Denny

A college coach watched one of my students pitch to one batter and immediately said, “I like her and want to see more of her.” Was it her speed, moving pitches, or her size? None of the above.

Parents frequently bring me a new student and tell stories of how she used to strike out everyone. Now, she seems to have lost it. Admittedly, sometimes they lose their effectiveness, but most of the time it is because everyone else simply caught up with her.

Over the years a lot of you have asked how to deal with poor umpires. In my coaching career, I tried all angles and still found myself watching a few games from the parking lot. Finally, after sitting far from the field while my team finished a game without me, it became clear.

This is one of those questions we often hear. First, if anyone gives you certain rule for ideal distance, it should make you feel uncomfortable. If someone wants to shorten your stride length for some arbitrary reason, people who have quick answers to questions that have many variables make me nervous.

If the body can’t handle the load efficiently, it will compensate. We see this over and over in pitching, catching, and hitting. Every single week we see a kid with strength problems. It may be muscle imbalance, hip flexibility, or scapular dysfunction. Try as she may, the kid cannot hold the body in the correct …

Strong in the Right Places? Read More »

We are happy things have grown so quickly, but….. The demand for our approach to pitching is pretty exciting, but overwhelming. We need Instructors in many areas of the country. Right now our focus is on filling voids in the east, southeast, and midwest. If you are interested in studying with us, please continue to …

Yes, We Need More Certified Instructors!!! Read More »

Sometimes a student comes to a lesson and shows us something she has discovered. A different grip or a slightly different body position creates unusual movement on the ball or an increase in speed. Immediately I become interested.

A lot of conventional wisdom says pitchers should learn pitches in a certain order. At one time we went along with that, but sometimes it frustrated students.

Sometimes a pitcher will tell me she had a bad day. Did she have a bad day or did the hitters have a good day? There is a vast difference.

This word is thrown around a lot. Do you qualify? Every college coach says she just wants a kid “who knows how to compete”. If it is that important, you need to see if you are on the right path.

Many pitchers do not understand the importance of a structured warm-up before games. They may throw overhand, do a few drills, throw full speed, try each of their pitches a couple of times, and run to the mound. If everything happens to be in sync they will have a good outing.

It happens to every pitcher at some time. Something gets out of sync and the harder she tries the worse it gets.

How do you deal with crazy coaches? I can’t believe how often we are asked that question. The next most frequent question comes from coaches, “How do you deal with crazy parents?” The problem starts with the game itself.

Some people are almost in denial about injuries in softball. They hear that the pitching motion is more natural than overhand throwing and they want to believe it is okay for their daughter to pitch 20 innings a weekend without risk.

Recently a couple of 7th grade students accepted verbal offers to major college programs. I completely understand the motivations of the student, the parents, and the university, but still wonder if this is good for anyone involved.