What are the pros and cons of slingshot?

[Coach Stan]

Mr Birdsong who lived in Chula Vista,CA won the ISC worlds in 1957 taught the sling slot, figure 8 and the rooster tail to his female students for a long time. He taught the windmill along with the sling shot mechanics. I would go and watch him pitch and teach and took what he taught me into what I teach about the sling shot. My students are capable of doing both.

 

[remind]

How about just using slingshot instead of mixing?
and why is that Ephus pitch illegal?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I can't get that Ephus video because I am on a Mac. If I remember, it is illegal because the pitching arm continues the arm circle after the ball is released.

Yes, you can just use the slingshot w/o mixing.

I know the figure 8 pitch, but I can't recall something called a rooster tail. What is that?

 

[sluggers]

Don't forget Harvey Sterkel of the Aurora Sealmasters--he won 4 or 5 ASA championships and pitched in the first International Federation world championships. Some (including Throneberg) say Sterkel was the better ever.

 

[jofus13]

I've seen girls that pitch windmill occasionally throw a "quick pitch", where they take the ball back to start their windmill, but instead of windmilling, pitch the ball from that location (I assume this is similar to the "slingshot"?).

A 14U team last year had 2 girls that did it, I saw one throw a fastball and one throw a fastball and a changeup both. We didn't actually play them, but my DD watched both of them pitch, and told me that after she watched them do the "quick pitch" a few times, it was pretty easy to pick up when they were going to do it. So, I guess you would want to use it sparingly. It definitely worked for both of them when they threw strikes....usually the batter was just standing there watching it go by.

I think if you could disguise it well, so it looked like your normal pitch as long as possible, it could be effective....my DD had to try it (of course) after she saw the other girls do it, and she had trouble with the timing with her stride(which obviously is much shorter, I guess)

 

[halskinner]

I've seen girls that pitch windmill occasionally throw a "quick pitch", where they take the ball back to start their windmill, but instead of windmilling, pitch the ball from that location (I assume this is similar to the "slingshot"?).

It is different. What you are describing is the 'Softball Submarine' wind up and it is very different from the slingshot wind up. It is extremely effective for a pitcher who throws with the double-pump wind up as the start of both look very similar. There are some major timing things that you must know to use it real effectively and get the most speed from.

And, you are right, the vast majority of the time the hitters just stand there "as if they had been sprayed with freeze gel" (to quote a pitcher's Dad from Canada).

I taught it to almost all my students and it is explained in my book.



Hal

 

[ponytailpower]

I also come from the 70's era and pitched slingshot and I can tell you from experience that one is not better than the other. There are slingshot pitchers that could hold their own with any windmill pitcher of today. Today it is looked down upon because it is not used by the big name players in the game and that is OK until a young lady throwing the slingshot is not taken seriously because she is different. I had one of my students that took to the slingshot over the windmill and her school coaches would not even look at her in tryouts because she was pitching "illegally". They lost out due to their ignorance but, unfortunately, this is not uncommon.

As for mixing the styles, windmill using the slingshot as another pitch is an awesome combination I teach to any student that can make the transition for a strike but it is another pitch that should be used only on occassion. If done properly and used sparingly it is a very effective tool. The slingshot pitcher mixing in a windmill is not only less effective because the batter has time to see what is happening but it is also more apt to cause an injury unless the pitcher has worked both styles consistently through her training.

 

[Rick Pauly]

I've got a tough question;
If slingshot was so good why is no one using it today?

I've measured and compared hundreds of girls speeds from both the slingshot and windmill motion. Haven't found one yet that can throw as fast using slingshot as they can with the windmill motion. Good ones hit 90% of their windmill top speed with slingshot====some real good ones hit 92% but that's about it.

90% of 60 MPH is 54 MPH-----which do you want?

Sterkel back in his era could have been the greatest, and so on and so on. Hasn't been an elite level male or female slingshot pitcher in many decades.

Now let me talk out of the other side of my mouth. I think doing warm-ups and drills from the slingshot motion is extremely beneficial in developing arm whip, balance, torque and timing. Actually, it is my preferred training position.
Rick

 

[Coach Stan]

The last of the men's sling shot pitchers probably did not teach their form to others to further this style. The only reason I know and teach the sling shot is because I took the time and learned from a man who used it and with his riseball to win the 1957 ISC championship. I am pretty sur that many pitching coaches out there have not idea what a sling shot style looks like or even what it is.

 

[ponytailpower]

My opinion, based on my own personal experience is that slingshot is not seen today purely out of ignorance. I was the best pitcher in my region up through middle school pitching the slingshot style and after beating out the senior pitcher in high school my freshman year and having a great year I was told my sophmore year to pitch windmill or don't play because windmill is better. It had become the "in" thing and local coaches all believed it was better even though I was competing against and beating other pitchers using this style. I was dumb enough to try it in order to keep playing and blew out my arm but that is another story all together. Windmill came in as the new thing and bloomed. It took over and, as mentioned above, coaches stopped teaching slingshot. Today girls that throw slingshot are not given a fair chance at tryouts and not wanting to go through this they are choosing not to learn this style from the start, hence fewer slingshot pitchers to choose from. As with windmill you will only have a few really good pitchers out of every girl that tries to learn this position. You narrow that down by only one or two percent even trying to learn slingshot and you do not see it any more at the higher levels. Before injuries took me out of the game I could easily have competed in todays world with slingshot, the fact that I had colleges looking at me in 8th grade should attest to this even if that was way back in the early eighties. It is a shame to see it disappearing but just wait, the day will come when someone has the courage to say this is my style and they will breakthrough this barrier and prove to the world that windmill is not the only way to make it to the top of this position but it may be awhile since I have trouble getting girls to even try this style, nevermind master it.