Take a Look..........

[javasource]

WaSpeed02, I had the same thing happen years ago... was 'blacklisted' with one of the coaches and their little clique... You sort of wonder at times what motivates others to coach - and if they really give two $h!+s about the players... or are just doing it to maintain a public impression of themselves. It's as if this social image they fight to maintain gives them permission to be lazy and ignorant to the advances this sport (and others) constantly make.... The "Been there, done that" - or "expert" entitlement drives me up the wall. I actually had one person say to me once: "If you only knew now, what I knew then." Completely silenced me... and I felt terrible... cause I couldn't stop laughing - once it occurred to me what he actually said...

This reminds me of my days in Washington... My neighbor was getting an A/C unit installed. I was working in my front yard... and this contractor dude... with a van that said something to the effect of "30 Years of Family Tradition"... was standing at the curbside... Anyway, the dude was holding a freakin' business card up between his face and the house. I went over and asked if he needed something... and the card had "house" punch-outs of different sizes in it. Naturally, I was so perplexed... I asked him what he was doing - and he said that he was "sizing-up the a/c unit" AND "An expert relies on experience - not all this new technology stuff". I'm not going to go into the details of how absurd and absolutely insane his method was... I even talked to my neighbor about how ridiculous this method was... The neighbor had three other bids from three reputable companies... with three engineers - that actually performed a calculated heat-gain on his house... But... despite the other companies having all the tools, all the smarts, and staying current with technology - you'll never guess who my neighbor went with! The hole-punch business card guy.... cause: "He's been doing it for 30 years".

A year later... one of the other contractors replaced the horribly over-sized a/c unit he put in... so there is a good part to this story. Sadly... I just looked the hole-punch dude up... and he's still doing it... now for over 40 years...

Wish your DD the best!

 

[Ken B]

A/C in Washington!?!? Definitely clueless! Kinda like putting studs on in Nor Cal!

 

[WaSpeed02]

A/C in Washington!?!? Definitely clueless! Kinda like putting studs on in Nor Cal!

Pffffft. I'm taking Winter selfies of myself in a tee-shirt and shorts just to razzle all my midwest friends on facebook. Mwahahaha. #seattlesunshine

 

[cuzmail]

A year later... one of the other contractors replaced the horribly over-sized a/c unit he put in

Why would you want to replace an over sized unit? Esp. one that was already installed.

We fight to get an over sized unit here. Decreases the load on the unit and supposedly the energy consumption too.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I am making inroads locally, with someone that might be able to help me teach the clinics at the local rec league. Right now, a few couples come to me a year and say "What is being taught there, doesn't look right, to us." They are right. We will see if I get the nod.

 

[JJsqueeze]

I didn't really care to (or intend to) offer correction to that coach (as if a college coach should ever really take criticism from "a dad" that she doesn't know, anyway). My only concern was that she was offering a "correction" to something that didn't need to be corrected.

What irked me was when she said she was worried my DD was going to get injured, and her suggested correction to prevent injury was to finish with the elbow. When I tried to explain I/R to her she acted genuinely ignorant of it. That led to my big mistake. I took the time to write an email to her full of websites like PauleyGirl and House of Pitching, slo-mo video of several elite pitchers, medical studies on the fast pitch I/R delivery, etc. Just some information for her so she could see I'm not some crazy dad trying to destroy his DD's arm.

Needless to say, she later told one of our coaches that she knew all about that stuff (so why did she act clueless with me???) and thought my email was condescending or something. She doesn't ever want me to email her again (as if I planned to).

Talk about someone getting on the defensive. The whole situation is just stupid and I'm super frustrated that people get a title next to their name and that somehow raises them to a level above the rest of humanity where their 'expertise' is not to be questioned or challenged. I wouldn't have cared if she truly didn't know about what we call I/R mechanics. What I didn't care for was her acting like I was speaking a foreign language (she wanted to argue with me about "ball up" on the downswing) and then later saying she is an expert and knows everything I tried to share with her, as well as make me a bad guy who somehow broke the unpardonable rule of questioning an "expert".

Anyway, I don't view any style as "right or wrong" per se, but the analogy I used was HE is like training hitters to squish the bug. You may teach them to hit the ball, but it certainly isn't the best way to do it.

She sounds like a certain High School coach I know of Did you notice her being especially mean to any thigh slappers at the clinic?

 

[WaSpeed02]

She sounds like a certain High School coach I know of Did you notice her being especially mean to any thigh slappers at the clinic?

Haha, no she was actually very good with the girls. Her hitting drills/teaching was top-notch. The only issue I had was the content of her pitching instruction and the way she "handled" my input. Other than that, she was fantastic.

 

[CoachScott]

One more thing...I wrote Pitchafit and asked their opinion of Internal Rotation as a methodology for teaching pitching and do they have any instructors who teach it. I didn't mention this site or thread, I gave no hints as to what IR is. I'll keep you posted on their response.

Willy - I'm curious. Did you ever hear back?

 

[Doug Romrell]

My only concern was that she was offering a "correction" to something that didn't need to be corrected.

I always get a kick out of coaches who think that what they are omniscient in the ways of pitching when it is very clear that they are not. It's a form of foolish arrogance.

What irked me was when she said she was worried my DD was going to get injured, and her suggested correction to prevent injury was to finish with the elbow.

Yeah, if you don't do it this way, you'll do permanent damage to your elbow/shoulder/wrist/fingers. More foolish arrogance.

Tweating a favorite quote I know to fit this situation.... "It is no crime to be ignorant of internal rotation in pitching. But it is totally irresponsible and very foolish to have a loud and vociferous opinion on internal rotation while remaining in this state of ignorance."

 

[CoachFP]

Well it's technically not incorrect, just inferior, right?

I've encountered this same situation time after time. I so wish I knew then what I know now. I "did" take their advice with my older DD

I think we agree. Inferior is incorrect otherwise it wouldn't be inferior. If you went to the doctor and he gave you an inferior diagnosis you would not get better and the advice he/she would give you would be incorrect.