I hesitated to get in on this one however it has its merits...we have done several coaches clinics and hitting clinics in the area and around the state of Ohio. Crystl and I changed the format of how we teach hitting in 2004 after I met Don Slaught as I felt Don expanded my knowledge on how the body actually works using video. We introduced throwing prior to teaching hitting mainly because it is easier to communicate balance, weight shift and momentum for throwing and then draw analogies to show what is similar to hitting. On several occasions you will hear a parent say my daughter already knows how to throw in a very sarcastic tone of voice. I usually say which one is yours? When you can predict which ones can not throw by how they swing there is a trait you can identify in most cases....no weight shift or balance equals poor throwing mechanics! At the recent Hawks Clinic I was given the opportunity to work with a girl whom I had never worked with and she had not been to any of our clinics. I soft tossed her three balls, inside, middle and away and she pulled all three pitches. I made the mother upset when I said she probably does not throw well either. I whispered to the mother watch when she throws as her back leg will not release, her arm will go straight down and not across her body and her arm should hurt at the elbow and shoulder. She threw three balls and the mother gasped and said how could you possibly knew that was going to happen? The daughter said did you tell him my arm always hurts there? Again no balance, no weight shift in hitting and I would suspect they will be poor throwers. The only time I have been wrong was with a boy who did not hit well however he was a great pitcher. The girl I was working with was 15 or 16 I think. The question is how did she make it this far without being shown the fundamentals for throwing and catching a ball by one of her coaches or a parent? I know and understand not all kids have a dad involved in their life and understand that however to have played this long and no one has shown her how to play without her arm hurting her!
So you wonder why this state or that state is better and you look at the fundamentals being taught and in most cases it is by a male. At the coaches clinic there may have been 65 coaches and I think 5 maybe 6 were females. I asked a male coach to show me what balance was and he could not do it and neither could a female coach. Then I explained the difference and why and then both of them got it and I proved it would only work one way and we could test for it so the player could feel it. That may have taken 6 minutes. We used the mantra Measurable and Observable and how could we test to see if it worked and if the player could feel the difference. The girl I worked with at the clinic took 20 minutes to show a marked improvement in her throwing technique and probably an hour plus to be able to hit the ball to all fields.
Bill Hillhouse touched on the subject of what pitching coaches are teaching in this area and without going into a lot of detail he brought his arm up and over the shoulder and said that is just wrong and it is a accident waiting to happen as the arm should finish across the body. I was sitting next to Marc Degenais and he agreed. I stood up and said I have seen Doug Gills teach and now you and you are very close to what he does as to mechanics. I know girls that have been to both of you and they throw harder, have more movement on the ball and their arms, shoulder and backs do not hurt anymore...why? Fundamentals! The girls as well as the coaches are not, have not been taught the fundamentals just for throwing and that includes balance!
Then I got to watch Howard Kobata and was impressed with his techniques. However the girls could not throw properly. At dinner that night we discussed that and Howard K sent an email to me about how what we taught seemed to flow and tie in from one movement to the next and that he was changing how he presented his techniques so the coaches would hopefully ask more questions and if they could not feel what it was he was trying to teach. He stated that in the last few clinics it changed and we are sharing ideas about how to change what we present so the coaches see it, feel it and fix it!
Also if you feel this same thing is not happening at the college level just look around at the next game and see how they throw? How did they get there and what are they being taught? How can you teach what Howard K does, and I think what he teaches works, to a person that can not even get balanced from a coach who can not even show you the player how to get balanced or feel the difference? As they said in the Navy "stuff" all flows down hill!
We have not as a community stressed the fundamentals and balance, throwing, running, sliding are very basic and then look around you at all the knee braces, ice bags and you wonder why? All the girls should be given a chance to improve and find a level of play they can compete at and enjoy the sport of softball and we as coaches or teachers need to improve what and how we do it so they can take it to the next level whatever it may be.
I have worked with many of you in the community and have seen the improvements you have made with your teams because of your individual effort to do the basics and it started with balance and throwing techniques and you are building on a solid foundation when you do that in my opinion.
I think the Hawks Clinic was good for this community as it clearly showed a lack of fundamental skills is missing within any organization and can be improved when all the coaches get on the same page and the kids reap the benefits of your efforts...Les, Kavin, Tom, Doug, Derek, MEB, Chris, Tim, Cshilt, Kurt, Tom L, Dan, Shayne, Gerry....stay on course! You can see the progress already...throwing is a fundamental start to a sound foundation in my opinion.
Howard C
I personally hope we have enough options for these girls to play select softball.
