Pitching Lessons/ Small Rant

[quincy]

Unfortunately for my 9 year old DD I am her pitching coach. She is a “bowler”, terrible form. She was one of the best pitchers in our 8u league because she threw more strikes than anyone. She was pitching 2 innings every game, maximum innings allowed.

Whenever I started to try and correct her mechanics, she has some major issues, she obviously went backwards. Long-term for her “fixing” her mechanics was the right thing but it would have hurt the Team so I left her alone and let her “bowl”. In hind sight that was probably a mistake.

We moved to 10U this fall and even though she is statistically by far our best pitcher the HC will not pitch her. She has only pitched 4 innings all year, given up 4 runs. It appears our HC would prefer to send out pitchers that look a lot better but give up 6 runs an Inning.

Anyways our last game is this Sunday so we have a few months to basically start over.

The first order of business is for us to find a PC in the Naperville/ Bolingbrook (@40 miles west of Chicago). She has never had a PC before and it makes sense to me that if she wants to pitch, and that we are basically starting over, to get professional help.

We have 1 girl on our Team that attends weekly lessons at one of the sports academies here so I ask her what she thought about her pitching coach. She said she had 3 of them; apparently its pot luck witch one she works with. Does that make sense or should I find 1 and only 1 PC to work with her?

Does attending a Pitching clinic, 6 weeks, makes sense or just get her a specific PC?

My wife seems to be determined to signup for semi-private lessons with 4 or 5 other girls. Makes sense or just get her a specific PC?

I watch my DD like a hawk and am going to uncomfortable turning the reins over to someone else, she will be a uncomfortable too, and I am sure that both of us are going to be frustrate for weeks, if not months, watching her move backwards to be able to move forward. I am not sure either of us is ready for this. but we are committed.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

She should have private, one on one sessions, with a PC. Ask around, find one who the older girls that are good pitchers use and stick with her/him for the foreseeable future. You probably have to start from scratch with your DD. You are not giving up the "reins", you are her primary "pitching coach" and need to observe her lessons and ask a lot of questions of her PC. YOU will be the one sitting on the bucket most of the time when your daughter practices pitching, so you need to educate yourself (good start coming here) on the windmill pitch mechanics and your DDs flaws, style, tendencies, etc. You will know her better than any PC ever will, but you need to periodically use a professional to see maximum improvement.

I think you get it when you say "she has to move backwards to move forward". Great job recognizing the problem and coming up with the solution. Most parents would have continued on the wrong path with there DD and wonder a few years from now why little suzy is not in the circle anymore. The best of luck.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Hi Quincy. The group lessons should be OK, for awhile. Maybe, even a year.

I have changed my lessons recently to address the leaning forward issue. I now cover that 1st thing, 1st lesson. We start on a power line, on one knee and go through 4 progressions - flip, up over head, arm straight back and complete arm circle. I stress that you do not bend or lean. You are tall. Then, stand up on the power line and do the same thing.

A girl recently told me that the staying back part of pitching, feels like water skiing.

Then, when you make a little progress, take some pictures of her so she can see it. She should land on an almost straight, but not locked front leg.

OK. Then, you need the Flamingo Drill or Stork Drill. You can find it on Facebook at Tucson Softball Lessons.

Keep smiling and we all understand the being protective part with your DD.

 

[crystlemc]

I agree with one on one sessions. If there are more students than that, someone is always going to get the shaft. You want the coaches focus on your dd. Try several PC's until you find one that you and your dd are comfortable with. Call your local travel ball orgs and ask for PC recommendations. Once you start with a PC, you need to tell yourself that she is just NOW going to start becoming a pitcher. Might as well flush the memories of what she's done so far in the circle. A good PC will rebuild your dd from scratch. It's painful to watch, believe me, but very necessary. As SoCalSoftballDad said, pay attention to everything the PC tells your dd, and work on those things only during your home practice. Don't try to improvise or "tweak" anything. Just go with the flow. Keep in mind, everything will be pretty ugly for a month or two (or more, depending on work ethic), but one day it will all click.

Best of luck to you and your dd. It's a wild ride being a pitcher's parent.

 

[RichK]

Quincy, you should be able to find lots of good coaches in the Chicago suburban area. A good place to start might be the Bulls/Sox Academy in Lisle, they have small group lessons and also privates, great coaches and facility. That's just down 355 from you, 10-15 minutes. My DD's aren't pitchers, so can't offer you more advice on specific coaches, but ask around or get in a travel program and they'll help. I would turn the pitching reins over to a pro ASAP, I'm sure it will be a good experience even if you have to try a few out. Best of luck : >

 

[quincy]

Thanks,

For some reason I am not impressed with The Bulls/Sox Academy in Lisle so if we are going for a one on one PC, which the opinions here seem to support, we will be looking outside their organization.

We were looking at them for semi-private or clinics, guess I am not doing that anymore.

This is where the other girl on our Team goes to that has 3 pitching coaches, not sure if that is the way she schedules it but it does not seem right.

We will be there all winter working on conditioning, hitting and fielding.

Now that we have settled on a direction I have some resources available to find a PC.

 

[Screwball]

FYI: You don't land on a straight leg. It just looks like that. It flexes and pops up.

 

[halskinner]

Have her keep a slight bend in the landing knee. Then as she realeases the ball, tell her to push herself backward 6 inches. You cant do that unless you are on a slight backwards lean at landing foot touchdown.

sneakysoftballpitching.com

 

[quincy]

A poster here was been nice enough to recommend a PC for us, I have contacted them and will be setting up individual lessons for my DD shortly.

DD and I are ready to go but the wife needs a break.

I am also looking for 50 feet long, 10 feet wide of indoor space we can practice pitching on, without her coach, to work on pitching but have not found it yet.
The PC rates are great, and happy to pay for their time, but that and the indoor space cost to practice without the PC gets expensive doing it a few times evey week.

 

[starsnuffer]

A poster here was been nice enough to recommend a PC for us, I have contacted them and will be setting up individual lessons for my DD shortly.

DD and I are ready to go but the wife needs a break.

I am also looking for 50 feet long, 10 feet wide of indoor space we can practice pitching on, without her coach, to work on pitching but have not found it yet.
The PC rates are great, and happy to pay for their time, but that and the indoor space cost to practice without the PC gets expensive doing it a few times evey week.

That amount of space would be ideal, but 10 feet in your garage pitching into some old carpet hanging from the ceiling works great too. She should be focusing on mechanics and throwing hard, not where the pitch is going anyway, especially in the off season.

-W