leaves the glove way too low to defend from a line drive back in the face.

Someone put a video of a leg slapper getting hit in the face, high schooler I think. She had enough time to get the ball up to around belt high when she got her face splatted.

Do a search on leg slapping on this site and you should find iSorry, I found it looking under pitching mask. Here it is and she was 14.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyW_xP7Pk9Y&feature=player_detailpage#t=5s

 

[slingnit]

It is not a good thing because of the bruising on the leg, hitters use it to time the pitch, etc. Do a search on leg slapping here. Been discussed alot.

Not speaking for any others, but my daughter has never bruised from glove slapping. And I don't see as a timing issue for the batter. And this time I am being serious, not busting chops. You use several different tactics to throw off a batter's timing. Why wouldn't glove slap be one? We call about half of all pitches to be offspeed, either change up or offspeed curve. So unless you threw the same speed every pitch glove slap would not be effective for timing a pitch. It would work in your favor if they are trying to time her by the glove slap. Or it would have no relevance to batter that doesn't use glove slap for timing.

 

[slingnit]

CT, Jennie Finch, Lisa Fernandez, Blaire Luna, Hannah Rogers, and tons more... not all glove slappers but all keep their hands below the waist or straight upon release of the pitch. Not saying right or wrong but sure is common.

 

[splinterpicker]

I have used a double ball and a 1x6 for balance. I agree with Hal after the ball is pitched the pitcher is a defensive player and needs to protect themselves. When pitching with my dd I would throw tennis balls back at her as she released the ball. Some on the ground and some right back at her. Knock on wood she defends the circle and herself really well.

 

[Rocketech1]

It is not a good thing because of the bruising on the leg, hitters use it to time the pitch, etc. Do a search on leg slapping here. Been discussed alot.

I disagree with the bolded above. Some of the best women pitchers of all time (Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman, Yukiko Ueno, Amanda Scarborough) were leg slappers and the ability of the "hitter to time the pitch" didn't seem to hurt their ability to be world class pitchers. To me this is another example of a theory that gets repeated over and over again and becomes gospel. I reviewed slow motion video of these pitchers and most of them actually release the ball just prior to the leg slap. If the batter is waiting to hear the leg slap to time the pitch, its too late because the ball is already on its way to home plate.

Howard Carrier (Hitter) who used to post here until run off by certain "hitting experts" talks about the batter "dancing with the pitcher" as soon as she goes into the wind-up with the point being that the batter is loading her body and striding (timing the pitch) well before any glove slap happens. If a batter is waiting for the cue of hearing a glove slap, her timing will be off and she won't be an effective hitter.

Additionally, some worry that slapping the glove on the thigh will hurt the pitcher's leg. I again disagree. Most pitchers wear padded sliding shorts and/or softball pants anyways that negate any bruising that could possibly occur from the glove hitting the leg.

My personal opinion is that glove slapping is stylistic not an absolute and really a non issue either way.