Pitching instruction in Oklahoma?

[OsDad]

Do any of you know of anyone in Oklahoma who teaches the methods that are encouraged here (I/R, brush interference, etc)? I am coming up empty time after time trying to find someone here. Half the time the instructors I talk to don't even know what I'm talking about. I'm limited right now in my ability and time to teach her myself because I coach an 8u baseball team and that takes a good portion of my time (half of which is just chasing 8 year old boys around like chickens). Now that DD is playing more competitively, I won't be coaching anymore after this season (I love coaching but I honestly can't wait to be done so I can watch DS and DD both equally).

At any rate- I feel like I'm beating my head against the wall trying to find someone (which is frustrating because I live 10 minutes away from the OU).

 

[Tatonka]

I don't have any PC's to refer you to in OK but wanted to wish you good luck in the search. I feel your pain and have been through the mill with it as well. Some seem to be opening their eyes to it here but... The really hard part is after you recognize the differences it's very hard to sit still and listen to someone tell your DD things that go against what you know to be correct, or worse try to "fix" things that are really good.

 

[djcarter1966]

I don't think I would use those terms up front because many might not know what you are talking about.

If you find someone respected in the area just see if they will give you an intro to pitching and assessment of your DD maybe 1/2 hour. You can have your DD pitch for 5 to 10 minutes they can tell you what they think, areas they would work on...and then have them demonstrate in 5 to 10 minutes how they describe the mechanics of pitching. If you hear them talking about getting behind the ball, pushing it down, snapping the wrist up, following through with arm straight up through and elbow high you can just say thank you but we are really interested. I think the biggest key to really knowing if someone is a student of pitching is having them describe what happens between 9 o'clock through the follow through after releasing the pitch.

 

[OsDad]

I don't think I would use those terms up front because many might not know what you are talking about.

If you find someone respected in the area just see if they will give you an intro to pitching and assessment of your DD maybe 1/2 hour. You can have your DD pitch for 5 to 10 minutes they can tell you what they think, areas they would work on...and then have them demonstrate in 5 to 10 minutes how they describe the mechanics of pitching. If you hear them talking about getting behind the ball, pushing it down, snapping the wrist up, following through with arm straight up through and elbow high you can just say thank you but we are really interested. I think the biggest key to really knowing if someone is a student of pitching is having them describe what happens between 9 o'clock through the follow through after releasing the pitch.

What I keep running into almost exclusively is "wrist snap". I have gotten to the point where I think it's just easier for coaches to describe and teach to young kids and get acceptable results from, so they just teach it. I don't know for sure.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

Sometimes, what they are calling wrist snaps aren't really that different from what is talked about here. I've seen tons of people talking about wrist snaps but what I actually see isn't the old-fashioned mechanics, it's at least similar. I'm far, far from an expert on this subject so I don't want to get into the nuances, but try to watch what the students are actually doing as opposed to what the coaches tell you. If you see the things djcarter talked about above, then you know what to avoid.