What are the first couple steps to teach a prospective pitcher?

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Apr 12, 2015
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Yes, playing catch underhand is huge. Also, for fun, you can also work on fielding and have her from shortstop fire the ball to first base underhand. This does two things: One, it mixes up boring repetition and adds some fun and Two, the act of fielding and an urgency to make the throw to first takes the brain out of it and lets the body work.
 
May 29, 2015
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I am not a pitching coach, nor do I have any desire to be one. I have a daughter who pitched up to D3, but I didn't teach her a darned thing about pitching.

But as an umpire, an organizational behavior consultant, and a teacher I worked on these things with her:

  • The rules of pitching. Know what you can do, what you can't do, and where common mistakes occur. Don't give away bases (at the the time) and outs over goofy mistakes.
  • That pitching is a system. While you need to "learn this step and go to the next one" you can NEVER forget the previous steps. Practice everything all the time. Go back and work on the basics consistently.
  • The mental aspects of the game. Pitching can be very grueling on the psyche.
    • Be prepared to fail and to fail often.
    • Remember it is you versus the batter, but you have 8 other tools around you -- use your tools!
    • Have fun. If it's not fun, it's time to step out of the circle.
 
Jan 25, 2022
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Thank you all. I actually got to have a long conversation with Rick after I finished his training, and he said posture is #1, then work on backchaining the pitching motion. So basically we're going from 9:00 to release right now. After I thought about it, I don't know that passing underhand would be the way to go because that underhand motion would have to be IR/arm whip, Just push throwing underhand I think would make learning whip more difficult. It would probably be more beneficial for the push pitching crowd.
 
Aug 21, 2008
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PJR, I am currently selling cheat-sheets for the tests on the Paulygirl exams. You can buy the answers to his tests and quizs direct from me, without studying and listening to the course. Similar to how we all go answers to a test in school at one point or another, from a buddy or friend who had taken the test earlier in the day. :) For the low, low price of $49.99. Guranteed answers for a 100% test score or your money back. lol
 
Jan 25, 2022
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PJR, I am currently selling cheat-sheets for the tests on the Paulygirl exams. You can buy the answers to his tests and quizs direct from me, without studying and listening to the course. Similar to how we all go answers to a test in school at one point or another, from a buddy or friend who had taken the test earlier in the day. :) For the low, low price of $49.99. Guranteed answers for a 100% test score or your money back. lol
Ha! I actually did better on those than I expected. After a while it became common sense for a lot of them, but some of the wording threw me off. I probably missed 6 or 7 questions total. It was excellent, excellent training. I only hope I can do it justice.
 
Aug 11, 2022
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I'm working my way through Paulygirl intermediate certification and am about 2/3 finished, and I've got probably 70 hours of observation at my daughter's lessons, so I have a pretty good grasp of the mechanics of pitching and IR. I'm helping a couple of the middle school girls who want to start pitching, and in the interest of time I'd like to get them headed the right direction as I keep working to finish my own training. I have a feeling some of this is answered in later videos of the Paulygirl lessons, but if I can get them going with a couple simple things right now, it would be a better use of our time.

I've done a basic assessment of their natural movement and athletic ability, but I'm not sure where to start with these kids from a base standpoint. One is 12 and has never pitched but already has a nice smooth movement and has easily fallen into a not-too-terrible arm whip. The other is 11 and pitched several games of little league after teaching herself the push style via youtube. From what she's shown me so far, I don't think it'll be too difficult to get her out of the push. She listens and tries her best to do what I tell her, and doesn't appear to have developed much muscle memory for the push style.

Do I just step them through the full motion a piece at a time, only moving ahead after the previous piece is "mastered?" Or do I break the pieces up into a few separate drills? It seems like teaching the last part of the sequence (9:00 to release) is something they should work on at every session.

I just don't want to send them home to practice on their own with information overload. I recall Rick saying he usually sends a student home with one thing to work on. My goal for both of them is to be able to consistently get the ball across the plate at the most controllable speed by the time games start in March.

Tips or advice?? Thanks!
Mechanics are everything especially foot work. bending the right knee and ankle and exploding off the rubber fully open glove side straight and the LTFoot plant foot stiff and pushing hard against that stiff LT leg for resistance and dragging and snapping hardand being driven straight back after the pitch staying open. Timing between the legs and into reference of where your arm is in the circle is very important. When the LT front leg hits your arm should be about ready to snap the pitch if your in time while driving that back leg into the front leg as the drag is finishing into the figure 4
 
Jan 25, 2022
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teach the student, teach the parents. She sees them more than she sees you.
I have one that's interested, but he also believes she struggles when he watches, so he'll walk off. I've showed him a couple things. We're still pretty early in the process. Another is the head coach, so he and I talk about it a lot. The other two bring their kids and watch the games, but I don't think any part of the instruction is of interest to them. Two out of four ain't bad though, I suppose. :)
 

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