We had a 4-game one day tournament yesterday and some moments made me think of this post (funny how that works).
As pitching falls to me (and I’ve worked with our two pitchers the past 3 years) I have cues they’ve both learned.
- “Work fast” (Speed up, you’ve slowed down to aim. Big no no).
- “Posture posture” (Fire the glutes, slouching/leaning too much).
- “Fast arm” or “Glove glove” (Depends on which pitcher. Arm gets slow or is being consistently behind.)
- “Zero elbow” (One pitcher tends to break at the elbow when she gets tired).
That’s about it for when they are pitching. Anything more than that is either a trip to the rubber or is discussed between innings/after the game.
Re: trips to the rubber. Probably better off a new topic. But usually for our pitchers isn’t so much about mechanics as it is a mental break from fighting whatever it is they’re fighting. A quick chat about “strategy”, with our catcher, to take their mind off it sometimes works better than the cues. Reset and go.
Edit: Question to add….how many “misses” does it take before a verbal cue? And how many before a trip to the circle?
As pitching falls to me (and I’ve worked with our two pitchers the past 3 years) I have cues they’ve both learned.
- “Work fast” (Speed up, you’ve slowed down to aim. Big no no).
- “Posture posture” (Fire the glutes, slouching/leaning too much).
- “Fast arm” or “Glove glove” (Depends on which pitcher. Arm gets slow or is being consistently behind.)
- “Zero elbow” (One pitcher tends to break at the elbow when she gets tired).
That’s about it for when they are pitching. Anything more than that is either a trip to the rubber or is discussed between innings/after the game.
Re: trips to the rubber. Probably better off a new topic. But usually for our pitchers isn’t so much about mechanics as it is a mental break from fighting whatever it is they’re fighting. A quick chat about “strategy”, with our catcher, to take their mind off it sometimes works better than the cues. Reset and go.
Edit: Question to add….how many “misses” does it take before a verbal cue? And how many before a trip to the circle?
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