Beginner pitcher vs Beginner Coach

[CDfastpitch]

Hello,

Joining looking for advice as a former pitcher/player of many many years starting out helping a friend's daughter learn to pitch. Turns out a lot can change in the pitching world in a few years!

 

[Ken Krause]

Hello,

Joining looking for advice as a former pitcher/player of many many years starting out helping a friend's daughter learn to pitch. Turns out a lot can change in the pitching world in a few years!

Welcome! I'm sure you'll find plenty of great information here. Maybe start by checking out the Stickies in the pitching forum.

 

[PJR202]

Hello,

Joining looking for advice as a former pitcher/player of many many years starting out helping a friend's daughter learn to pitch. Turns out a lot can change in the pitching world in a few years!

You may be aware of all of this, but if not...

Make sure you're aware of the difference between what is traditionally referred to as "hellow elbow" (basically just straight arm release with wrist snap, followed by elbow up after release) vs internal rotation with whip. Many, many, many former pitchers (and especially those who pitched in the 80/90/early 2000's were taught HE mechanics but didn't actually throw that way. No facing the ball backward on the back side of the arm circle. Throw out the straight arm. Don't teach wrist snaps. Ditch the high elbow finish.

If you watch slo-mo of any high level pitcher, you'll see ball up on the backside, elbow bend by 9:00 position at the latest, and whip of the forearm for release. you'll see a high elbow after release (because they were unnecessarily taught that way) sometimes, but before that happens, you'll see the hand turn over as it should.

A brand new student is a great opportunity to teach the best way. Converting one from HE to whip is a challenge. I know from experience.

 

[CDfastpitch]

You may be aware of all of this, but if not...

Make sure you're aware of the difference between what is traditionally referred to as "hellow elbow" (basically just straight arm release with wrist snap, followed by elbow up after release) vs internal rotation with whip. Many, many, many former pitchers (and especially those who pitched in the 80/90/early 2000's were taught HE mechanics but didn't actually throw that way. No facing the ball backward on the back side of the arm circle. Throw out the straight arm. Don't teach wrist snaps. Ditch the high elbow finish.

If you watch slo-mo of any high level pitcher, you'll see ball up on the backside, elbow bend by 9:00 position at the latest, and whip of the forearm for release. you'll see a high elbow after release (because they were unnecessarily taught that way) sometimes, but before that happens, you'll see the hand turn over as it should.

A brand new student is a great opportunity to teach the best way. Converting one from HE to whip is a challenge. I know from experience.

Thank you! I am actually aware of the different techniques and had already been researching and practicing internal rotation drills myself in preparation. We had our first lesson today; she's brand new to pitching with no real solid habits yet so she did take to it pretty well going through drills and reworking the idea of what she felt pitching was supposed to look like. She's only 10u and not quite going to be pitching in games for a while so thankfully I will be able to take my time and work through the mechanics before worrying over the poor habits that can be acquired through in-game pitching too soon. I was most concerned with my own ability to instruct outside of my own realm of knowledge from my lessons growing up, but I'm hopeful as there are far more resources out there now than when I first started my pitching journey.

 

[PJR202]

Thank you! I am actually aware of the different techniques and had already been researching and practicing internal rotation drills myself in preparation. We had our first lesson today; she's brand new to pitching with no real solid habits yet so she did take to it pretty well going through drills and reworking the idea of what she felt pitching was supposed to look like. She's only 10u and not quite going to be pitching in games for a while so thankfully I will be able to take my time and work through the mechanics before worrying over the poor habits that can be acquired through in-game pitching too soon. I was most concerned with my own ability to instruct outside of my own realm of knowledge from my lessons growing up, but I'm hopeful as there are far more resources out there now than when I first started my pitching journey.

I'm just a pitcher's dad, but I went through the Pauly HPP course and study pitching every day. I can break down a pitch pretty well, but learning how to teach it has been a challenge. Different drills for different kids, habits they've picked up, and their particular anatomy can vary so much. It's crazy how one naturally moves vs another.

My daughter started with an instructor for about a year and a half, and I eventually felt like she wouldn't continue to progress. So I took over for the past year and a half, and she's improved, but I've made some mistakes along the way just simply due to inexperience. She's kinda on the fence about whether she'll play next year (junior season), but if she does, I'm gonna take her to another Pauly certified instructor in the area who has more experience and see if we can make it a team effort. And hopefully I'll learn some things from him. I'd like to keep teaching around here over the years so we have good pitchers coming from this area in the coming years.

 

[cvsoftball]

The ball goes where you throw it - Pitching 101

 

[CDfastpitch]

I'm just a pitcher's dad, but I went through the Pauly HPP course and study pitching every day. I can break down a pitch pretty well, but learning how to teach it has been a challenge. Different drills for different kids, habits they've picked up, and their particular anatomy can vary so much. It's crazy how one naturally moves vs another.

My daughter started with an instructor for about a year and a half, and I eventually felt like she wouldn't continue to progress. So I took over for the past year and a half, and she's improved, but I've made some mistakes along the way just simply due to inexperience. She's kinda on the fence about whether she'll play next year (junior season), but if she does, I'm gonna take her to another Pauly certified instructor in the area who has more experience and see if we can make it a team effort. And hopefully I'll learn some things from him. I'd like to keep teaching around here over the years so we have good pitchers coming from this area in the coming years.

My dad was my first and best pitching coach I ever had. He did it with a lot fewer resources than are available now and made plenty of mistakes, but at the end of the day those were times I will never regret spending with him. I still make him go out and throw with me from time to time but he says he's too old to catch my pitching anymore, lol. I hope your daughter sticks with it if it makes her happy and it sounds like you've got the right idea and have a passion for the game.

We just had our third lesson on Sunday and it's going okay! I am actually feeling inspired to start working with other young pitchers in my area, as well. I hope everything works out for you and your daughter!

 

[PJR202]

My dad was my first and best pitching coach I ever had. He did it with a lot fewer resources than are available now and made plenty of mistakes, but at the end of the day those were times I will never regret spending with him. I still make him go out and throw with me from time to time but he says he's too old to catch my pitching anymore, lol. I hope your daughter sticks with it if it makes her happy and it sounds like you've got the right idea and have a passion for the game.

We just had our third lesson on Sunday and it's going okay! I am actually feeling inspired to start working with other young pitchers in my area, as well. I hope everything works out for you and your daughter!

Thanks. She's doing her job well this season. Taking some beatings, but her job this year is to get the ball in play and shes exceeded anyone's expectations.

I think that inspiration to work with other kids comes from seeing all these local girls with flawed mechanics and feeling like I can help. All these games I've watched and there are soooo many struggling or pitching way below their potential. I just want to help all of them. It bothers me knowing that they love to pitch and work hard at it, but aren't getting the instruction they need. Because ultimately, it's about learning personal growth more than it's about looking back in 10 years and seeing how many W's were on the board.

 

[sluggers]

It bothers me knowing that they love to pitch and work hard at it, but aren't getting the instruction they need.

That's the main reason I'm here.

We need a simple instruction manual so coaches can get rec-level kids throwing the ball for strikes. The basics of underhand pitching are not hard (the advanced stuff is).