Pitching instructor won’t allow dd coach to attend lesson

[Westwind]

Sure you are.

As of five minutes ago when you googled him.

 

[tim_s]

sounds like the intellectual property thing is legit

i am not a strong coach in terms of pitchers.......i'm very good with the mental approach, with calling pitches and that side of things.....but my mechanics/instructing piece is limited, and i'll readily admit that

i have worked with PI's directly and through parents and have ASKED for cues to look for or if there's anything we should be reinforcing.....i know tend to be adept at knowing when my girls are getting, but PI's have been great with "if she is missing out look for this and remind her to......" kind of stuff........i've had PI's come to our games, and have even talked with one DURING the game so we were on the same page.....i've found it helpful

 

[_MIA_]

..i've had PI's come to our games, and have even talked with one DURING the game so we were on the same page.....i've found it helpful

Pitcher from my DD's team had her PI come to a game last Fall. Pitched the best game of her life..I asked the HC if he could put the PI on retainer

 

[tim_s]

Pitcher from my DD's team had her PI come to a game last Fall. Pitched the best game of her life..I asked the HC if he could put the PI on retainer

ha ha.......whatever it takes!

i have one where i've called the dad up to the dugout during the game to get help when her mechanics were off......i ain't too proud to beg!

 

[MadBandit22]

Well, the part in bold is certainly correct.

In relation to you it sure is!!!

 

[Hillhouse]

I believe it to be like I mentioned Bill the girls see other females doing the pitching on TV and giving instruction. I guess it’s a confidence thing.
I have the issue with one of my daughters who gives me a hell of a time when I try and work with her. She has never seen me throw a windmill pitch and therefore thinks I know nothing about pitching.
I have done lots of research and studied mechanics of the best in the game. I have also had her evaluated by some qualified pitching coaches to reinforce she has sound mechanics.
It’s the old show me don’t tell me thing with her. You get instant respect if you can do what she is trying to do but if she doesn’t get that visual your wasting your time.
I don’t know jack about the men’s Fastpitch game. I don’t have any reason to. It’s not an option in our area and honestly if it was I still wouldn’t care. I prefer watching women play softball.
I group Olympic/National team in the same category. Reason being our National team is usually our representative in the Olympics if the said sport is included in the Olympics. Slight distinction yes but really splitting hairs.

With due respect to everyone, this isn't about me. And I had no problem with MadBandit's kid preferring a female coach. I'm just a little taken aback by the "anti male" attitude she seems to have, considering the role that men do have in the fastpitch world. You're right, they aren't on ESPN like the women. But who's head coach of the Olympic team? Ken Eriksen, former US Men's National team player. Who throws batting for the Women's National team? That's right, male pitchers who can do considerably more with the ball than most. This of course helps train the hitters for anything. What is your DD going to do if her best college offer is with a male coach? Choose a DIII school instead of a DI because of the coach's gender?

How can you possibly say the highlighted portion: I just prefer watching watching women play when you've also claimed you've never even seen a men's game? And you don't care about it. Isn't that like a kid saying he doesn't like what's for dinner having never tried it?

MadBandit, it may sound like I'm attacking... I assure you I'm not. Emails, texts and posts can sometimes give off an unintended "tone" that gets misunderstood. I'm truly just trying to understand. It sounds like your thoughts and feelings about men and men's softball have been transferred to your DD. And that's ok, we teach our kids our thoughts on politics, religion, etc. and they grow up believing the same as we do (usually). But I am truly curious of the genesis of your distaste for men in the softball world.

Bill

 

[BT3100]

BT31000, you struck a nerve suggesting that parents and team coaches are outsiders to their own DD's game.

If a player isn't really committed, let her play a couple years of rec ball and move on to something she fins a passion for. But if she's serious, I don't get the idea that parents and team coaches get out of the way and let only a PC (or batting coach or whatever) have their way. A parent, a HC... these are not outside influences.

To the contrary, parents of a serious player (and coaches who lead such players) have a responsibility to learn all they can so they can guide and sometimes even protect a player from poor private coaches or other poor situations. This also means learning the dynamics of various teams and coaches to help find a good match.

It's a huge amount of work, and takes a lot of time, but I wonder how many players with dreams of playing in college never made it because nobody took the time to learn enough to be able to pick the right instructors, find the right teams or learn the right skills. I'm sure we've all seen more than a few.

I doubt I missed a dozen of DD's lessons in 7+ years, hitting, pitching, fielding combined. For me it was never about telling DD what to do, but reinforcing what her private coaches taught. Helping her notice things she didn't always see, giving her a chance to make her own adjustments or forming questions to ask at the next lesson. And if If I ever got off the page with an instructor, she was free to say so, and we got clarification. I went to other clinics, and otherwise took time to learn what I could. I gained the respect of the instructors, and they certainly had mine.

When she began visiting colleges, I asked questions of the coach (and so did she) to gauge their knowledge and nature. I won't try to convince anyone I know more than a good college coach, but say a college PC doesn't understand and utilize I/R mechanics - and there is a sad number who don't - then it's not going to be a good fit.

DD did all the work and a lot of it, I supported and encouraged. I asked questions, she made choices. I helped a bit with navigation, she did all the driving. Sometimes I gave her ideas, and sometimes she tested them. Now she's thrilled with her college situation... and I miss the time we spent. But she's was prepared to take those next steps and move on as she should.

And all those hours we spent learning and practicing together? That helped build an unbreakable bond when we needed one.

Parents, please don't be outsiders to your DDs softball experience. But for heaven's sake don't just meddle. Make sure you take time to learn how to be a good insider.

Didn't say parents needed to be outsiders.
But too may voices in a kids ear doesn't help. Having a head coach come to a pitching lesson IMO is distracting and in many cases counter productive.
JMO

 

[nikkilugi]

Thanks for the insight. I need my dd’s HC to attend because he will be the person primarily reinforcing the skills she learns and working with her when she can’t get to lessons. I don’t think it is too much to ask that the HC and PI be on the same page with her pitching instruction.

The flat back foot was not part of a drill. This was working her into her push off / “jumping over a ditch” as the PI told her. He also said bending over takes away power from her hips. This is exactly opposite of what her HC told her when working with her. Neither her nor I are knowledgeable enough to tell the HC why the PI is having her do certain things and I don’t think it is unreasonable for the HC to question. I am taking it as a questions lead to learning situation and I can tell he truly wants to learn to implement what is best for my dd.

I told the PI that while I respected his right to his intellectual property, I needed her HC to be able to attend because he will be the person reinforcing the skills more so than me especially since the PI is not available more often that every 3/4 weeks for lessons. If that couldn’t happen then we would need to find a different instructor.

Bill to answer your question - we are in the Virginia Beach area. So if anyone knows of a good instructor to take my dd to I would appreciate the referral.

 

[Megobee]

. I don’t think it is too much to ask that the HC and PI be on the same page with her pitching instruction.

. He also said bending over takes away power from her hips. This is exactly opposite of what her HC told her when working with her.

i agree with you

i dont get why he would eliminate bending at the beginning of the wind up.
Amanda bends at the waist

 

[HighStrung]

Playing for a new team this year, so HC is learning DD and how she pitches. Early on in the fall he pulled me aside and asked if he could come to one of her pitching lessons so he could be on the same page as PI. Said he didn't want to change anything PI was doing, but wanted to learn how best to help/reinforce what PI was teaching. I thought it was a great idea. He also asked that, until he really learned her, that if I saw something that could help to let him know. IE, if she was struggling a little during a game and I saw something that needed corrected (example being DD use to turn her pivot foot a little which lead to monkey butt and throwing around her body, caused a little less accuracy. Occasionally she'll slip back into this a little if she's getting tired) to text him when I saw it, so that he could essentially learn not only the little kinks in her motion, but also so he could learn what "ques" I use to get her back on track. He didn't want me yelling from the stands to her, but he knows that I've got more time catching her than anyone on the planet, and that I can probably see the little things he didn't know about her yet. As we went thru fall he picked up on her tendencies quickly and now he's able to give those minor suggestions that make her the sharpest.

I guess I'd find it selfish if either HC or PI had their interest over the overall success of DD, and we'd probably be looking for something different. Both of ours want to do whatever is necessary for HER to find success, maybe we're just lucky from the sound of a few of your experiences. HC understands that if his pitchers find success, his team will have more of the same. He understands that he doesn't know everything about pitching, but he's willing to learn his pitchers and what he needs to do to help them. PI understands that he's working with several girls from who knows how many teams, and his job is to help each of them in promoting their strength's and improving on their weaknesses.

As for the parents involvement, I guess that depends on the parent. I'm the one on the bucket and at every lesson. I've got as much (actually more) time invested in learning pitching than she does. How else could I be effective in helping her. I talk with her PI after every lesson about things to work on, what direction we're headed, and I pay attention to how he's making corrections. I reinforce exactly that plus everything I'm learning along the way from places like this. Her PI sees her an hour or so each week, I see her working for ten. I can guarantee that no one knows her skill level, strength's, weaknesses, habits and tendencies better than I do. Luckily she listens to me (lol, most of the time). She realizes that I'm here to help her achieve HER dreams, and that my criticism is only for that reason. If you're the parent that drops DD off at pitching lessons while you sit in the car, then yeah maybe you don't have your finger on the pulse of DD's abilities/instruction. For those who've sat on that bucket for the countless hours, no one knows her like you do and I believe your input is just as important as PI's (as long as you're in tune with what PI is trying to teach).