Pitcher without lessons

[tim_s]

i know one, HS senior, pitched travel for me for years....never had a lesson

can hit low 60's, probably cruises in games 58-60......solid change, 2 seam moves a ton away from RHB, has added a nasty rise curve.......

she's also a huge gamer, she can start for me any time.......

 

[_MIA_]

When do you think lessons actually became a thing? 80's? 90's? Lessons (for any skill aspect in sports) more than likely allow a quicker (but more expensive) path for great athletes, who would otherwise probably figure it out on their own. Mickey Mantle learned to switch hit against his RH father and LH grandfather throwing tennis balls at him trying to strike him out...For mere mortals they probably allow for success that wouldn't otherwise have been found...

 

[daywalkerdad]

I would advise getting a pitching coach. While 10-11 year olds listen to their parents, at some point 12-14 parents iq levels drop and parental advice may not be well received.

 

[Tazman]

i know one, HS senior, pitched travel for me for years....never had a lesson

can hit low 60's, probably cruises in games 58-60......solid change, 2 seam moves a ton away from RHB, has added a nasty rise curve.......

she's also a huge gamer, she can start for me any time.......

The counterfactual is important. Where might she be with a coach? I can't name a single decent pitcher that doesn't have one and my only regret is not getting one sooner. All that said, your description of her is pretty amazing without instruction so big props to her for that. It's the exception that proves the rule though.

 

[Dabears17]

My daughter walked around imitating "hello elbow" like mechanics from about 3 years old. I thought it was cute. Took me almost 3 years, a trip to Indiana (thanks @coach james ) and about 8 lessons with Rich Balswick to break those bad habits.

My coaching mentor told a player in 10u that if she wanted to pitch, he would work with her for 20-30 minutes after practice. When she was good enough to pitch in rec, he pitched her some in rec and she did reasonably well.

When I coached in 8u I got every girl but one to pitch at least 1 inning during the season and most pitched at least 2 innings.

 

[chinamigarden]

Yes. There are multiple girls that pitch, only 1 of them has never had lessons, yet that 1 is the only one not getting a fair shot.

Multiple girls pitch. But are the ones who pitch in games. Faster, have more control and change speeds?

 

[tim_s]

The counterfactual is important. Where might she be with a coach? I can't name a single decent pitcher that doesn't have one and my only regret is not getting one sooner. All that said, your description of her is pretty amazing without instruction so big props to her for that. It's the exception that proves the rule though.

without a doubt the exception, and exceptional

with a coach it's hard to say......she might be a better pitcher, she might be burned out by now, like so many i see......knowing the kid, it would have been huge for her as a pitcher, but i also think figuring it out on her own from youtube and putting in the time when SHE wanted to put in the time is part of what makes her her

but not everyone, or not even many, could have gotten to where she is like she did

 

[tim_s]

without a doubt the exception, and exceptional

with a coach it's hard to say......she might be a better pitcher, she might be burned out by now, like so many i see......knowing the kid, it would have been huge for her as a pitcher, but i also think figuring it out on her own from youtube and putting in the time when SHE wanted to put in the time is part of what makes her her

but not everyone, or not even many, could have gotten to where she is like she did

and i will say she had plenty of coaching, from me and others, on the mental side of the game, on owning her circle, and pitching to batters, that sort of thing

just all of her pitch mechanics are more or less her own

 

[Sparky Guy]

Yes. There are multiple girls that pitch, only 1 of them has never had lessons, yet that 1 is the only one not getting a fair shot.

There are important things you failed to mention. Any of the girls who pitch, are they coaches daughters? How much experience does the coach have? Is this travel or a rec team. How much softball experience do you have? These can have a bearing on how things are perceived.

I've worked with and coached a lot of 10U kids over the years. I've seen kids who pitch and others who are pitchers. I've had girls who wanted to pitch in the worst way but did not have the ability to do it at a high level. Maybe what the coach is seeing is a girl who pitches. I can't say for sure, I've never watched her throw to be able to judge her mechanics. Maybe the coach sees more potential in the other girls. When I coached I never had a daughter on the team and I've had parents think I'm wrong.

 

[uncdrew]

Pitcher with private lessons VS pitcher with no lessons? Skill sets are roughly the same for 10u. I can’t help but think of how many Odicci Alexander’s there could be if more pitchers without lessons actually got a fair shot in the circle.

I'm absurdly bias towards pitchers with private instructors.

Why?

Glad you asked. I tried to teach my daughter based on You Tube videos for about 6 months. I'm smart. I am (was) an athlete. We would do the drills, imitate the form. But what we didn't have that no video will teach you is the overarching vision of what it should be.

So you get really good at one drill, and then realize that you got that part right but in doing so did 3 other things really wrong. But nowhere in the videos did it warn you of that, or tell you about those other things, etc. etc.

Things simply proceed much better and much faster with a great instructor. There are examples of good pitchers who never had lessons, but for each one of them there are perhaps 1,000 good pitchers who take lessons. It's pretty proven it's the way to go.



That said, I don't make my starting decisions based on "instructor or no instructor". As a coach that isn't part of the decision at all.