For All You I/R Pitching Junkies........

[CoachFP]

Hal, I agree with that. They have to be taught at a young age. I am not talking just picking pitches, but baserunning, defensive strategies etc.etc. A lot of the coaches I see are pitching machine coaches meaning that is what they love to do. Teaching fundamentals is last on these coaches minds.

 

[Wellphyt]

I bought Hillhouse's dvd a couple of years ago to teach my daughter. I don't teach my daughter anything until I do it first. Which is why I know that there is little to no twisting of the spine when the ball is cradled in the glove at the hip. People that make that statement are either doing it incorrectly, or, they have never tried it.

Put on your glove, grab a ball, and stand in front of a mirror with your shoulders square to the mirror and your feet positioned as if you were standing on a pitcher's plate. Stand up stright and Cradle the ball in the glove and rest it on your throwing side hip. You can easily do this without twisting your spine. I'm old and even I can do it without twisting. With the glove and ball cradled on your hip, simply bend forward at the waist. That's how it's done. There is zero risk of injury, and women can do this movement just as easily as men. As someone already mentioned, the movement is primarily controlled by the upper shoulder complex.

The benefit of cradling the ball in the glove (besides the obvious fact that it hides the ball), is that it virtually quarantees that the ball will go back the same distance everytime during the backswing; and, that the throwing arm will not lock out at the elbow. It also helps with the explosion off the pitchers plate, because the cradle at the hip perfectly balances the forward lean of the body.

Bill's dvds are excellent and well worth the money. The guy knows how to pitch and teach pitching.

 

[rowdy]

Many of the clips are excerpts from USA Softball videos that are marketed by ASA.

 

[NVfishing]

If this will be the case in the future, why not teach our young pitchers this technique now and get them used to this style of pitching? I wonder if any velocity (momentum) is sacrificed with everything on the right side (rhp). Lastly, the guy at the 5:30 mark starts out with the ball straight up at 12 o'clock, I wonder if he is less effective than the other pitchers because he is "announcing" his grip to the wold?!

My youngest imitates girls or women she's watched pitching. She watched a young woman in Utah last year pitching like that and that's how she likes to pitch now. She thinks it helps her. Last year she was winding up like Cat, this year it's like Bill!

 

[Ken B]

Bump

Well worth the read in spite of the drama....

 

[txnick]

I loved this read. One of main concerns is my DD glove swing when pitching at full speed and I am hoping that cradle the ball fixes this. Of all the pitching coaches she had not one had an issue with this :/

 

[jlrball]

Thanks for bumping old threads. I'm kind of getting used to the drama around here too

 

[Coachmom]

This may be too late in but At 2:18 Cat talks about throwing the DROP and she clearly states which drop she throws.
Watch

Pitching - The Rise, Drop and Curve - YouTube

 

[halskinner]

It is absolutely absurd to believe that cradling the ball is some new innovation. And that only men do this or did this.

Please, people, be respectful of the history of the game and understand that just because you see something now for the first time it is not the first time. The game was not in the dark ages or started yesterday just because you were not here.

The long backswing windup is much NEWER than cradling the ball in the glove.

I saw women doing the cradling in the seventies. I did it in the eighties. Hal also mentioned open pitching started decades ago.

Now ya went and it screwball! Now everybody is going to think you are 'Old School'.

 

[txnick]

I loved this read. One of main concerns is my DD glove swing when pitching at full speed and I am hoping that cradle the ball fixes this. Of all the pitching coaches she had not one had an issue with this :/

Well my DD tried the cradle the ball position after much fighting and guess what it fixed her glove arm swimming. She saw it with her own eyes from a mirror. We plan on working the cradle the ball as her pre-load.