Pitching Styles

[NWAKO7]

I have an 11 year old daughter that has been pitching since she was 8 and recently her pitching coached moved. I have located another instructor but the style of pitching she teaches is different. My daughters current style is what I would call open hipped, but the new instructor teaches a closed hip style of pitching. I am wondering if I should switch my daughter or keep looking for another instructor. Can someone tell me what the advantages and disadvantages of each style are? or is one better than the other? Any comments would be geatly appreciated.

 

[Ken Krause]

Short answer: Keep looking.

There's no reason to close the hips, assuming you mean snap the hips completely closed so the arm is passing the side of the hip, or the arm and hip are "racing" to the same spot. You want to keep the hips out of the way until after release. At the point of release, they should be open 45 to 52 degrees.

If you close the hips, they're in the way. That position also puts your arm in a position where it is pushing the ball toward the plate instead of pulling it and creating whip. That will reduce the speed the pitcher can achieve. Not saying she'll be slow, but she'll be slower than she could be. It's also not a good position from which to throw other pitches, especially the rise and screw, which is where you want to get to sooner or later.

Forceably closing the hips can also lead to an injury called shoulder impingement, which is pain in the back of the shoulder. I've had cases where a new pitcher came to me and I asked her to throw like she throws now. I watch her close her hips, ask her "Does it ever hurt right here when you pitch?" and they inevitably say yes.

Others can probably add to this list. But those are a few good reasons.

 

[Mark H]

Pitch like this MOV 1 of 3, Windmill and this MOV 3 of 3, Windmill whatever term you want to use to describe it.

 

[SBFAMILY]

1st & 2nd Year Pitchers Great softball pitching hints and recommendations for girl softball pitchers Since she is young I have found this site and I think it helps parents understand what young pitchers should be doing and how to look for a good pitching coach.

 

[FJRGerry]

1st & 2nd Year Pitchers Great softball pitching hints and recommendations for girl softball pitchers Since she is young I have found this site and I think it helps parents understand what young pitchers should be doing and how to look for a good pitching coach.

I discovered this site a couple of years back and have read through just about all of it. I found it VERY informative. You may also want to consider getting a DVD which teaches the open style. I bought Michele Smith's DVDs a couple of years ago and have taught my daughter based on her method. As long as you find a pitching coach who agrees with her method you should be in good shape.

 

[giantmonster]

Its good to do more research and find a physical trainer or coach in the sense...

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

When DD first started pitching she was seeing a "pitching coach" that taught closed hips, telling her to "slam the door" at release and she only talked about speed. After 6 months there was little improvement in her pitching and DD's shoulder hurt after 1-2 innings.

DD's current pitching coach of nearly 2 years teaches an open hips style of pitching. She does finish with her hips closed to the catcher, but her hips are only 45-50 degrees closed at release. She finishes in an athletic stance ready for the returning ball. DD can pitch for many many innings with no pain and her speed and accuracy have improved ten-fold.