I purchased the DVD 'Building the House" for myself and my DD. I watched it last night for the first time. So many great tips and drills. I want to start making a few smaller changes with my DD. The question is, will making smaller changes now be a smart move? For example, I understand the reasons behind his follow through coming across the body to the opposing shoulder verses straight up to the throwing shoulder. If we started working on that change, do you think it would effect her accuracy to a point she couldn't throw in a game? Also, driving her body up and out as opposed to just out. These seem like simple changes that could be made in season. She still has 6 weeks left in the fall season. I could wait and begin on them when we have a break. I need to watch this video several more times to fully understand what changes need to be made. So far, I love what I am seeing.
Hillhouse Video
- Thread starter joemcq51
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Joe,
I know Bill personally. His Building the House tape is fundamentally sound at every level. I can promise you the sooner you start working on his stuff the better off your daughter will be as a pitcher. We are heading into the winter off season. What better time to introduce her to some new concepts on how to pitch? If your in a warm weather location then even better. `Yes you can make those changes in season. It will take your daughter a bit of time to get comfortable with them and she is going to ask why are you changing me. The easy response is because this will make you more accurate and faster.
Also take some time to go out to fastpitch TV and watch Bill giving his clinic. I think they are on YOUTUBE also. Just search for Hillhouse clinic. Watch episodes 89,90, & 91. They are as good if not better than the tape as to giving you the reasons why Bill teaches the way he does and what he thinks are the "Absolutes" of pitching.
Good luck.
Dana.
I know Bill personally. His Building the House tape is fundamentally sound at every level. I can promise you the sooner you start working on his stuff the better off your daughter will be as a pitcher. We are heading into the winter off season. What better time to introduce her to some new concepts on how to pitch? If your in a warm weather location then even better. `Yes you can make those changes in season. It will take your daughter a bit of time to get comfortable with them and she is going to ask why are you changing me. The easy response is because this will make you more accurate and faster.
Also take some time to go out to fastpitch TV and watch Bill giving his clinic. I think they are on YOUTUBE also. Just search for Hillhouse clinic. Watch episodes 89,90, & 91. They are as good if not better than the tape as to giving you the reasons why Bill teaches the way he does and what he thinks are the "Absolutes" of pitching.
Good luck.
Dana.
I would change the follow through, now. That is a good move to make to protect the elbow from repetitive stress syndrome.
- Jun 13, 2009
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I asked that same question to Bill when we first started seeing him worried that my DD's season could be effected. In short his answer was, if you knew your batting was suffering because of bad mechanics, would you wait till the season was over before you changed or would you fix what's "broken" immediately. Good point. Anytime is the right time to make improvements.
I remember when I first watched Bill's dvd. I always try everything first before teaching my daughter. So, I watch the video and immediately go down in the basement to try the across the body follow through. As I'm walking down the stairs I'm thinking to myself "the ball is going to go flying off to the side if I follow through like that." It took me about five pitches before I was yelling to my daughter "you need to come try this out. This feels totally natural."
I would change the follow through right away. If nothing else, do it to reduce the chance of injury. In my area we had a bunch of pitchers last year with shoulder, elbow and even back injuries.
I would change the follow through right away. If nothing else, do it to reduce the chance of injury. In my area we had a bunch of pitchers last year with shoulder, elbow and even back injuries.
- Aug 21, 2008
- 2,392
- 113
Wow. A whole thread about me? LOL
Please understand something folks, I did not invent anything here. I didn't recreate how to pitch. I didn't redesign the wheel. I wish I could take credit for all of this but I cannot. The follow through is just one aspect of pitching: and please don't misunderstand this part of it either. It's not about going across to the other side with the arm, it's about making sure the elbow snaps or whips just as it does when you throw a ball overhand. What is natural is that it will go across, just as we do in all sports when doing something for power. In boxing: Jabs are straight, knockouts come across. In volleyball, they come down and across when they spike the ball, not straight down. Power is done diagonally.
Here's the thing, I've never played baseball. I've only ever played fastpitch. I had to play in men's leagues when I was 13 years old because there was no leagues for boys. Imagine putting your 13 year old DD into a grown women's league or the NPF. That's what I had to do. So I didn't learn how to pitch by any means other than doing it myself, over the course of a lifetime. And I can promise you this... this isn't a motion, a windup, a grip of the ball, or anything you can think of that I have not experimented with at some point. I have tried it all. Everything I teach to kids is exactly what I do myself and I explain the how what when why and where of it. I have never said this is "my way" or "my anything" regarding pitching, and I never will. Far too many people confuse pitching styles with the way our bodies are designed to work... because I don't teach them any pitching "style". And far too many pitching coaches teach their personal style as though it's the only way to pitch. This really saddens me for the kid's sake. I didn't invent any part of pitching, but I can tell you without apology that if their body is not working correctly then certain things (backward riseball spin for example) simply will not work and are not possible. IMHO this is why far too many people believe a riseball is just leaning back and aiming high. The mechanics they use won't even allow for backspin to be possible. I know there are people who disagree with me and that's ok. But just know that what I teach and believe in is from years of DOING IT, not from anything else. And before anyone says "oh... men are stronger they can do things differently"... you'd better take a look at who you're talking to. This isn't about muscle, if it was, I wouldnt look like this. For sure anyone who is strong can get away with things that others cannot, but that doesn't mean they are doing it mechanically sound or correctly. These are often the pitchers with short lived careers. Anyway off my soapbox now.
Bill
Please understand something folks, I did not invent anything here. I didn't recreate how to pitch. I didn't redesign the wheel. I wish I could take credit for all of this but I cannot. The follow through is just one aspect of pitching: and please don't misunderstand this part of it either. It's not about going across to the other side with the arm, it's about making sure the elbow snaps or whips just as it does when you throw a ball overhand. What is natural is that it will go across, just as we do in all sports when doing something for power. In boxing: Jabs are straight, knockouts come across. In volleyball, they come down and across when they spike the ball, not straight down. Power is done diagonally.
Here's the thing, I've never played baseball. I've only ever played fastpitch. I had to play in men's leagues when I was 13 years old because there was no leagues for boys. Imagine putting your 13 year old DD into a grown women's league or the NPF. That's what I had to do. So I didn't learn how to pitch by any means other than doing it myself, over the course of a lifetime. And I can promise you this... this isn't a motion, a windup, a grip of the ball, or anything you can think of that I have not experimented with at some point. I have tried it all. Everything I teach to kids is exactly what I do myself and I explain the how what when why and where of it. I have never said this is "my way" or "my anything" regarding pitching, and I never will. Far too many people confuse pitching styles with the way our bodies are designed to work... because I don't teach them any pitching "style". And far too many pitching coaches teach their personal style as though it's the only way to pitch. This really saddens me for the kid's sake. I didn't invent any part of pitching, but I can tell you without apology that if their body is not working correctly then certain things (backward riseball spin for example) simply will not work and are not possible. IMHO this is why far too many people believe a riseball is just leaning back and aiming high. The mechanics they use won't even allow for backspin to be possible. I know there are people who disagree with me and that's ok. But just know that what I teach and believe in is from years of DOING IT, not from anything else. And before anyone says "oh... men are stronger they can do things differently"... you'd better take a look at who you're talking to. This isn't about muscle, if it was, I wouldnt look like this. For sure anyone who is strong can get away with things that others cannot, but that doesn't mean they are doing it mechanically sound or correctly. These are often the pitchers with short lived careers. Anyway off my soapbox now.
Bill
Start NOW. Bill is the exception to the "those who can do - those who can't teach" axiom. I don't use his teachings because he does - I use them because they work with my girls. THE VIDEO is on my credenza as we speak. I watch it about once every other week at the office - money well spent for a change.
Bill,
I can appreciate everything you are saying. Having been around the sport for a long time, I have also heard the men vs women style comments. I try and learn from everyone I possibly can. Your video does an excellent job of explaining why you do things. I am certainly looking forward to getting out ther and making some adjustments in my DD's pitching motion. Hopefully she will show the same level of improvement it sounds like several others experienced on this board. Thanks again for putting the DVD out there. Need to get you to Florida for a clinic.
I can appreciate everything you are saying. Having been around the sport for a long time, I have also heard the men vs women style comments. I try and learn from everyone I possibly can. Your video does an excellent job of explaining why you do things. I am certainly looking forward to getting out ther and making some adjustments in my DD's pitching motion. Hopefully she will show the same level of improvement it sounds like several others experienced on this board. Thanks again for putting the DVD out there. Need to get you to Florida for a clinic.
Always a pleasure having you post to this site. A couple of questions about your DVD (which is excellent). You state that the pitcher should step directly to the catcher. Do you mean stride leg directly down the powerline or just to the left of it for a right handed pitcher to allow the arm to come through without making contact with the thigh? Also according to my notes, I believe you said that pitching is 80% legs / transfer of weight? Correct me if I am wrong. I'm confused because if my DD stands sideways/stationary and pitches to me using her upper body (arm circle, arm whip only) I would guess that she generates ball speed that is around 75% of her full motion fastball. Which means her lower body is adding an extra 25% (not 80%) to her full motion pitch. Thanks.
- Jul 26, 2010
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The first time I watched Bill's video my daughter watched it with me (she was curious). She immediately went outside and started trying a few of the things she saw (starting like a sprinter, hand in the glove windeup, across the body followthrough were the first things she changed).
I don't know why she was so inspired. Bill's video is very good but it's very straight-forward "this is how I do it and why" stuff. It's not full of inspirational pep-talk or other such stuff that might inspire an 11 year old, but for whatever reason it made so much sense to her that she felt she had to go out and try it.
Before watching the video, it was very hard for my daughter to have an open mind and try different things when it came to her pitching. This was probably because she had been to a few different PC's and they all taught her completely different things and she usually took 10 steps back before progressing forward (but hey she can throw a changeup 7 different ways). After the video, and having everything explained as to HOW and WHY, she's been much more open and even very interested. She's actually read the IR thread on this board and then went into the hallway (have a full length mirror she throws sock balls into) to teach herself how to pitch that way, and then came back to give me her comments on it. I'm not saying that she knows right from wrong but the fact that she's interested in why she does what she does gets a lot of respect from me that wasn't there before.
Anyway, Bill's methods seem to make a lot of sense to me, and while I may not agree with every little thing, I can at least understand why a pitcher pitches a particular way and how they can go about doing it.
-W
I don't know why she was so inspired. Bill's video is very good but it's very straight-forward "this is how I do it and why" stuff. It's not full of inspirational pep-talk or other such stuff that might inspire an 11 year old, but for whatever reason it made so much sense to her that she felt she had to go out and try it.
Before watching the video, it was very hard for my daughter to have an open mind and try different things when it came to her pitching. This was probably because she had been to a few different PC's and they all taught her completely different things and she usually took 10 steps back before progressing forward (but hey she can throw a changeup 7 different ways). After the video, and having everything explained as to HOW and WHY, she's been much more open and even very interested. She's actually read the IR thread on this board and then went into the hallway (have a full length mirror she throws sock balls into) to teach herself how to pitch that way, and then came back to give me her comments on it. I'm not saying that she knows right from wrong but the fact that she's interested in why she does what she does gets a lot of respect from me that wasn't there before.
Anyway, Bill's methods seem to make a lot of sense to me, and while I may not agree with every little thing, I can at least understand why a pitcher pitches a particular way and how they can go about doing it.
-W
