The Difference Between the Pitcher and…….
Recently I watched one of our students in a game and was very disappointed.
She was an older kid who came to us for the first time because she had reached a plateau. We easily removed a big problem in her form and it took her to the next level. I was excited to watch her pitch in a game. Sadly the big form issue had returned and she was not very good.
When she approached me about returning for another lesson, I was very direct with her. She could be amazing, but I have a lot of talented pitchers so it is important to allocate my time to those who are most serious about making needed changes. She got the message and began working to make the enhancements permanent. I love this kid and was glad she made that commitment. It will be fun helping her achieve her college dreams.
Every kid does not have D-1 college dreams. Some may not have that potential. We completely understand. But, when a kid comes to me with great ability and big goals we place the bar a lot higher. The worst thing I can do is tell this kid she is on track when she is falling short, that she is amazing when she is average, and I cannot allow her to keep problems in her mechanics that are obviously going to limit her. Too often kids come to us as a last resort. They used to be bigger, stronger, and faster, but suddenly everyone caught up with them. They missed the early warning signs, when things began to stagnate, and now they are going backward. She is facing a difficult task.
The problem is that many of these kids were not taught how to make adjustments. She always muscled the ball past everyone. Now, she switches to us. We begin asking her to do things that are new to her, such as feeling power in the hips, engaging the legs for huge strides, and knowing how to identify little barriers and overcome them. We want her to sense tiny nuances that make breaking pitches exciting. We want her to be a pitcher, not just someone who likes to pitch.
The most elite pitchers sense that they can be even better and look for better answers instead of just doing the same old things until it’s too late to make significant changes. These kids are working with a sophisticated strength training program. They constantly examine their form and look for every efficiency to better transfer energy. They come to lessons with an agenda, and each time they return better than before.
So, why are we tough on some of our best? Let’s look at the kid who is naturally bigger and stronger than the others. That is her strength, but also her weakness. If she relies on brute strength to win, she will eventually reach a level where everyone is big and strong. Now, what is her advantage? Some kids are extremely athletic. When they are not pitching they are playing defense and hitting. They will reach a level where everyone is equally athletic. How will they excel? Some pitchers win on sheer willpower. Eventually they reach a level where everyone around them is big, strong, fast, working diligently to improve their skills, and also have the same willpower. When willpower is equal, superior technique wins.
Finally, these early prodigies may reach a level where opposing teams learn to adjust to different pitchers. It is amazing how college teams study pitchers and try to throw them off their game. They know your “go to” pitch, your patterns, they steal signals, change pace, move in the batter’s box, and try to play “head games” with you. They will study video for hours to get to know you. If a pitcher shakes off a pitch, they know where she likes to go. If she hesitates for a half-second to get her grip, they know what is likely to come. Even the pace of her backswing reveals tendencies. They change batting lineups to exploit weaknesses and spend an entire week preparing to hit your best pitch. All at once we are asking a pitcher to make her own adjustments and many have no clue. They always blew the ball past hitters. They played random travel ball tournaments where nobody studied video on them so they have never had to adjust to a team that is fully prepared for every pitch. This is a new game to them.
We constantly study our own pitchers and try to think of ways to attack them. Using that information, we teach the pitcher how to thwart such an attack. She must have extra weapons at her disposal, such as making the drop break earlier if hitters move up in the box, having a devastating screwball to back them off the plate so the curve can work better, and immediately recognizing and being able to react if a team changes strategy in mid-game.
That is the difference between being a pitcher and being someone who likes to pitch. All of us have seen pitchers who dominated the game as teens but never made it on the college level. Having been around the game quite a while, I can go a high school or travel ball game, watch a pitcher face a couple of batters, and know how far she will go. Sometimes it is sad. You will often watch a great kid with a great work ethic, but the writing is on the wall. Her limitations will soon catch up with her. Eventually she will come to think she just doesn’t “have it”.
Where is she falling short? She liked to pitch, but nobody taught her to be a pitcher.