Switching Load Mechanics

[Annesdad]

Daughter is freshman pitcher at D1 university and as I expected, coaches have started to tweak her mechanics. She used to start off leaning back and then moving into her drive. Coach yesterday has recommended she not go backwards at all, staying forward and moving only forward. She said it was fine, but awkward at first. She said he made it make sense which is good.

Reason for my post is just to get the thoughts of any of you who have had a daughter make this type of change and if there's anything I should expect - loss of speed, accuracy, etc. and how to help her through it. What do you all think she will gain from this? I'm all for it! Just interested since I don't get to see her and watch workouts every day any more!

I said that I expected some changes, but not because she has poor mechanics, just figured they would look and see things they can help her improve on. Really excited to see her improvements to come with the strength training, cardio, extra work and these types of adjustments!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rolling Hard]

I am not a expert on pitching mechanics but I don't understand why somebody would want to take away the free momentum and rhythm a pitcher gets from rocking back. From what notice, the pitchers that start from a dead stop tend to tire quicker.

 

[CoachCeetar]

I wonder if there's some "quick pitch" aspect/value to it, in that there's less time for the batter to react without the initial rocking back. Though probably not because you could easily alter the pause when you rock back to mess with timing too.

 

[RADcatchers]

imo
Without video the verbiage alone is not good enough to Analyze This mechanic adjustment.

To the op~
I would go with continue to be coachable!

 

[Chilixa]

I worry about this some. If a coach sees a mechanical flaw that needs to be fixed I am all for it. Some coaches like everyone to look the same and mess with things that probably don’t need messed with. I have heard of horror stories of college coaches messing with pitching motions and swings and the kids never regain their confidence. Sometimes if it isn’t broken just leave it alone.

But I also think it is important to be coachable. I guess asking questions during the recruiting process about adjustments they like to make is the only real answer. Even then there are no guarantees.


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[Rolling Hard]

There is a fine line between "trying" something a little different and being over coached. There are different ways to pitch and hit successfully. Coaches that want everyone to have same mechanics are doing more harm than good. Ken Krause recently posted a very interesting thread about preferred motor preferences (from birth) and how what works for some players will not work well for others. I like the Coach that says, "I recruited you because you can pitch (or hit) not to teach you how to pitch."
Making drastic changes in a players mechanics isn't easy. Most players have developed their mechanics over 10 years or more and I think it is kind of prideful or even arrogance to think that a coach can fix them now that they are in college. I think the college coaches should recruit the players they like and be more of a manager of the talent they recruited. That is what some of the most successful programs do. Spend more time coaching mindset, confidence, visualization and being a good teammate.

 

[cnardone]

I read this type of change as "simplify". reduce the moving parts making it easier to stay in sync. Increase repeatability and consistency.

 

[FlSoftball]

We talked to many in our network when my daughter just went through recruiting. She also talked to players when she was at camps - had one pitcher who now plays pro tell her at camp that the head coach (not pitching coach) will try to change motion and you have to battle him some- that pitcher was VERY good so not sure how you do that as a freshman. The school did end up on my daughters final 5 and she choose to go somewhere else not for the same reason though it did tip scales away. Good luck to your daughter this season- she will do great!


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[LEsoftballdad]

The theory behind this is that it is wasted motion. Some Tincher instructors have the girl start more like a sprinter because they feel you get better drive off the rubber. Does it work for everyone? Not necessarily. My daughter is not tiny, so she has more trouble getting low enough with the same amount of drive. Her college AC suggested she start a little higher but still use the sprinter's starting motion. When I brought it to her PC, he said it was okay, and everyone's body is built differently.

If you watch Rothrock from Florida, she starts low. She doesn't run out of energy.

 

[RADcatchers]

There is a fine line between "trying" something a little different and being over coached. There are different ways to pitch and hit successfully. Coaches that want everyone to have same mechanics are doing more harm than good. Ken Krause recently posted a very interesting thread about preferred motor preferences (from birth) and how what works for some players will not work well for others. I like the Coach that says, "I recruited you because you can pitch (or hit) not to teach you how to pitch."
Making drastic changes in a players mechanics isn't easy.

Most players have developed their mechanics over 10 years or more and I think it is kind of prideful or even arrogance to think that a coach can fix them now that they are in college.

? Are you saying you want coaches to just be managers?

Technical position has its own technical pitching coach.
?Are you saying get rid of that?



what about all the hitting instruction feedback from college coaches, what say you on that?