What to do with pitchers with all different coaches???

[starsnuffer]

First of all, you're not going to fix mechanical issues during a game. It's like telling a batter that they need to adjust their swing between pitches, it's a waste of noise, you just need to tell them to see ball, hit ball.

What you can do, is help their confidence. Go out there, crack them up, get them to breath. Tell them they're the queen of the field and they should feel tall and regal, blah blah blah. If you can get them to stop thinking, they're going to pitch like they practice. Whether or not how they practice is good enough to be in the game is another story

-W

 

[jacketsfan]

I am not sure why all of them having different coaches ties your hands. I can't think of a time when I ever had 2 pitchers with the same coach. I also can't ever think of a time when a player's pitching coach was there to watch her. I don't think my DD's pitching coach has ever seen her in game action.

So, if I see something obvious, I'll tell them. It may or may not be exactly what their coach tells them, but if I think it will help them, I'll tell them. Then, THEY can report back to their PC's on what was going on, and how we fixed it.

I have a real job - I can't take the time to go meet with 4 pitching coaches and find out what they think makes the pitcher tick. I can, though, help make corrections while they're under my care.

Now, I might start the dialogue with "has your coach worked with you on what to do when you are leaving all of your pitches (high, inside, whatever the case may be)?" If the answer is yes, then we can think through that together, and make the correction. If not, I'll make it for them.

I don't know why you hold back.

 

[livingontheroad]

Yes girls get rattled. Calming them down is fine, reassurance is good. They are up there to pitch, not to strike everyone out. When they get flustered they may feel that people are upset with them. It is not easy to be in the spotlight all the time with everyone watching you every pitch. You are either the hero, or the goat, not much in between and they know that.

A pitchers best coach is normally her parent, and they will often yell stuff to her or talk to her between innings. By the time they have been pitching a few yrs, the parent can spot what she is doing wrong. Usually Daddy has spent countless hours on a bucket catching her, countless hours talking to her pitching coach, and knows what her weaknesses are, and what the coach will tell her to do when they crop up.

 

[joemcq51]

Its an interesting question. As a coach, I never wanted to tell my pitchers anything that might go against what their PC was saying. I would typically give encouragement as long as possible, then remove the player from the game when needed. As a parent now, I definitely do not want my DD's coach trying to "correct" any things they see as wrong in a game. I would rather have her removed from the game if she is struggling. There is a lack of quality PC's in our area. So I think this question is different for me. When I coached, most parents would beg me to give their DD direction. I would always give the same answer. As long as the DD has a PC, anything I say would be counterproductive. You need to stick to one PC. To many chef's just spoil the soup.

 

[lawdawg]

A pitchers best coach is normally her parent, and they will often yell stuff to her or talk to her between innings.

Man, I sure wish I had your parents. I'd love to be able to banish a few from coaching, yelling, and a few even from watching their DD on the mound.

Kids are different, games are different, situations are different - one size doesn't fit all. One of our jobs as coaches is to determine what is best for any given situation. I've taken em off the mound for one batter - calmed em down and put em right back in. I've pulled them from the game entirely. I've told jokes, brought them a piece of gum, etc. I've let my catchers calm them down and reign them in. All depends on the kid, the game, the day, who else is ready to pitch, etc.

At the end of every tourney, I ask my kids are they better players at the end than they were at the beginning. If no, then I feel we did something wrong.

At the end the of the day ask yourself this question, did my actions or failure to act as a coach make the kid a better player and our team a better team when it is over? If yes, you did o.k. If no, try better next time.

 

[livingontheroad]

Man, I sure wish I had your parents. I'd love to be able to banish a few from coaching, yelling, and a few even from watching their DD on the mound.

Kids are different, games are different, situations are different - one size doesn't fit all. One of our jobs as coaches is to determine what is best for any given situation. I've taken em off the mound for one batter - calmed em down and put em right back in. I've pulled them from the game entirely. I've told jokes, brought them a piece of gum, etc. I've let my catchers calm them down and reign them in. All depends on the kid, the game, the day, who else is ready to pitch, etc.

At the end of every tourney, I ask my kids are they better players at the end than they were at the beginning. If no, then I feel we did something wrong.

At the end the of the day ask yourself this question, did my actions or failure to act as a coach make the kid a better player and our team a better team when it is over? If yes, you did o.k. If no, try better next time.

If you have a real pitcher, by 14U she pitches 1 hr every day to her dad on a bucket, and 2x a week with her coach. And she has been doing so for probably 4 yrs. Dad has likely spent ~1000+ hrs catching his daughter, and likely 300-400 hrs watching and listening to what her PC tell her and him. If he failed to grasp anything in that time, he is a moron. He gets taught, as well as DD. He is the only one with a vested interest in his DDs sucess.

At 10U for a first yr pitcher its likely the parent doesnt know much, or the kid either, or the coach.

 

[PEPPERS]

When my daughter pitches she tells me I make her nervous so I try and get some where she will not be able to see me. I was the coach and parent for years and she is 16, I didn't try and coach her just to get her to feel release point and relax. I tell her she needs to be her own coach, she needs to be able to correct her own mechanics at this age, as Hitter would say see it, feel it, fix it.

She has been going to the same pitching coach for 2 years and she and I both like and respect the guy. He has helped her with her pitching and she is doing well in HS and summer ball with her pitching.

During sectionals my daughter was on the newspaper web sight videos a lot for her pitching. I sent the coach the link and the first thing he says is I see a number of things she needs to work on. My thought was I’ve been paying you for 2 years and you’ve see her once a week for the past 8 months why are we just seeing a problem with her mechanics from the video! What have you been doing the past 8 months orther than collecting my money?

My definition of a great coach is one who corrects mechanics as soon as they see it not after a video from a paper’s web site.

 

[Ken Krause]

Peppers, sometimes what the girls do in a game is different than what they do at lessons. As a PC who also attends as many games of my students as I can, I can definitely attest to that. I'm shocked to see the breakdowns at times. But if the pitcher has a coach who is constantly tell her "we can't defend walks" and "throw strikes" she's going to tend to focus on the outcome, regardless of how she gets there. Especially if one or two walks means she gets yanked. Not saying that's the case here, but it's a possibility.

As for the original post, in addition to doing instruction for pitchers and hitters I also coach a team. Some of the pitchers come to me, others go to someone else. Doesn't really matter to me as long as they're effective and I don't see a completely flawed delivery. When I'm working with a pitcher who goes to someone else, and a pitch isn't behaving the way it should, I will usually ask the pitcher questions to help her fix herself. For example, if she's throwing a curve ball and it's spinning 12 to 6 instead of side to side, I will ask how the curve ball should spin. If she has the correct answer, I'll ask her how she's supposed to get it to spin that way. When she tells me, I'll tell her "Well, then, do that because right now it's spinning over the top." That helps the pitcher on two levels -- it helps her fix the pitch, and it teaches her to self-diagnose.

For a 10U pitcher, you can do the same sort of thing if you know the basics about pitching. Ask if her arm is supposed to be tight or loose. Ask if the elbow should be locked. Ask if she is supposed to stride straight or go off to the side. Should she be balanced or off-balance? Should her arm stay on the power line or wander all over? Where should she be releasing the ball?

Essentially, help her think through the things she should be doing, based on her lessons, rather than you trying to "fix" it for her. Different PCs use different cues, even if they're teaching the same thing. Helping her think it through on her own should make it more understandable to her.

If her mechanics are really bad, or she's being taught things you know are a problem (such as slam the door shut), that's a different conversation, and one you should be having with a parent.

 

[WinThemAll]

. . .I will usually ask the pitcher questions to help her fix herself. For example, if she's throwing a curve ball and it's spinning 12 to 6 instead of side to side, I will ask how the curve ball should spin. If she has the correct answer, I'll ask her how she's supposed to get it to spin that way. When she tells me, I'll tell her "Well, then, do that because right now it's spinning over the top." That helps the pitcher on two levels -- it helps her fix the pitch, and it teaches her to self-diagnose.

For a 10U pitcher, you can do the same sort of thing if you know the basics about pitching. Ask if her arm is supposed to be tight or loose. Ask if the elbow should be locked. Ask if she is supposed to stride straight or go off to the side. Should she be balanced or off-balance? Should her arm stay on the power line or wander all over? Where should she be releasing the ball?

Essentially, help her think through the things she should be doing, based on her lessons, rather than you trying to "fix" it for her. Different PCs use different cues, even if they're teaching the same thing. Helping her think it through on her own should make it more understandable to her.

Great post Ken!

That is what we do with our pitchers. We have a local PC coach that tells the players "that they are their own best coach."

We ask why the pitch did that, they answer and make their own adjustment. Sometimes we tell them what we see. "Your release too high. So what do you need to do?"

Too many times parents and coaches tell them what to do. Most all the time. The kids need to learn the game, think for themselves. It is their game. We are there to guide them.

 

[stephanie]

ok, so the last few games, during warm-ups, I've had the girls (who are 10U) tell me why their pitch just went high and outside, or too inside, or hit the dirt before it got to me...
What I found out is that some of them aren't being taught WHY the ball goes where it goes. And I have concluded that there isn't much I can do to help them, so I tell them to remember to ask their PC about it at the next lesson. (remember, they are paying WAY MUCH for lessons)
The ones that do know, WHEW! I have started helping them learn to talk to themselves on the mound with their PC's voice, and then reminded them that their job wasn't to strike everyone out, but to throw good pitches. That has seemed to help.
Thanks guys!!