pitching coach

[gasfreak]

The pitching coach my DD goes to teaches the high elbow finish"hello elbow"and to his credit she loves him and he has a great success rate of getting girls into college, Several division 1. My problem is when she pitches to me in the yard I let her sometimes pitch the IR way and she is not only more accurate she seems faster. That being said know it's not gonna to any good to approach him and nobody else in my area teaches it. So should I keep going and hope for the best or do something else, open to suggestions. I know it's better for her to have a coach do should I just ride it out for a while

 

[Madsdad]

gasfreak,
First off it is MHO that coaches don't get girls into D1 colleges. Hard work, desire, and talent will get a student there and in a lot of cases, in SPITE of what a coach might teach.
That being said,some video would be very helpful. If you are not certain what your dd is going, there are people here who will help reassure you of what she is doing. At that point you will have to decide what to do. If the coach can't tell you why the HE is needed, than you can explain why it's not.

 

[sluggers]

My problem is when she pitches to me in the yard I let her sometimes pitch the IR way and she is not only more accurate she seems faster. That being said know it's not gonna to any good to approach him and nobody else in my area teaches it. So should I keep going and hope for the best or do something else, open to suggestions.

My DD had the same issue...except no one knew about IR. I kept "correcting" her to use HE, but she threw better if she used IR. One day, I said, "Oh, the heck with it" and stopped trying to force her to use HE. I never mentioned "HE" again. She ended up using IR through college.

Here is my advice:

This is an imperfect world, and you have to make due with what you have.

Advanced pitching requires breaking pitches. Breaking pitches are best taught by an experienced coach. Why? Because an experienced coach knows a 1000 different ways to explain to a pitcher how to throw a breaking pitch. If your PC knows how to teach breaking pitches, I would gently guide him to working with her on breaking pitches and change ups.

I would then do "speed work" and IR drills at home. BoardMember started a great threat about "IR in the Classroom". There are drills in there. Have your DD do those drills.

Good luck!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Think about it. Why pull up stiff and stick your elbow up in the air? That hurts my lower back, just to do it, one time. A relaxed muscle is a quick muscle.

It is possible to pitch IR and then, stick the elbow up, but it is crazy to do that. I want my pitchers ready to field the ball.

Make the change. She can do it.

 

[fishteach]

We recently underwent a similar situation, and it took a while to find a new PC that taught IR. And to add to our dilemma, I wanted a PC that had also played at the collegiate level. There's so much more to the pitching position than just the mechanics, and I wanted someone that could help my daughter with it all. We knew that Mr. Hillhouse occasionally came to southern Maine, but I was hoping to find someone that we could work with more frequently. Eventually we got very lucky and found Kathy Bailey (www.baileysoftball.com), and my daughter is all the better for it. It took us around five months to find her, but it was well worth the wait, so I recommend lots of patience in your search. I found her by asking some other parents who they used, so explore all of the resources you have access too.

 

[GatorGirl]

It sounds like your mind is really already made up and you just want us to confirm your decision. Which is totally fine. She loves him, she probably like he next one-kids are resilient like that.

I don't know how old your daughter is, but the younger she is the better for you to instruct if you feel you have a good understanding of IR. But of course you will have others who say no, if they are young they need a PC right away. So you are going to get lots of opinions all over the board.

Everyone says "no one teaches this method around here." I said that too until I discovered one. I live in a very rural area and while many still do HE, lots do the IR/Whip too, so I don't believe it is as "uncommon" as many claim.

Find local sports facilities and ask, contact the local colleges, contact the local high school and middle school coaches, contact the local travel teams. All these kids learned somewhere and you will find an instructor. You might have to do a lot of digging, but I am tenacious when it comes to finding something, so most give up well before I will--much to my husband's annoyance. LOL

Where are you located? You might have some resources right on here that you aren't aware of.

Best of luck!

GG

 

[FP26]

Advanced pitching requires breaking pitches. Breaking pitches are best taught by an experienced coach. Why? Because an experienced coach knows a 1000 different ways to explain to a pitcher how to throw a breaking pitch. If your PC knows how to teach breaking pitches, I would gently guide him to working with her on breaking pitches and change ups.

I would then do "speed work" and IR drills at home. BoardMember started a great threat about "IR in the Classroom". There are drills in there. Have your DD do those drills.

Good luck!

I agree with Sluggers. My DD really struggled trying to point her elbow. Her arm just naturally rotated and pointing the elbow seemed a forced action for her. Her PC at that time taught a "roll over" drop (I know some people don't like that term, but that is what she called it). The way she taught it seemed to fit DD's natural motion perfectly so she wanted to throw it all the time. Her current PC typically spends time breaking the HE habit, but luckily DD never developed it as a habit. The switch over was very quick and smooth.

 

[gasfreak]

That's half the problem, I'm not sure I totally understand it and having a hard time funding good video and explanation. Any links?

 

[FP26]

That's half the problem, I'm not sure I totally understand it and having a hard time funding good video and explanation. Any links?

I'm sorry, but I am not sure what you want links to? Was it something in my post?

 

[GatorGirl]

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/10321-i-r-classroom.html