Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Pitching Styles

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They are all, to some degree, finishing on a diagonal plane. You are over emphasizing and distorting what Bill teaches regarding the finish. The point he makes is that for maximum efficiency the hips and shoulders should not be square to the target and the arm should finish on a diagonal plane, not straight up from the hip.

All of the other "examples" that were posted yesterday of the bowler and the kick boxer use rotational and diagonal movements. Was the bowler standing straight up and finish with his arm outside his body? Did the kick boxer not rotate his hips and finish inside his body?

You seem to deride Bill a lot for not teaching a curveball, Bill doesn't necessarily have a problem with a curveball. He just doesn't like pitches that only move only on a horizontal plane. His point is that a pitch should break in or out & up or down. Many teach that you have to step outside of the body to throw the curve or screwball. The screwball that Stacy Nelson threw all through the college world series served her well, except in the finals. It also wasn't nearly as effective when she played on the National team last year.

I think that Tincher probably is the best example of the mechanics that Hillhouse teaches and she is mostly a riseball/dropball pitcher. She throws a curve, but I'd just about guarantee that she doesn't change her mechanics to throw it.

That picture is not finishing across the body, even if the body is at a slight angle at release.(which it is not)

 

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Each of these pictures is showing what occurs during the wrist snap before the hips fully close. This is what Bill means by "snapping" across the body. I just reviewed Bill's video and this is what he is talking about. It is covered in chapter 15 if you have his instructional video.

 

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Each of these pictures is showing the finish of the pitch. This is covered in chapter 16 of Bill's video. He clearly calls this a "style" choice and not an absolute.

 

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Now that is a cheap shot. Michelle Smith Finch, Fernandez and Finch obviously do not follow Bills methods and they are "THE BEST EVER." That means without using Bills methods they have somehow endured flawed techniques???
Hey, Bills methods "ALSO" work, but again, they are not the only way to stay healthy and get batters out. To think otherwise is just insaine.

Who did I cheap shot? Here is exactly what I said:

Originally Posted by cshilt
I have no intention of fanning the flames anymore. Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say, "You disagree with Bill, we get it."

Nobody but you mentioned your DD's instructor. I'm glad you are happy with her and trust her. I trust that the mechanics that I have learned from Bill Hillhouse, Doug Gillis, and others are also bio-mechanically sound.

I sincerely said that I am happy that he is happy with his daughter's pitching coach. I also said that I'm happy with the choices I have made.

 

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It amazes me how much bickering goes on about pitching styles. Obviously there are more than a few styles that WORK! Every top pitcher brought up has her own "personality" when she pitches. Lets just leave it that there is no one way to pitch effectively/affectively. Just let the girls do what they do with their pitching coach/teacher. Some believe in so and so and some believe the other so and so and finally others believe in the other so and so. Can't we just all get along.

 

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I asked this question in an other thread why Hillhouse does not come to Greenville anymore?The real reason he does not is his pitchers that he had for years saw the development of a pitcher that was going to Jodi E. and most of them started to take lessons from Jodi E.I have talked to most of these pitchers parents and they all say the same thing their dd's all have picked up speed,movement, and none pitch with pain.They all say they wish they would have made the switch years ago.Jodi E does not teach style just absolutes.

sorry cshilts.JUST THE TRUTH.

 

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Re: Pitching Styles - A little perspective

This one has taken me a while to catch up on. I wish someone would've invited me to this party sooner. There a number of points that are being made in here that are valid , and some that are superficial at best. Really those points don't need to be at the expense of someone's reputation as a pitching instructor. I didn't realize that Ohio had become a hotbed for turf wars, as it relates to pitching instructors. Go figure.
I truly believe that some of you have forgotten the history of softball in Ohio. Some of you may be too young to know the history. Back in the 50s 60s and 70s, men's fast pitch softball was one of the biggest sports in the state. I grew up in Marion , Ohio, watching men's fast pitch softball at Garfield Park. At that time there wasn?t a female to be seen playing fast pitch softball. It was a men's blue-collar industries, sport.
Whether you feel it's relevant or not the best pitchers in the world in the game of fast pitch. Back then and now are men. And while they may not all live in this country that doesn't mean they are irrelevant to the game of softball or the women's game. And that's not to take anything away from some of the great female pitchers in the game today.
My daughter was taught pitching by gentlemen who got his job in the 50s based on his ability to be able to pitch. His name was David Jackson, and he worked for Caterpillar Corporation in Peoria , Illinois. If it wasn't for Dave's experience in men's fast pitch softball. My daughter would never have become the pitcher, she was in high school. At all of 5 foot four, soaking wet. She could still get the ball over 60 miles an hour.
The only way you do that is by having excellent mechanics. It doesn't matter what pitch she was throwing. If the mechanics are not there, you're not going to be a successful pitcher. My point being is that it's the men who've been around this game for many generations that understand and have the most experience in teaching. They also have the most passion about what and how they teach. The sad part about this is that they are literally a dying breed. In 30 more years the majority of them will no longer be with us. A lot of them, including my daughter's instructor are no longer with us.
So the next time you go looking at all of those pictures of all those female pitchers that were on the USA Olympic teams and your making a statement that this one's mechanics are better than the others. You might want to look behind them at their history to see what man taught them how to pitch. The foundation of women's game today was laid by the men who played the game before them.

 

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I asked this question in an other thread why Hillhouse does not come to Greenville anymore?The real reason he does not is his pitchers that he had for years saw the development of a pitcher that was going to Jodi E. and most of them started to take lessons from Jodi E.I have talked to most of these pitchers parents and they all say the same thing their dd's all have picked up speed,movement, and none pitch with pain.They all say they wish they would have made the switch years ago.Jodi E does not teach style just absolutes.

sorry cshilts.JUST THE TRUTH.

I don't have a dog in this fight but I would be curious to find out who it was that gave Jodi her pitching foundation or lets say Chris Minor (aka Dreamer). Numerous well known female pitching coaches in and around central Ohio were mentored by male coaches.