Pitching and Pitchers Discussion teaching beginner pitchers

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What I am looking for is a simple quick effective way to teach young girls how to pitch. Here is my scenario: I have a 15'x30' space inside an elementary school's 'all purpose room' in which to work as part of 3 stations (others are working on hitting and fielding). I have about an hour and a half total to work with groups of 3 (3 station 'shifts'). I don't think drills are the way to go here and this is not a plea for someone to come and do a pitching clinic.These girls range from about 9-11 years old and are beginners who want to have a decent level of competency for the spring rec ball season.We only have 1 evening a week for a total of 9 sessions to accomplish this. So far, I have constructed 3 tape-down power lines and 3 taped strike zones. My idea so far is to start them at about 8 feet away from their target and slowly go thru the motion, looking for the straight step, turning the body sideways to the target, the straight arm circle, the correct release point, then gradually have them back up and proportionately speed up their motion. Any specific hints, suggestions, and ideas are welcome. Remember, these are young beginners, and remember the time and space constraints that I am working with, and that the objective is a reasonable degree of competency, but I want them to do it with the proper mechanics (I don't believe in compromising good mechanics just to get it over the plate) I welcome your input folks! Thanks--remember--SIMPLE & EFFECTIVE! ;D

 

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The only suggestion I would have is to break the entire motion down into upper half and lower half.
Start by having them go down on one knee, facing a wall, point their glove at their target with their throwing arm straight back, and work on wrist flips into the wall, trying to get proper ball rotation. Then go to 3/4 arm rotation, working up to full arm rotation, concentrating on ball rotation and form.
After several practice sessions I would then have them start working the lower half of the pitching motion. Start by having the step forward with there stride foot on a power line just going to the open position (shoulders and hips open, with glove pointed toward target and throwing arm rotating to a position where your arms are in a 9 and 3 position). Have them repeat this numerous times till muscle memory starts to be achieved. Then have them go to the 3and 9 position by telling them to open, hold that position, then tell them to close, by completing the arm rotation till they are in a position where they have completed the movement.
I have worked with several young pitchers that have learned the pitching motion quickly by breaking it down to upper and lower half training that enforces muscle memory.
When you do start to put it all together be sure to have them throw from shorter distances so they are working more on throwing the ball and not so concerned about getting the ball to the catcher.
Ernie Parker has some great videos that really break down the throwing motion and make it easy to learn and teach.
Hope this helps a little bit and Good Luck, Have any questions or need any help feel free to get in touch wih me.

Coach Yeater

 

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1 Hour with Bill Hillhouse is priceless. Best money you will ever spend on pitching lessons in my opinion. You will learn more about teaching pitching with Bill in 1 hour than watching 10 hours of videos. I have been in your shoes, watched hours of videos and Hillhouse is the best. He will be in Lima on Jan. 29 according to an earlier post. He works with our pitchers at The Ohio Wave quite often. Very affordable. You will spend more on 1 video than on a Hillhouse clinic. ;D
WWW.HOUSEOFPITCHING.COM

 

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Wave16,..is giving you the best advice ever uttered in ?Fastpitch softball . Get to Bill ,...even if you have to go by yourself and take a coaches lesson to get started.

? ?I had no prior coaching experience ,....Started my first yr 10U daughter with Bill last spring . I took everything in while watching him coach my daughter . I made it a mission to breakdown his every reason and rhyme .
Let me say that ,...as mystical as some say his teaching is .(Its Not) His teaching is simple and to the point . He shows you the absolutes and the rest is educating yourself with his mechanics and simple drills. Then investing hundreds of hours in your girls. ?

? ? ? Our daughter developed quickly through the summer,....played up in 12U fall league ( pitched at 40' with a 12 " ball) ?She is readying with a central ohio organization back down at 10U for 2006. I know Im bias ,...but all dad pride aside,...she is a well oiled Hillhouse machine.
? She has great speed, location and control. We owe it all to Bill and of course ,...a young ladies commitment to work hard.


? ?

? ? ? ? ?
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As much as I agree with Wave and Rod about getting a great pitching coach like Bill ( who I was lucky enough to play catch with today), that doesn't answer the question that Moz5 has presented. Sometimes we can't get to a coach or don't have the resources to pay for it, so what to do then?
Moz5 is giving girls that opportunity, so how about some more creative ideas or drills.
Good Luck Moz!!

 

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Talk to Bill Hillhouse...

http://www.houseofpitching.com/

 

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Thank you LADYKNIGHTS, I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr Hillhouse and do email him from time to time, and have been to 4 other clinics with my 12 y.o. dd, and have videos by Hillhouse, Lisa Fernandez, and Ernie Parker. Within 9 total Thursday evening sessions, within a station-structure in a very small all-purpose room, (in other words, I'm teaching this while others are working in an equally small space--about 1/4 the size of a regulation sized gym total-- for hitting and fielding), and while I have some ideas in my head, I would like to have a simple outline of lessons that will help the girls progress as much as possible within these constraints.I guess I'm not very organized.Each of these girls seems to be at the same level--the very beginning. :

 

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With the facilities you have to work with you are probably doing the best things possible. The bottom line here is going to be getting lots of repititions of correct mechanics, whether the distance is 10 feet, or 40 feet. We often found that working from shorter distances helped make those corrections easier, since it wasn't as difficult for them to believe they were near the strike zone. Even when you tell a kid that we are not worried about balls or strikes at this point, when they throw the ball 10 feet over the catchers head, they know they have done something wrong. Part of the game is doing the work to establish the muscle memory, the other part is what is between the ears.

 

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Moz,

Send me an email. I can give you some help and insight on this one. I am a pitching coach. We may need to talk on the phone too. If your willing to spend a dime I will take the time.

Elliott.

 

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You can not go wrong with Bill Hillhouse.
best money I ever spent.

 

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Like I said earlier, 1 hour with Bill will answer all your questions and he can give you the right drills to do in your space.

 

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There is other great pitching coaches (Bill is not the only coach) Emily at ON THE MOUND. I think she is one of the
best in Central Ohio.

 

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Though this is off the subject, I agree with pouncer, Emily Windle-Halpin @ On The Mound in Delaware does an excellent job.

 

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I agree that there are lots of great pitching coaches in Ohio and beyond. I just mentioned Bill Hillhouse because my DD has been to 3 or 4 pitching coaches over a few years and they all taught pretty much the same way. When we met Bill, everything changed in an instant for the better. Simple,Basic,Joe six pack approach. No straight arm pitching.
I learned more from Bill in 1 hour than I did with several college pitching coaches over 4 years. That is the truth. I will never put down any coach that is trying to teach, because that is what we do...Teach. Some styles just prove better for some people than others. I was just trying to help out Moz5.

 

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It's funny you should mention that (thank you, everyone, by the way)because: #1 tomorrow we have our next indoor practice, and I'll let you know how that goes with our beginners :, and #2 my own dd, who has been to 4 pitching clinics in the past 2 years--these past 2 Sundays (the only day of the week she gets any real throwing time in)have been WAY out of control for her, she's all over the place. Methinks that maybe too many pitching clinics with too many conflicting ideas, or maybe it's just that while a lot of her teammates are playing bball now, she decided to do a school musical. I don't mind her having other interests besides softball, but I figured that 14 Sundays spread over the winter would help her hone in on fine-tuning her mechanics, but this doesn't seem to be happening..and with her first year of school ball a couple of months away, what's a mom/coach/catcher to do? :

 

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...and with her first year of school ball a couple of months away...

Hate to break this to you, but if she's playing HS ball in Ohio, it's only 38 days until pitchers and catchers start. 8)

 

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;DIt's MS ball. Heck, I don't even know if they give pitchers and catchers extra time for ms ball in western PA. :-/

 

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Moz,

Just a quick follow - up. How did it go?

Elliott.

 

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:-[It didn't. It's getting very frustrating. Our practice time (5:00-7:00) was totally bumped off for a PTO meeting that wasn't scheduled to start until 7:00! We even offered to end 45 minutes early, and re-set up for them, and the week before that, we were scrapped for 'Market Day'. So here I am so worried about how to teach these girls, when we can't even get our allotted time in! :'(I'll let you know if we get our time this Thursday, thanks for asking.

 

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Moz5,

I sense the frustration in your mail. Start looking for alternatives for this type of situation. You may find a better place to practice. As a coach you always want a backup plan in case your original falls thorugh.

When I was a kid in Ohio I spent many an hour in a large barn playing hoops. It was lined with hay and was the perfect wind breaker. We would be in there playing in freezing weather and would still be somewhat comfortable. You could do pitching and catching in that kind of setting if you can find a farmer that would allow it and has the space open.

Talk to your church organizations ect in the area. Tell them you are looking for some space for a couple of hours a week.

Stay positive. You will get it done.

Elliott.