Email to explain IR to pitching coach

[Down and Out]

I just got off the phone with a gal that learned to pitch from Rich Balswick. She played four years of college down in San Diego. Says she talks with him monthly. We are going to go throw with her next Tuesday. I hope this works out. My head can't stand the beating.

 

[Ken B]

BTW,
I have tried this with a few PC's with very little success. One newer PC we had hope for, took a look at the videos, thanked me and said she had incorporated them into her training material. In reviewing her student videos on YouTube since, none of it took...

Few PC's in the nation will meet the expectations suggested in my letter... I wish there were more...

Fewer will know what "IR" is, but may talk about "whip."

Wishing you the best on this,
Ken

 

[Ken B]

I just got off the phone with a gal that learned to pitch from Rich Balswick. She played four years of college down in San Diego. Says she talks with him monthly. We are going to go throw with her next Tuesday. I hope this works out. My head can't stand the beating.

This sounds like a very promising lead!

 

[Down and Out]

Hello Coach,
We are seeking out a pitching coach for our daughter. In researching what to look for, it was suggested we find someone who studies the mechanics of the world’s best pitchers and can directly relate what they teach to slow motion video of these pitchers. As we’ve started to educate ourselves, we’ve found many discrepancies in what some coaches teach versus what we have observed ourselves when looking at slow motion video of elite pitchers. To better educate ourselves, we looked at the videos below of the world’s three best pitchers and found they all demonstrated similar characteristics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsbV1G37LiQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmiG4ji3onQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQz7CKn0SS4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6z39S19x8o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ObSX1hV5bs

What we observed:
-The ball and lower arm were being pulled down the back side of the circle in what seemed to be a lagged position.
-The upper arm paused at the side and the lower arm accelerated through release
-The ball/hand/forearm seem to rotate through release and transition from a palm up orientation, to almost palm down.
-We did not observe the forced wrist snap we so often hear about
-The follow through seemed unforced, loose and natural
-One of the most interesting things we noticed is that almost every high level pitcher rolls, or wraps their forearm around the hip/thigh during release

As we explored other videos of high level pitchers, we found that almost all of them demonstrated similar mechanics. Our hope is for our daughter to learn to pitch like these top pitchers; giving her the best chance at maximizing her potential.

We are also looking for someone who will hold our daughter accountable for homework, is a good motivator, a positive role model and who uses video as part of the instruction. Our hope is that you would be willing to allow us, or one of her coaches to be present so we can learn what our dearest daughter is learning to better support her outside of lessons.

Thank you,
Mr. and Mrs. Down and Out

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

The "Thank you" button is not there to push.

This is perfect and saves me 5 hours of research. I may get to the point of beating my head against a wall, but at least I can justify my position.

 

[Phathead]

Ken B. Can I copy and send your post to DD HS coach who is wanting to change what pc is teaching correctly.

 

[Ken B]

I hereby forfeit and surrender all rights to my internet post known as "Hello Coach" to the DFP member known as Phathead.

Signed Ken B
Dated 12/10/15



Hoping you have more luck than the rest of us. As noted above, most coaches already know everything regardless of how much you pay your PC...

 

[FastPitchCat]

very well written, ken. absolutely NO mention of I/R or Brush Intereference.
When we were scouting around for a PC, i mentioned these 2 terms "I/R" and "brush" and all i got was a puzzled look.

 

[CoachKevin]

IMO I wouldn't do it.... 99% are not going to care what you have because some of "their" students do well.

Believe me, I did the same thing albeit not pitching but hitting... HS Coach (well known, private instructor, had some good teams) taught the whole shoulders level, swing down to the ball..ect. I put together a whole slide presentation showing side by side photos and video of different hitters... went nowhere, he didn't even want to discuss it. Typically his teams hit low .200's but could win games with pitching and great defense.

 

[sbcowboy]

Down and out. I have to agree with everybody here. I tried to help change two other pitching coaches to I/R. I share this website with them. Surely after they read "I/R in the Classroom" they will see the light! They never said a word to me about it! They have not changed their pitching lessons. Sad but true!

Good luck with your new pc. Let us know how it goes.

Ken, u r amazing!

 

[Phathead]

I hereby forfeit and surrender all rights to my internet post known as "Hello Coach" to the DFP member known as Phathead.

Signed Ken B
Dated 12/10/15



Hoping you have more luck that the rest of us. As noted above, most coaches already know everything regardless of how much you pay your PC...

Thanks you sir☺