Should pitching instructors only be pitchers?

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May 12, 2008
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His group lessons are usually weekly things. He will do an initial group cattle call at a new location with a bunch of kids showing up. Then a portion of that group will start group lessons and one mom will be recruited to do the collecting and paper work in return for the lesson being free. He is very good at teaching the stepping style pitching and his kids can spin it. From what I hear his top students will give him credit for a lot. This guy has, or had, so many students he was hiring instructors to help him. So if anyone has had some level of contact with 30K students, it would probably be this guy. It was over a decade ago when I observed him so this information may be old, but I can vouch he has instructed, to some degree, a LOT of girls.
 
Sep 10, 2009
33
6
Houston
DD had a pitching coach in NO. AZ. that told us that he taught Cat Osterman. Just how many coaches has she had? I think DD had 2 and doesn't include me.


There has been an number of people claiming to have taught Cat. Unfortunately, some have been less than truthful. Her significant coaches have been Tim Timmons (and his two assistants) in the early years, Bobby Smith during the teen years and Ken Ericson after high school. I doubt your guy in Arizona is any one of these people.

She has had a couple of sessions with Michele Smith and Ernie Parker.
She has played on a number of teams (women's major, college, pro) through the years plus the yearly National team. Each of those teams have a pitching coach that could claim something I guess. She has worked out with other pitchers where they share their knowledge.

You should never quit learning. As they say, pitching excellence is a journey not a destination.
 
Sep 11, 2009
52
0
Mesa Arizona
I must say, I've never pitched in a game. I used to pitch to the girls on the team but after they got older I just wasn't fast enough for them. Then on the new team we have a coach that pitches fast enough for the girls to get live pitching. Since subscribing to this site, and reading articles I've actually gotten alot faster. My dd has also gotten better from all the knowledge i've gained here. I just want to say I appreciate all that everyone has posted here. It helps ok pitching coaches get to be good pitching coaches like me.
 
May 12, 2008
2,210
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I must say, I've never pitched in a game. I used to pitch to the girls on the team but after they got older I just wasn't fast enough for them. .

I've always thought the thing to do for a youth team is recruit a kid who's dad used to be a men's fp pitcher. Figure he can probably cruise all day long at their bp speeds.
 
May 12, 2008
2,210
0
DD had a pitching coach in NO. AZ. that told us that he taught Cat Osterman. Just how many coaches has she had? I think DD had 2 and doesn't include me.


There has been an number of people claiming to have taught Cat. Unfortunately, some have been less than truthful. Her significant coaches have been Tim Timmons (and his two assistants) in the early years, Bobby Smith during the teen years and Ken Ericson after high school. I doubt your guy in Arizona is any one of these people.

She has had a couple of sessions with Michele Smith and Ernie Parker.
She has played on a number of teams (women's major, college, pro) through the years plus the yearly National team. Each of those teams have a pitching coach that could claim something I guess. She has worked out with other pitchers where they share their knowledge.

You should never quit learning. As they say, pitching excellence is a journey not a destination.

I would offer the opinion that bucket dad had a pretty good contribution as well. I've found he's smarter than he looks. ;)
 

pdj

May 7, 2008
26
0
cyfairslam - Is Les Koenig still working with players in your area? That not so young gentleman is well worth getting to kow, lots of practical pitchng knowledge.
 
Apr 20, 2009
88
0
Philippines
I've always believed that you don't need to be a particular athlete to be able to teach a certain skill, but it's important that you're knowledgeable on the proper movement of the skill and are able to teach the correct movement and the player is able to execute the the skill correctly.

Most definitely one who has played and was a former athlete is a plus to any sports coach. Preparation and expectations on the field and advice to players is gained through experience.
 

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