I'm working my way through Paulygirl intermediate certification and am about 2/3 finished, and I've got probably 70 hours of observation at my daughter's lessons, so I have a pretty good grasp of the mechanics of pitching and IR. I'm helping a couple of the middle school girls who want to start pitching, and in the interest of time I'd like to get them headed the right direction as I keep working to finish my own training. I have a feeling some of this is answered in later videos of the Paulygirl lessons, but if I can get them going with a couple simple things right now, it would be a better use of our time.
I've done a basic assessment of their natural movement and athletic ability, but I'm not sure where to start with these kids from a base standpoint. One is 12 and has never pitched but already has a nice smooth movement and has easily fallen into a not-too-terrible arm whip. The other is 11 and pitched several games of little league after teaching herself the push style via youtube. From what she's shown me so far, I don't think it'll be too difficult to get her out of the push. She listens and tries her best to do what I tell her, and doesn't appear to have developed much muscle memory for the push style.
Do I just step them through the full motion a piece at a time, only moving ahead after the previous piece is "mastered?" Or do I break the pieces up into a few separate drills? It seems like teaching the last part of the sequence (9:00 to release) is something they should work on at every session.
I just don't want to send them home to practice on their own with information overload. I recall Rick saying he usually sends a student home with one thing to work on. My goal for both of them is to be able to consistently get the ball across the plate at the most controllable speed by the time games start in March.
Tips or advice?? Thanks!
I've done a basic assessment of their natural movement and athletic ability, but I'm not sure where to start with these kids from a base standpoint. One is 12 and has never pitched but already has a nice smooth movement and has easily fallen into a not-too-terrible arm whip. The other is 11 and pitched several games of little league after teaching herself the push style via youtube. From what she's shown me so far, I don't think it'll be too difficult to get her out of the push. She listens and tries her best to do what I tell her, and doesn't appear to have developed much muscle memory for the push style.
Do I just step them through the full motion a piece at a time, only moving ahead after the previous piece is "mastered?" Or do I break the pieces up into a few separate drills? It seems like teaching the last part of the sequence (9:00 to release) is something they should work on at every session.
I just don't want to send them home to practice on their own with information overload. I recall Rick saying he usually sends a student home with one thing to work on. My goal for both of them is to be able to consistently get the ball across the plate at the most controllable speed by the time games start in March.
Tips or advice?? Thanks!