Question for instructors

[PJR202]

I just saw a comment in another thread stating that arm whip isnt natural for most girls. I've had that very thing on my mind recently as I work with a few aspiring pitchers on our middle school team. I have a mix of natural ability to work with.

Can you tell very early on if a girl won't make a good pitcher? Can you pretty accurately assess them based on movement, overhand throw, some sort of coordination testing, etc? Do you have requirements or some sort of skills they should possess before they attempt to pitch?

This is all presuming the work ethic and parental involvement is the same.

 

[tomorrow]

You need to tell us what the goal is? What level of play are you trying to achieve?

 

[CoachJD]

I just saw a comment in another thread stating that arm whip isnt natural for most girls. I've had that very thing on my mind recently as I work with a few aspiring pitchers on our middle school team. I have a mix of natural ability to work with.

Can you tell very early on if a girl won't make a good pitcher? Can you pretty accurately assess them based on movement, overhand throw, some sort of coordination testing, etc? Do you have requirements or some sort of skills they should possess before they attempt to pitch?

This is all presuming the work ethic and parental involvement is the same.

As with anything in sport, it helps to have natural athletic ability, Given your parameters in the last sentence, a more athletic girl is going to develop faster (and maybe also has a higher ceiling).

But to answer what I think is your most important question: I don't know if you can tell very early on if a girl won't make a good pitcher. I wouldn't base anything on their overhand throw (have you seen the overhand throws on some of the pretty good pitchers out there?!). I think you need to be able to trust them with the glove. You need to trust them to not be at risk on any comebacker. But how skilled they have to be overall really depends on age/quality of competition.

I have a pitcher in eighth grade who I have high hopes for. She's been pitching regularly for only a couple years. The first year or two she played, I'd have to bite my tongue at least once a game because of some of the stuff she did. The girl would routinely trip over her own feet while standing still. I thought for sure she'd play a year or two and find something else to do. She tried pitching a little during that time, but she wasn't interested in listening to anybody who was trying to teach her.

Then something clicked. She got serious. She started listening. And she's on a path to be pretty good. Not D1 good, but she certainly has a chance to play in college if she continues to develop. She still occasionally trips over her own feet, but as a pitcher, there are no signs of that clumsy, defiant kid who looked like she'd never figure things out.

 

[Northball]

Try it yourself. Hold your arm up above your shoulder with your palm facing the catcher. Let your arm go limp to fall down the back of the arm circle and carry forward. You should have just experienced internal rotation of your humerus and pronation of your wrist as it passed by your leg, a basis for whip.

Wrist flipping during a pitch isn't natural.

I had one girl I could tell had no chance. All her limbs seemed to move independent of each other with no coordination. She looked like a marionette. Since it was rec-level group coaching, I wasn't going to tell her she "can't". It didn't take her long to figure out pitching wasn't for her. It was kind of sad, her heart was in it, you could see the determination on her face, she tried to do what she was coached to do, but coordination just wasn't in her natural gifts.

 

[PJR202]

You need to tell us what the goal is? What level of play are you trying to achieve?

The ball over the plate by spring. A couple of the girls have some experience already so we aren't in terrible shape, but I'm teaching IR as opposed to just slow pitching it in there. It's going well and I'm not super concerned about three of them, but a couple of the new girls look like they're starting a lawnmower holding a cupcake.

The real goal though, is to have a program where we're teaching our pitchers in-house starting at LL age. There's not much out there by way of private lessons nearby and pitching has really suffered here in recent years.This is year #1of this plan though, so we're trying to be more efficient with the time we have. I just think we're gonna have to be selective about it for a while.

 

[PJR202]

Try it yourself. Hold your arm up above your shoulder with your palm facing the catcher. Let your arm go limp to fall down the back of the arm circle and carry forward. You should have just experienced internal rotation of your humerus and pronation of your wrist as it passed by your leg, a basis for whip.

Wrist flipping during a pitch isn't natural.

I had one girl I could tell had no chance. All her limbs seemed to move independent of each other with no coordination. She looked like a marionette. Since it was rec-level group coaching, I wasn't going to tell her she "can't". It didn't take her long to figure out pitching wasn't for her. It was kind of sad, her heart was in it, you could see the determination on her face, she tried to do what she was coached to do, but coordination just wasn't in her natural gifts.

This is essentially what I'm hoping to avoid. I want any kid to be able to give it a try, but I don't have the time or resources to take a chance on a "maybe."

My daughter pitches but moved up to the HS. She's not super athletically gifted but she has drive and desire. She's come a long way and I have all the confidence in the world in her at this point. But her circle was a mess for quite a while. If I had her in this group as a new thrower, she wouldn't be one I expected to have throwing consistently in the zone six months from now. I'm not getting rid of anyone right now. I just know I'll need to be selective for the next few seasons and I'd like to know what to look for in a kid before I inquire as to whether they're interested in free lessons.

 

[quincy]

Ideally you setup a little time outside of normal practice to work on pitching, if they show up it shows some level of commitment.

DD's HC in MS said he would be at the school at 6:30 AM every morning and work with anyone who wanted to pitch. I do not think any player took him up on it for whatever reason.

One resource you might have available to you is HS players. They can mark thier time down as charity which they might need for college applications.

 

[Ken Krause]

I don't think you can say whether a girl will make a good pitcher at an early age. A good coach can teach a monkey to pitch if the monkey works hard and is willing to learn.

Some will end up being better than others for sure. But ultimately it depends on what the pitcher wants out of it. Some want to pitch in college. Some just want to be good in their rec leagues. Both are worthy goals.

 

[PJR202]

Ideally you setup a little time outside of normal practice to work on pitching, if they show up it shows some level of commitment.

DD's HC in MS said he would be at the school at 6:30 AM every morning and work with anyone who wanted to pitch. I do not think any player took him up on it for whatever reason.

One resource you might have available to you is HS players. They can mark thier time down as charity which they might need for college applications.

Unfortunately our HS aces next year will be a 9th (my kid) and an 8th grader. Neither is experienced enough to instruct yet.

That's funny. If you can find a kid that shows at 6:30 you have a savage on your hands.

 

[PJR202]

I don't think you can say whether a girl will make a good pitcher at an early age. A good coach can teach a monkey to pitch if the monkey works hard and is willing to learn.

Some will end up being better than others for sure. But ultimately it depends on what the pitcher wants out of it. Some want to pitch in college. Some just want to be good in their rec leagues. Both are worthy goals.

I think I'll learn a lot with the two I have that are less natural throwers. Maybe that's a blessing for me as a new instructor. I'm eager to learn tendencies and common flaws beyond the major ones Rick Pauly mentions. Both of them show up to team practices and work hard, and their parental support is awesome.