It all began when a dad wanted to bring his daughter halfway across the country to work with me. After watching some video, I was very reluctant. She was tall and strong, but stuck at speeds which were unacceptable for a high school junior.
There is a good chance that every one of my students can finish this sentence, “The definition of insanity is…….” (You got it) “…doing the same thing over and over again, in the same way, and expecting a different result.” Last week we received way too many calls from pitchers we have never met, wondering …
Do you really need another college showcase tournament? Teams are running all over the country trying to get their kids recruited. Besides being terribly expensive, there are a number of reasons that too many showcases are bad for the game. Don’t get me wrong. A certain number of these are necessary, but balance is important.
In an age where technology prevails, we sometimes make things a little too complicated. We occasionally have to remind pitchers that their job is very simple. So, we have a few sayings to keep it in perspective. There is always the debate about which is more important, speed or movement. The easy answer: “The purpose …
Very recently we worked with three different pitchers in one evening who came to us for the same reason. All of them had injuries in the lower back. One of them came all of the way from the west coast, having been diagnosed with two Pars stress fractures. She wanted to determine if we could …
Last week a parent called for advice on her daughter’s “mental game”. The girl would get upset very quickly. She was always expecting too much of herself. I asked for a video and the mother could not understand that request, but sent it anyway. What I saw on the video was a kid who had …
Too often pitchers get ahead in the count and give up a hit or walk. What causes this failure to finish?
One of our pitchers went to three different college camps as a part of her recruiting effort. She returned confused.
If you don’t understand the purpose of certain movements within an activity, it is easy to cause problems by trying to change them. Many people who work with pitchers have a single mindset. “This is the way I did it, or this is the way I see it, so just do it my way.”
Last week I received a video from one of my college pitchers. She was jumping into the air, pumping her fist, and screaming as she celebrated reaching 68 miles per hour for the first time. They just happened to be shooting video when it happened. Reaching that speed is not the important part of the …
A couple of weeks ago I worked with one of the nation’s top high school pitchers. She has already signed to pitch for one of the nation’s premier D1 softball programs. After watching her on the mound a few minutes, I learned she has extremely high goals, so I suggested a couple of major, and …
Our older daughter was always my fishing buddy, my hunting buddy, and our family spent countless hours camping as well. One day she discovered softball. The trips to the softball field grew more frequent and the trips to the lake subsided. The bass boat began to deteriorate from lack of use, so we sold it.
Often we will be helping a student develop a breaking pitch and her father will suddenly ask her to throw it to a certain location. That is a great way to overwhelm her. She needs time to process. Our research has revealed that a pitcher can only focus on two new things at once. Add …
When a kid wants to maximize the quick release of energy in softball, whether it is hitting, throwing, or fielding, she must know how to put her body in the correct position. As we continue last week’s discussion, let’s talk about dynamic power positions. I sort of dislike putting those two words together, dynamic and …
It happens day after day after day. A new student arrives and says, “My coach (or instructor) keeps saying I need to use my legs better”. They know they need better leg drive but have no idea how to do it. Telling a kid she needs to better use her legs is like telling her …
