Pitching Instruction, Drills and Styles.......Who to Believe????

[JC heir]

you are going to have to become well educated yourself about windmill pitching mechanics, & as Hillhouse would put it the difference between styles & absolutes. There are some parts of the pitching motion that are the same between all elite pitchers & you will need to learn them. The biggest asset for me was buying a good video camera & learning how to watch slo-mo video. These girls simply move too fast for a nonexpert to see the problems in motion. With time & slow mo video you can compare your DD to what you see in the elite pitchers.

 

[ifubuildit]

I will agree with the others here. Bill Hillhouse's videos would be a great place to start. He teaches the absolutes of pitching mechanics and that is what will make your daughter successful as a pitcher. Not to mention they are easy for the beginner as well as the advanced pitcher.

Dana.

 

[sluggers]

Softball pitching mechanics aren't complicated. Get Hal's book or Bill's DVDs and you can learn quite about the mechanics. That will help you avoid the snake oil salesmen pitching coaches. You have to learn pitching to help your DD learn how to pitch.

Pitching coaches are very valuable. Once you understand the basics of pitching and a little about what "a good pitcher" means, finding a good pitching coach isn't difficult.

Quick test: What will a good pitching coach tell you when he/she first sees your DD?

(A) "Nice kid. Your DD is a superstar and will play at UCLA."
(B) (*YAWNS*) "Nice kid. Maybe if she works real hard we can get her to break a pane of glass."

 

[Mike]

It has already been mentioned but educating yourself is most important. This forum is the best I have found for instruction and tips. Everything posted on here gets dissected, torn apart, validated, proven or disproven with video and after awhile you get a pretty good idea about what is right and what is b.s. Take some time and read every entry in the pitching section, it will take awhile but it is worth it. I go back and reread things alot and learn somthing new everytime. Arm yourself with information. BTW, I have come to learn that internal rotation is not a style, it is the correct way to throw a ball underhand and all the good ones do it, they cant help it.

good luck
Mike

 

[tomzpc]

Thank you for the feedback everyone. I feel a little better about where we are headed with this. I have ordered Bill's "BUilding the House" DVD and will also take a look at Hal's book. I'll continue to read and learn from sites like this one and I'll keep my ears and eyes open for a "long-term" coach but I'm not going to force her into a style that I'm not sure about. Again, I'm not looking to build a college pitcher at this point like some of my peers are. I'm just looking to help my daughter be as good as she can, as long as she wants to do this (pitch). Thanks again. This board is awesome.

Tom in NY

 

[Amy in AZ.]

$75 an hour? I am $20.00 for 45 minutes, but we are outside. (Tucson) I am a former PE teacher and I like to drill - but they have to have a purpose and lead to something. For instance, if your DD had a forward lean, we would drill to show her the correct feel.

Oh, and when a successful young lady comes in, I don't try to change her. I try to compliment what she is already doing and I explain why.

For instance, if a girl is slapping her hip with her glove, I explain why that isn't adding anything to the pitch and has the possibility of hurting her wrist.

 

[Mark H]

$75 an hour? I am $20.00 for 45 minutes, but we are outside. (Tucson) .

Amy

I have family in Tucson and Duncan. Somewhere up in the mountains near there there is a canyon with my family name on it named after my great grandmother. Near the Steeple Rock mining district or some such. Interesting country with a lot of cool stories if you dig a little.

I am a former PE teacher and I like to drill - but they have to have a purpose and lead to something. .

Amen.

 

[tomzpc]

$75 an hour? I am $20.00 for 45 minutes, but we are outside. (Tucson) .

Yep, that's about the going rate around here Amy. I've been in contact with about 5 pitching coaches so far within an hour and a half drive of me and rates ranged from 65 to 90 and hour. My wife and I do okay but I can't justify paying 75/hr any longer, especially since I haven't seen major improvement from where I had my DD in the fall. Actually, the coach who does our local LL clinics saw her pitch one game and asked me who had been coaching her which made me feel good since that was before she saw any coaches. We've gotten what we can out of coaches for the time being. For the near future I'm going to stick with the local clinics (one with our LL and another at a training center but more reasonably priced at 100 for 4 1-hour long sessions) continue to read what I can get my hands on (already have Hal's book) and will watch Bill's video after it arrives. For now, while it's still cold out we'll continue with her windmill sessions in our 20 ft living room with a lite-flite ball and working on her footwork using Hal's "foundation" method.

I know that I've said it before but this is a great forum! Thanks again everyone for your comments, insight and advice.

Tom

 

[Amy in AZ.]

The best instructor, that my DD ever had, was a man named Lane in Prescott, AZ. and he was free. He said that God gave him a gift and he didn't want paid. He was 1 1/2 hours away, but he was good.

Then, there was a guy in New Berlin, IL. that charged $5.00.

I would have to wonder what someone's credentials are that can charge $75.00, because I have a PE degree and have coached at 2 colleges.

 

[Jojo]

The best instructor, that my DD ever had, was a man named Lane in Prescott, AZ. and he was free. He said that God gave him a gift and he didn't want paid. He was 1 1/2 hours away, but he was good.

Then, there was a guy in New Berlin, IL. that charged $5.00.

I would have to wonder what someone's credentials are that can charge $75.00, because I have a PE degree and have coached at 2 colleges.

When I first started I did pitching lessons for free. It didn't take long for a lot of people to find out about it and start abusing it. They wouldn't take it seriously.
I would set a time a couple of days a week and some times (especially if it was a little hot cold or windy, no one would show up. I would wait 20 minutes and would have appreciated a phone call. When they started to yell at me because I wasn't there when they arrived more 20 minutes late, I quit doing it.
Once I started to charge, people respected what I did a lot more. I still don't charge very much and I put a lot of my money back into my students.