Where to Start My Daughter Pitching?

[Eugene Stryke]

Hey Softball freaks! Where do you start girls pitching? I got the USA Softball DVD set with Cat Osterman doing the pitching DVD. Her most basic fastball is screwball. It has a grip with the thumb and index on the C of the horseshoe and the other fingers with the seams. The release is a twist and snap of the wrist that seems like a difficult place to start. She says it is the best fastball to build breaking pitches off of, but is seems like a difficult go-to fastball for 10U girls. Do the basic softball pitches all have spin? It seems like a peel drop would be an easier place to start because at least the spin is 12-6 not the weird spin of a screwball. Thanks!

 

[crystlemc]

Get the Bill Hillhouse DVD "Building The House". You can watch his clinics on YouTube. He explains why he teaches what he does and makes it very simple to understand.

 

[MK37]

I agree, best investment I made so far is buying the Hillhouse video. At Fastpitch.tv there are some instructional videos from Bill. All are very good. Also read the thread, http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/1348-internal-rotation.html.

 

[crystlemc]

That's assuming you agree with Kempf, which I don't.

 

[Mike]

Start with the internal rotation thread, print boardmembers explanation and read it many times and do some research on what he says, watch good pitchers throw several different pitches in slow motion and you will become a believer. His "9 oclock 3 oclock" and "show it and throw it" drills combined with playing pitch and catch underhand as warm ups and cooldowns are must do's IMO. Yes I have drank the cool aid, I wish this imformation would have been available to me when my daughter started. It took about 8 months to train all of the b.s. out of her we learned the first couple of years.

BTW Bill Hillhouse is a very good start also, he has said he doesnt understand the importance of this internal rotation stuff, but I have found he and boardmember to be extremely helpful. I have not found anything else in print or video that I would recommend.

 

[Eugene Stryke]

So many different Views

I must admit when I first came to this site I was lost for hours trying to sift through all the conflicting opinions regarding hitting. I didn't find any answers here. I think too many people get too complicated. When you are coaching younger girls you can only give them a few things to think about at a time and it must be introduced sequentially. I guess the USA softball pitching video is for the more advanced ages. My daughter is only 8 and doesn't even start rec. ball player-pitch until June 2013. That being said, she has fun with it so I wouldn't mind helping her get a head of the game and maybe she can have a couple fun years being good. She's not that competitive so I don't see her really going to far with it. So, I think I am not even going to worry about spin and just teach a fast ball and how to locate it and how to find a batters weakness and exploit it. The time it takes these pitchers to master these spin pitches, even in high school, is amazing. I don't see the point in starting her with spin pitches at a young age if she isn't going to pitch more than a couple years. I, however, am a coach (hopefully high school assistant this year) and want to learn how to perform and teach the pitches. What I saw of Hillhouse I liked. I think the wind-up should stay the same for every pitch. It makes sense. His approach seemed simple. I ordered the Ernie ? video for the drop ball and hopefully that will have some useful stuff. The screwball that Cat Ostermann starts with in the video for a fastball is a tough pitch when I attempt it. It doesn't seem like a good place to start for anyone. I have my daughter throwing at 32 feet (the length in rec. ball the first year of player pitch) and using any grip she is comfortable with. I want her to get the release point right so she is not throwing it in the dirt or up in the air. She starts with the ball in the air and just drops her arm and releases the ball. It is the first drill form Cat Osterman in the USA video. Thanks for the input!

 

[c3scott]

Hillhouse DVD. No doubt as far as Im concerned. Then IR thread with patient reading. Leap and drag, 12 6 rotation, and no bowling is where I would start if I was to do it over with my dd.

 

[c3scott]

Hillhouse DVD. No doubt as far as Im concerned. Then IR thread with patient reading. Leap and drag, 12 6 rotation, and no bowling is where I would start if I was to do it over with my dd.

The only problem my dd has encountered from the DVD is umpires in our area will not allow heel against the pitchers plate. Have to push off. DD liked and worked on heel to plate and was told it wasnt allowed.

 

[curiousgeorge]

Then your umpires should read the rulebook!

Either way that is more of a suggestion (heel/toe) than one of the absolutes. I know Bill was disappointed that it was edited to look like it's a "must" for pitchers.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Yes keep it simple. We never did all the drills and wrist snaps of today. We never did such a thing as hello elbow. And there has been no sudden breakthrough in the motion that you will find on the Internet--since the leap and drag, open position. and the palm-up curveball took over several years ago. Of course there are many videos to see there and drills!

I find a lot of what is analyzed on a forum by adults does not translate to getting through the points of a good basic motion to a youngster. I just read again the importance of the legs, by someone (not me) who mentioned that adult pitchers who are tall, with upper body strength, tend to forget the legs, as they don't need them as much. The youngsters do for a gazillion reasons.

Wasn't it Bill that said on his DVD that you can't possibly push off hard enough? I'm not sure ... but I believe he was stressing the importance of the "legs".