Think For Yourself, Trust Your Instincts

The best ideas have yet to be discovered. We encourage our students to take chances and try new things. Last week one of my 10-year-old students, who has a goal of becoming one of our Instructors one day, sent me a video of a new drill she created to get her lower body moving more quickly.

Hey, I like that concept!
When we work as partners, helping students discover how their bodies work, focusing on feeling proper and powerful movements, suddenly they begin to think for themselves. We do not want robots. We want her to recognize the unique structure of her body and begin using her specific advantages in ways that benefit her most.
How far should she stride? That depends on three things:
-Physical gifts
-Proper technique to keep everything working together
-Competitive desire
Trying to put her in a box can mean stifling the kid who glides 8-feet off the mound or it can cause some kids to reach too far, unable to get their backsides to stay under them. Studies show that, for every foot closer to the batter she releases, it has the same effect on reaction time as throwing 3 miles per hour faster. However, if she does it in ways that are unnatural, she can be so inefficient as to do more harm than good.
How should the shoulders feel in the pitch? Does she understand and feel core stability? What is the role of the hips? What parts of the body can actually keep the arm from going fast regardless of effort? Once she knows these things, she begins to enhance those feelings and discover things for herself that make her better.
We are fortunate to be able to work with thousands of kids every year, giving us a research pool that is unrivaled. In that universe, when a kid says, “I invented a new drill to put more power in my takeoff” or “Guess what I did to make my drop move more dramatically”, we listen.
We found an incredible new changeup by listening to a Virginia kid who wanted hers to do something unpredictable in an age where batters easily react and reload on traditional changeups. We created a new and very aggressive drop after listening to one of our Michigan students who broke the rules of typical drops. And we constantly study every nuance of those kids who come in throwing faster than one would expect, getting into their heads and learning what they feel and think.
When something is new and different, a lot of people want to correct it. If it works, if the kid has great body awareness, if it is safe and healthy, and if it poses no harm to her motion, study it. Encourage her. Things you learn from her can help the next student.
If you are a former college pitcher and this sounds exciting to you, talk to us about our Instructor Certification Program. Together we are discovering new ways to change pitching in America.