Developing young pitchers

[quincy]

Not positive that I understand your question but here is a good thread that discusses what I think you are asking.

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/1348-internal-rotation.html

The fastball will not have a 6 to 12 spin but should be more like 5 to 11.

Last year mid-season DD was show the screwball release as a quick fix to have her stop pitching to the right. Tried to stop it months ago and still occasionally pops up.

 

[tojo]

IMO, the place to start would be to find an instructor before you possibly create some bad habits that an instructor will spend valuable time correcting. Start with good mechanics and she well progress a lot quicker. I've seen time after time, a young DD starts with her Dad's instruction and they both get frustrated and end up with an instructor after a lot of trial and error. The instructor will tell your DD that something she is doing is not correct and she will be convinced that Dad has no idea what he is doing from that point. I've seen that look from DDs many times and your credibility is shot. DVDs can be helpful if you already have a understanding of pitching mechanics but do you and your DD a favor and find an instructor that teachs what you have learned from reading this forum.

 

[Westwind]

I took the advice to order the Hillhouse video. I have watched it 4-5 times and my DD's have watched it several times usually a section at a time. There is great info on that DVD, as well as his episodes on Fastpitch TV. If you are wondering if you need to order it, you need to order it. It has been a particular help to my older dd who took more than a season off from pitching and is displaying the fire to go practice like I have never seen from her.

We are also really happy with our pitching coach. We got lucky there. The coach came recommended but IMO you never know until you try if an instructor is a good match for student no matter how good the instructor is. At first I thought that what she was teaching was not all compatible with what Hillhouse teaches. As I watch her teach I am learning I was wrong. She has a little different style than Hillhouse and at this point is teaching drop the ball out of the glove instead of hide the ball windup but they are more alike than different. She sees things immediately that I can't see in mechanics and works on it. No two lessons are the same. No endless drills and wrist snaps. She assigns "homework" that is within my ability to work on. My point- if you can put your daughter with the right pro, do it. It speeds the process and prevents problems.

The biggest lesson I have learned in this new venture is that some times I need to sit on the bucket, keep my mouth shut unless it is to say "good job" and catch pitches. One of the reasons my older daughter quit pitching a year ago is ME. I tried to fix everything that was wrong at once, nagged every move she made and guess what: it wasn't fun and she didn't want to do it. Yes, it is my job to supply her with the right information to succeed but as a dad I must know the difference between what is the little stuff you can help her correct and what is the big stuff you pay the instructor to correct. I now see my role as to sit on the bucket with a glove on, be their biggest cheerleader and make them want to throw. Hopefully the little stuff will take care of itself. ww.

 

[bobbyb]

The biggest lesson I have learned in this new venture is that some times I need to sit on the bucket, keep my mouth shut unless it is to say "good job" and catch pitches. One of the reasons my older daughter quit pitching a year ago is ME. I tried to fix everything that was wrong at once, nagged every move she made and guess what: it wasn't fun and she didn't want to do it. Yes, it is my job to supply her with the right information to succeed but as a dad I must know the difference between what is the little stuff you can help her correct and what is the big stuff you pay the instructor to correct. I now see my role as to sit on the bucket with a glove on, be their biggest cheerleader and make them want to throw. Hopefully the little stuff will take care of itself. ww.

I don't if the "authorities" still say this...but it use to be said that you (a person) can only handle 5 plus or minus 2 chunks of information consciously at one time. When it comes to teaching kids its probably best to keep that on the low side...which would be now more than 3 chunks of info at one time. I found it less frustrating for us...to concentrate on one thing. Its a great lesson to learn in trying to help our dds. Its about being fun when they are young...so it can be fun when they are older.

 

[rowdy]

Hal brings up a good point. You may need to find different instructors at different levels of your DD's development. My daughter started with a girl who pitched at the university of Texas, then went to a person who taught her great mechanics and her change. Then she started going to a person to teach her the finishing pitches.

All of them were very good at the area they taught and each of them brought different techniques.

 

[howellhandmade]

Hal brings up a good point. You may need to find different instructors at different levels of your DD's development. My daughter started with a girl who pitched at the university of Texas, then went to a person who taught her great mechanics and her change. Then she started going to a person to teach her the finishing pitches.

All of them were very good at the area they taught and each of them brought different techniques.

That's fortunate that they were complementary. Seems like lots of times a new teacher wants to tear it all down and start over.

 

[Westwind]

Bobbyb- I think there is a great pearl of training wisdom in that comment. They can't fix (think about) 3 or 4 or 5 things at once.

I really try not to nag them, especially about more than two things at once. It's hard. I have to remind myself that they are working on and let them work it out themselves. I try to remind them if it continues and when they get it right I point it out. When they work it out themselves its like gold.

Where I get overwhelmed is when several things go south all at once. The good instructors seem to know which one thing to attack first, what thing you fix will help fix the others. That is where a talented instructor proves their worth.

 

[02Crush]

That was one of the big reasons I tried to make sure the very young students had alot of fun and enjoyed the lessons. They didnt want to miss out on any of the silly, goofy stuff I would come up with to teach them.

There was ALWAYS a method to my madness. At times it could be quite a show.

I loved pitching and I loved working with the kids. When the students know they are learning something, they are having fun doing it and they know the OLD INSTRUCTOR is having just as much fun teaching them, it a COMPLETELY different atmosphere in the classroom.

Great point. I love to come up with catch phrases or words applicable to a 9 or 10 year old. I also like doing things age specific for fun. The parents think I am crazy but doing things like gets the kids attention. They wanna know what coach is gonna say or do next that is goofy. One of my favorite drills is where we stack two buckets and place a fuzzy chicken with bunny ears on top. Everyone gets shots at knocking the chicken off the bucket from 2nd, SS and 3rd. Anyone who knocks him off from SS or 3rd gets 1 dollar. I always go home a little lighter in the pocket but man o man do the players have fun trying to field the ball, transition and make an accurate throw to knock him off. It takes a very common drill and makes it fun.

 

[NVfishing]

I think the best thing you can do is read this forum on internal rotation. Re-read it some more. Get the Hillhouse video and watch it. Read the thread some more and then go watch a pitching instructor with students to see what they teach. I live in an area where I don't agree with the teaching methods of some of the instructors. I choose to teach my daughter now because I've read this forum for a few years. Watched videos and learned what to look for. I've found I'm very good at figuring out what is taking place during a pitch. I'm also good at diagnosing problems. When I have taken my daughter to an instructor I've found I've had to take months to re-teach proper mechanics.