She needs to be understood. The chances of a great 12U pitcher still going strong in college are almost zero. The chances of a great 18U pitcher being the number-1 pitcher at a good D1 school are very small.

The best questions come from parents. This week we were asked how to help her overcome nerves.

It’s pretty simple. Eighty-percent of a pitcher’s success is determined by the movements she makes in the last twenty-percent of the pitch. But…

The little girl came from a tough situation. There were a lot of directions she could take and most of them were not good.

Early in our softball journey we noticed that the kid with the newest, high-tech bat was rarely the best hitter. Buying a kid a new glove every few months rarely equated to a high fielding percentage.

Many years ago I told another fisherman how much our older daughter loved to fish as a 5-year-old. He was a little jealous. As a tournament fisherman he pushed hard to get his kids to fish at the tournament level, but they showed no interest. Here is the difference.

1-Take responsibility for your failures. 2-Fix it now. On the surface these seem far too simplistic.

Too often we receive an email or call asking if I can give parents a drill to help their daughter throw harder, stop bending over, or to stop hurting somewhere. That is like asking a doctor for his most popular prescription without examining you.

Last year while working in Elkton, Maryland, with one of our Certified Instructors, I noticed a sign on the wall of her facility that was priceless. We had to share.

She was one of the better pitchers I ever trained. Her speed was great and her movement was even more impressive. Her high school softball coach made it clear she would never reach her potential when he said, “All you need to do is throw fastballs to the right spot”.

I respect a travel ball coach who called with an observation. It occurred to him that pitch counts involve far more than just the number of pitches she throws in a game.

Recently we worked with one of the country’s top high school pitchers. Her riseball had a lot of potential. The spin was right, but we knew the movement could be far better, so we spent a couple of days working on the other components of the pitch and then turned her loose. At that point …

Getting the Spin is Only One Part of Movement Read More »

You just received your first college offer. Congratulations! Each year we see students so thrilled that someone wants them that they commit without doing the research. Within a year, they are in misery and looking to transfer.

The most heartbreaking part of my job is hearing from so many parents who are confused, frustrated, and realizing that their daughters are not getting better. They are going through this for the first time and not sure what is right and wrong. Let me give you an example through some emails we recently received.

Do you remember the third grade science fair project when the kid next to you brought in fully functioning rocket with atmospheric re-entry capability? Yeah, sure, he did it himself. Maybe just a tiny bit of help from a parent. Don’t be that parent.