Assessment of Players

[uncdrew]

Care to share the time frame of going through a few pitching coaches before finding the one you like?!
What things did you notice along that route?

We were with one about a year, then moved to another, stayed about 1.5 years, then moved to another (where we've been about 1.5 years now).

The first one did things counter to what the "experts" here in the pitching world recommended. The drills and mechanics and the science of the body and how it works and such convinced me to find someone big into IR and the natural movement of the body. So I found one.

The second one did kind of tell us we should move on. Not in those words, but she likes to teach girls in the beginning/middle of their pitching journey. The one we're with now specializes in taking girls that are really solid and making them better. We had to send in video to be considered, as she's in high demand and can pick her clients. There are people driving in from neighboring states to take lessons from her.

 

[PJR202]

The first one did things counter to what the "experts" here in the pitching world recommended. The drills and mechanics and the science of the body and how it works and such convinced me to find someone big into IR and the natural movement of the body. So I found one.

How did that conversation go? Just curious.

 

[uncdrew]

How did that conversation go? Just curious.

I sent him videos of college players who were very clearly doing IR, with the forearm and wrist completely turning over - about as opposite from Hello Elbow as you can get.

He countered with "Oh, those are dropballs".

They weren't.

We kinda just phased out the lessons. Honestly, I probably ghosted him. Not very cool of me I guess, but I think he knew I was looking for more "current" techniques and mechanics. He was a great coach for a 9 year old - very positive, taught her some good mental lessons.

 

[PJR202]

I sent him videos of college players who were very clearly doing IR, with the forearm and wrist completely turning over - about as opposite from Hello Elbow as you can get.

He countered with "Oh, those are dropballs".

They weren't.

We kinda just phased out the lessons. Honestly, I probably ghosted him. Not very cool of me I guess, but I think he knew I was looking for more "current" techniques and mechanics. He was a great coach for a 9 year old - very positive, taught her some good mental lessons.

Not the kind of interaction I like to have, but I've put a lot of work into acquiring a pretty solid grasp of pitching and how to instruct it. I have 80+ hours of observation at my kid's lessons, probably a couple hundred hours of bucket time with her, got the paulygirl intermediate cert, countless hours of youtube, and three years coaching, and I think I'm capable of taking over at this point, or fairly soon. She and I also work very well together.

She isn't being taught HE, but it's not quite IR either). She hits the zone about 70% of the time. That was fine as a #2 middle school pitcher, but there are a few major issues that haven't been corrected and I'm starting to think they won't be as long as there's a lesson every week where she falls back into bad habits after I try to break them during the previous week. There are things that just aren't noticed, or are likely being considered not as important as something else he's teaching, when I'm nearly 100% certain they ARE of primary importance.

And I really think a lot of this comes down to organization and planning.

At some point probably 10 years ago I started trusting my gut more. Since then I've always looked back later and didn't regret it. The gut is starting to talk to me again, and I think the only thing holding me back at this point is confidence in my own abilities. But as I work with our newer kids on the team more, that confidence is building quickly. We like this guy a lot, and as far as experience/success as a pitcher goes, no one, anywhere, can provide a significantly better resume. Teaching is a different animal though, and something I've done in my work life for many years. I'm told I'm pretty good at it. He's been a positive force in her life in many ways as well, and is just a great person all around. I know that's not a reason to stay, though. For now I'm just looking for ways to integrate what I know and see where it goes.