Category Archives: Coaching
Sharpening the rollover drop
As I have mentioned before, one of the ongoing challenges of coaching is finding new ways to say the same thing. It goes back to Einstein’s definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
In the area of coaching, you will have a way of explaining something that works. Then all of a sudden it doesn’t for one student. No matter how many times you repeat the same phrase, it doesn’t seem to do any good. Insanity. So you have to find another way to obtain the results you want.
Recently I had one of those discoveries while working with a couple of kids on their rollover drops. I teach both the peel and rollover, depending on the student and which I think will work best for her. I used to teach the rollover exclusively. Now I teach more peel by far. But I still do both.
In any case, the rollover drop wasn’t quite working the way it should. It was starting too low and not breaking enough. I tried my usual explanations of what to do, but they didn’t help. Then I suggested using the wrist less and the forearm more. Suddenly it was like a lightbulb came on. By emphasizing the forearm, the hand came up higher, starting the ball around the hip, and the spin rate was greater, resulting in a flat pitch with a sharp downward break.
I don’t know if it will work for every pitcher. But it did for these two. I’ll keep using that cue — at least until someone else requires me to invent a new one.
Deja vu all over again
Over the last two weeks I have had one of those really interesting experiences that reminds you that life keeps marching on.
I am doing some pitching clinics on Sunday afternoons. Each is a one-hour clinic with a few kids from their local rec leagues. The clinics repeat for several Sundays, so I do have the chance to do the kind of repetitive work that leads to improvement.
A new group started on March 8. As I was introducing myself to them I looked at one of the girls (Caitlyn) and she seemed vaguely familiar. I stopped in mid-sentence and said “I’ve worked with you before, haven’t I?” She smiled and said yes. Turns out she had done this same type of clinic with me two or three years ago.
The thing is, she was probably around 10 years old then. She is now 13, I think, and has changed considerably. Back when I worked with her before she was a small, slightly built girl who was just finding her way athletically. She is now a teen, around 5′ 6″ tall and athletic-looking.
I’m pretty sure that I accidentally pushed her down once when I was trying to demonstrate how to push off the rubber. At the time she wasn’t getting it, so I gave her a little push from behind, her foot came down early and down she went. I mentioned that to her and we both had a laugh. She wasn’t sure if it was her but thought it might’ve been.
Then this past week a new girl joined that group. Her name is Claire. I don’t remember her quite as well, but she told me she had done this clinic with me a couple of years ago as well. She did seem familiar, but again I am used to seeing her as a little kid, not a teen.
It really is something when you see someone like that after a couple of years — especially at those two ages. They really do change a lot in a couple of years.
One good thing I saw is that they both maintained a lot of the mechanics we had worked on. Each has some things to work on, but we didn’t have to start over from scratch. Caitlyn even remembered the changeup I’d taught her back then and threw it well this past Sunday. Nice to see the work we put in stuck. When they come in for clinics and then go away you just never know.
Be careful of over-reliance on video
There is definitely value in watching video of high-level players. Seeing their approach provides some good general clues as to what youth and other players should do. If you watch enough to pick up on patterns, it can even help guide more specifics.
But there is a danger in becoming over-reliant on it too. Hal Skinner made a great point about this on the Discuss Fastpitch forum. He said you have to know what you’re looking at to determine whether it’s what you should follow or not.
I want to take that a step further. Just because you see and imitate the movements doesn’t mean you’ll become a high-level player. To understand that, let’s look at it in a different context.
Suppose you could gain access to videos of Eddie van Halen, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Joe Satriani playing guitar. The video would be focused on their finger movements. Do you honestly believe you could learn to play guitar as well as they do simply by watching them and then trying to apply what you see? Doubtful. You might learn to play, and might even develop some pretty decent technique if you worked at it enough. But the odds are you won’t be able to play in their league. They have a level of ability hard-wired into their DNA that you can’t acquire by watching video and imitating.
The same goes with high-level softball players, or MLB hitters. There is simply more to it than that. And quite frankly, a lot of those elite players don’t have ideal (or even the greatest) mechanics. They do have an incredible level of talent that makes up for it, though.
Again, video is good and helpful. It can definitely help you find clues to success and let you know whether the path you’re following is the right way to go. But over-reliance on what you see on video may actually get in the way. Take the general principles and find the rest of the way yourself. It’s the real key to success.
The nicest compliment a coach can get
I was talking to the mom of one of my students tonight, a girl named Lauren, and she told me one of those stories that makes me glad to be a coach.
Lauren had her high school tryouts last week. When she came in for her Monday lesson she was kind of down. She didn’t feel like she had done well and was a little concerned about her chances. We had a pretty good lesson, I gave her a few words of encouragement, and she went home.
Tonight her mom told me it was just what she needed. She woke up Tuesday morning all pumped up, and went in and nailed her tryout.
As coaches we spend a lot of our time working on the mechanics and physical skills. We sometimes forget about the mental part. Boosting a player’s self-esteem can sometimes do more for them than a whole boat full of drills. It’s important to remember that that’s a big part of the job. And when you’re successful it’s a great feeling!
The jerk factor
Generally speaking, I have made a concerted effort to keep Life in the Fastpitch Lane positive and informative. But every now and then something just gets to me and I have to speak out. Tonight is one of those nights.
I was teaching lessons when the mother of one of my students, a 10U girl I’ve been working with since September came in with a horror story — her third in three weeks. You see, about three weeks ago they joined a travel team. During the “courtship” phase everything was wonderful. They said all the right things and really made it seem like she had found a home.
Since that time, however, the experience has been anything but good. Part of it stems from the head of the organization who apparently fashions himself a pitching coach and general softball guru. He told the mom that all the girls in the organization are taught by him, and essentially said my student should be too. The mom resisted, as she is happy with the progress her daughter is making and can see the value. She also saw that what this guy is teaching the other pitchers is not what you see in high-level pitchers.
He wants them all to touch their shoulders with their hands after release (both pointless and dangerous to the elbow), and bring the right foot past the left, stepping through (pointless and detrimental to speed and control). Worse, when the 19 girls he has lined up for pitching don’t do those and other stupid things he screams at them.
When she wouldn’t kowtow to him, the abuse started. He began telling her that her daughter was the worst pitcher there, that she couldn’t throw overhand, and basically that she is a terrible player. Her daughter was segregated out with a couple of other new kids during defensive work, so that while the rest of the team (returning players) were working on defensive team drills, the newbies were just fielding ground balls. I don’t work with her on that part and haven’t seen the others so I don’t know where she fits in skill-wise, but you would think that at 10U everyone could use some work on ground balls, and all the kids need to learn team defense. This was apparently more punishment for not getting with the program.
Now, understand this girl is about as enthused about softball as any kid I’ve ever met. For Christmas she asked for (and received) a Club K pitching mat and some other softball training items and was thrilled! She couldn’t wait to tell me about it. But her mom told me she asked if she could just skip team practice. That’s not like her at all. In three weeks, the a** clowns for coaches they have in this program have managed to destroy her spirit. Nice job, jerks.
I talked to the mom about it for a while, but of course I do have a personal stake here. Fortunately, my next student experienced a similar situation a couple of years ago, so I asked her dad to talk to this mom, give his perspective as a neutral observer, and generally see what he thinks. He could care less where she plays or what else she does, so it’s about as neutral as you can get. His advice? Run. Run as fast and as far as you can from this program before they destroy her daughter’s confidence completely and drive her from the game. He told me later that as she described the experience, he was able to finish her thoughts and she his. It was the same thing, although his was a different program. And his daughter pitches for one of the top programs in Illinois, not to mention the US.
The final nail is the difference in this girl between our sessions and her practices. At her last practice, her mom said 48 out of 50 pitches hit the ceiling. When she was with me tonight she threw far more strikes than balls, and never hit the ceiling once. It’s the difference between a positive atmosphere and a toxic one.
I don’t get it. I don’t get why people like that go into coaching. I don’t get why people sign up to be coached by them, or don’t run from them when they see what they are. It’s not like there’s some great payoff. This program is a bottom-feeder — they go into low level tournaments and leagues so they can rack up wins and talk about how good they are. I’ve never seen any of their teams in tournaments I’ve coached in, and neither has the dad.
There is simply no reason to put up with behavior like that, or the abuse that comes with it. Coaches like that give the entire sport a black eye. Hopefully others will wise up and move on to better situations. We really don’t need girls getting turned off to the game by jerks.
Embrace adversity
This is probably a direct result of Stacie at the Fastpitch Softball Blog. I saw her post yesterday “Feeling Quoty” and liked it. Then lo and behold, in my day planner this morning I ran across a quote I liked so much I thought I’d pass on. It reads:
“Kites rise highest against the wind — not with it.” The source of the quote is Winston Churchill, a man who knew a thing or two about getting through tough times.
So what does that mean? To me it says that facing difficulties in your life helps make you a better, more complete person. As long as you can stand up to the winds of adversity you will come out the other end at a higher level than when you started. And often it’s the adversity we face that makes us who we are. As another great leader said, “I don’t want to lose my pain. It’s what makes me who I am.” — Captain Kirk
Softball is a game built on failure, and failure is a form of adversity. When that happens — whether it’s striking out, walking too many hitters, booting a ground ball, dropping a fly ball, or not making a team you want to be on — you have two choices. You can feel sorry for yourself, get all down, go into a shell and make things worse. Or you can rise above it, learn from the experience, embrace the lesson and use it all to make you a better person as well as a better ballplayer.
What happens to you is often outside your control. What you do with what happens to you, and how you react to it, is entirely within your control. When the winds of adversity blow, be a kite.
Does the grip matter?
So, I was working with our players today on hitting when I noticed something with one of them. As I looked at her hands I could see that she was holding the bat handle deep in her palms, and her knuckles were in the “matched grip” position, i.e. the knocking knuckles on one hand were lined up with the big knuckles of the other.
I stopped her for a moment, double checked what I thought I was seeing, and had her move the bat into her fingers and turn her hands so the knocking knuckles lined up (more or less) with each other. She then continued hitting, but with measurably better results. Instead of hitting weak ground balls and fly balls, she started blasting line drives.
Afterwards, she was pretty pleased. I asked her if anyone had ever told her about moving the bat into her fingers before and she said no. It was the first she’d heard of either.
Previously we had noticed she tended to let go of the bat early — her top hand would often come off at contact, where it would hang down while the bottom hand finished pulling the bat around. We tried to get her to hang on to the bat longer but it was a struggle. After changing her grip she was holding the bat all the way through the swing without being reminded.
Now, understand this is her first year playing travel ball. She had played rec ball and high school (including varsity last year). No’ one had told her about the fingers and the knuckles, though. We didn’t even think to look either. I personally assume kids know it by the time they’re high school age. Apparently not.
The girl was pretty excited about this discovery. We both commented on the big difference a small change can make. She is a very good athlete, and probably got by mostly on that. But athleticism coupled with good technique is better than athleticism alone.
Now, there are those who will say the grip isn’t that important. I beg to differ. This one simple change made a world of difference for this girl by putting her into a stronger position at contact. My guess is the bat used to get knocked back somewhat when it was in the palms. It doesn’t anymore. So learn from my lesson and don’t assume. If you have a hitter who just isn’t hitting to her potential, or is releasing the bat too early, check her grip.
You just never know
We live in a society that expects instant results. Often there is very little patience or willingness to hang in there while players find themselves.
I’ve certainly seen that with teaching pitching and hitting. Some kids (and/or their parents) will take a couple of lessons and expect that somehow, magically, the player will instantly become better. Well, it doesn’t work that way. Improvement comes in increments. Some learn faster than others, just like some learn math or a foreign language faster than others. But it’s not instant.
And sometimes it can take a long time. I have had pitching students who just couldn’t seem to get the feeling of attacking the pitch. They’d go through the motions, but without that intent to throw hard. Then one day, the lightbulb comes on and bang! They get a significant speed jump.
What is interesting to me in those cases is the parents who see it and DO have the patience to wait until their child comes out of the gate. It can’t be easy. You’re paying for lessons, and while there is some general improvement it’s not really the kind of results you’d hope for. But rather than giving up, they stick with it, and their patience is rewarded.
Now, if the kid really doesn’t want to be there it’s never going to happen. I’ve had a couple of those, but fortunately only a couple. In those cases I do try to tell the parents it’s not working. But if the player is enthused about the lessons, I’ll keep going as long as she wants to because I know what we’re doing will work when the time is right.
Quite frankly, as a coach I wish every kid could get things instantly. It would be easier on everyone. But that’s not the case. As the song (and the Bible verse on which it’s based) says, there is a time to every purpose under Heaven. Sometimes that time isn’t right away. But if what you’re doing is the right way to go about it, and you put in the effort, sooner or later it will take hold.
I am probably proudest of the students for whom it didn’t come easy — the ones who hung in there until the lightbulb came on. Because when it does, it’s a bigger deal than it was for the kids who were able to do it right away. I’m also confident that they have acquired a skill that will serve them well their entire lives — the skill of persistence.
It’s easy to think if it doesn’t happen right away that it never will. But you just never know. And remember — it doesn’t matter where you start the race. Only where you finish it.
Lesson cost (a bit of humor)
Don’t know what made me think of this tonight, but I was thinking about the sign you often see in auto repair shops that list the “rates” for fixing your car. Here’s my take on it:
Pitching Lessons Price List
- $40 per hour
- $50 per hour if you want to offer suggestions
- $60 per hour if you tried to teach her first
Well, I thought it was funny anyway.
Love the breakthroughs
Tonight I was working with one of my students, a girl named Brigid. (Yes, that’s the correct spelling. I confirmed it with her a while back.)
Brigid had done some pitching a couple of years ago, but a wrist problem stopped her career. She decided to give it a try again this year, and a couple of changes we made earlier has made it possible for her to pitch without pain.
She has had one persistent problem, though: she keeps throwing inside. It’s a habit she’s had a tough time breaking. We were able to figure out that there are a couple of different causes, but one of the main ones has been her arm circle. She tends to let it wander behind her, so at release it has to go out to her right to avoid slamming into her hip.
We’ve tried a few things over the past weeks to try and fix it, but none have had much lasting success. Tonight, though, I think we had a breakthrough.
One of the main causes of her circle problems has been pulling the ball behind her on her backswing. That motion forces her arm out and away, which creates an off-center circle. So tonight we switched her to a barrel roll start. The barrel roll forces her to start with her arms in the center of her body and keep them there until the ball gets overhead. In other words, it completely eliminates one of the main causes.
It wasn’t perfect — she also has a tendency to pull her shoulders up and out at times — but it made a big dent in it. One of the biggest benefits was a rise in her confidence level. She was excited and smiling by the end of the lesson, and inspired to go forward.
Hopefully it will have a lasting effect. Stay tuned.
