Pitching instruction.

[halskinner]

I have been in FP softball 50 years. I had never heard the phrae 'Internal Rotation' or IR until I heard it on this board,, this year I believe. If you are checking out an instructor and they are not familiar with that term, that probably only means they dont frequest this board.

Instead of ruling them out because they havent heard that phrase, ask them if they teach their students to bring the fingers to the inside of the ball. That is what it has been called for the 50 years that I know of and ALL instructors know what that means.

There are some instructors that do not teach it. Decide for yourself if you want to dismiss them for not knowing a term or phrase that just came on the scene recently. They have probably been teaching just that for many years.

sneakysoftballpitching.com

And happy new year everyone!

 

[lhowser]

I would agree with Hal. Internal Rotation as a noun (not as a verb) is pretty much unique to this sight because of how it came up in a thread. To the old schoolers out there who keep wanting to say "They keep trying to act like this is a new discovery when we've known it all along" please realize that no one is making a claim that it is a new method or discovery. No one is trying to wear internal rotation like a badge. I have used the term over the past 18 months to help a number of players. (See below)
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fingers to the inside of the ball. That is what it has been called for the 50 years that I know of and ALL instructors know what that means.

This is not true...I wish it were. There are dozens of "Pitching Coaches" in any given community and most do not know this method of throwing underhand. I know this first hand and our community is a fairly vibrant fastpitch community.

 

[halskinner]

“fingers to the inside of the ball. That is what it has been called for the 50 years that I know of and ALL instructors know what that means. “
“This is not true...I wish it were. There are dozens of "Pitching Coaches" in any given community and most do not know this method of throwing underhand. I know this first hand and our community is a fairly vibrant fastpitch community. “


They do know what it means. That is not to say they teach it, like it or promote it but they DO know what it means. To meet with a Pi, ask about internal rotation and get a ‘What?” as a response should be expected. It does not make them ignorant or less desirable as it appeared it did in this thread.

If a parent came up to me, say 6 years ago, and asked if I taught internal rotation, I would have politely asked “what in the heck are you talking about???” After explaining it to me I would have said it was bringing the fingers to the inside of the ball.

sneakysoftballpitching.com

 

[lhowser]

They do know what it means. That is not to say they teach it, like it or promote it but they DO know what it means. To meet with a Pi, ask about internal rotation and get a ‘What?” as a response should be expected. It does not make them ignorant or less desirable as it appeared it did in this thread.

Yes, agreed. Anyone viewing this thread would be mistaken if they thought a pitching coach knew that term as a noun or style of pitching. If it is important to the parent (it would be to me) after one session decide if that PC is instructing with this mechanic. There is almost no sure way to know going in if a Picthing Coach is helpful and teaching the right thing or not. Educate yourself. It's your DD.

 

[jdcii]

Len,

Is that video put here to show I.R. only? Might have better to show a pitcher who doesn't throw illegally.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Len,

Is that video put here to show I.R. only? Might have better to show a pitcher who doesn't throw illegally.

Good catch. She takes a small step with her pivot foot off the plate and then when she pushes off, her pivot foot leaves the ground.

 

[lhowser]

Is that video put here to show I.R. only? Might have better to show a pitcher who doesn't throw illegally.

Yes it was to demonstrate internal rotation. This pitcher does not pitch illegally in a game and has never been called in the 4 years I have coached her. Fortunately she is not pitching illegally in this video because it is practice so there was no umpire present. It is very, very,common for pitchers who are working out to take this step during practice when working on carpet or a gym floor. The reason is simple. Nearly all pitching rubbers have a 1 - 3 inch drop from wear that a pitchers toe drops into to push off. in addition the playing field of dirt gives and moves. This cannot be duplicated on a gym or hard carpet floor. The small step in a gym more accurately reflets the timing and push many pitchers achieve on an actual playing field. I do hope it was a helpful demonstration of what is referred to as internal rotation. She has really improved and it is rare that someone posts a clip of a high school pitcher in progress like this. I hope it is helpful.

 

[quincy]

I thought it was great, thanks for the video and discussion. I know you post more of both.

 

[Madsdad]

I'm trying to wrap my head around what you mean by "keeping the fingers inside the ball". Are you talking about from 12:00 on down or am I missing something at the release?

 

[sluggers]

If a pitching coach doesn't understand IR (forget using the magic words "IR"...but the concept that the forearm pronates at release), then the pitching coach doesn't understand the pitching motion.

A pitching coach:

(1) Must have knowledge of the entire pitching motion
(2) Must be able to identify deficiencies within a student's motion.
(3) Must be able to teach the entire motion.

If a pitching coach doesn't understand IR (again, recognizing that a person in Helena might call it something different than a person in Tokyo), then that coach doesn't fully understand the pitching motion.

The idea that IR is natural is silly...there is nothing natural about softball pitching.

y "keeping the fingers inside the ball". Are you talking about from 12:00 on down or am I missing something at the release?

Note that IR is a rotation of the foream at release. So, there are many ways to describe how it works.

Here is Yukiko Ueno--you can see the IR in release and the location of the fingers which one might refer to as "inside the ball".

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