While the whole Schonberg family was watching college softball this past weekend, Texas pitcher Blaire Luna’s mechanics really stood out to us! She exemplifies so many of the things we’re trying to teach. Take a look!
Read MoreI got an email last week from a reader asking if our pitching articles followed a particular progression. I thought it would be very useful to compile some of our pitching articles and videos into a guide that could be used either by a complete beginner or by a pitcher who is transitioning from a different style to the one we teach. Reader, if you’re seeing this, thanks for the suggestion! Your email kept bouncing back so I’m sorry I was only able to reply this way. But now, everyone can benefit!
Read MoreThere are a number of ways you can tip your pitches—that is, accidentally give away what pitch you’re throwing to the batter or opposing base coach. Probably the most obvious is simply not hiding your grip well; there are a number of pitches with distinctive grips, and if someone on the opposing team can see your hand while you’re finding your grip on the ball, you could be in trouble. BUT, there is another common giveaway that I’ve come across a few times recently in some of my pitching lessons. Ask yourself this: are you 100% sure your pre-motion is the same every time?
Read MoreIf you read our email newsletter, last time you received some great therapy for your often-ignored feet. I decided to share that info with everyone, and include some for your hands too!
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Loose arm whip is absolutely critical to pitching fast. It’s not a stylistic choice; every single elite pitcher whips her arm, regardless of how she was taught to follow through after the arm whip takes place. Some lucky windmill pitchers begin whipping their arms within the first few days of learning; it just comes naturally to them. To many, however, it does not come naturally, and in those cases I believe teaching the arm to whip is the hardest thing for a young pitcher to do. BUT, it’s not impossible. It’s a long and arduous process that requires a lot of dedication and patience, but it’s not impossible. For those who are trying to learn arm whip and aren’t quite getting it, or for those who have learned a different way to pitch and are now trying to switch to the arm whip, I will compile some resources that you can use to help get the job done.
Read MorePoor glove hand movement is a very common problem among windmill pitchers, especially young ones. It usually takes the form of the glove hand flying way out to the side, or “swimming,” instead of remaining on line with the catcher. Fortunately, it’s also one of the easier problems to address. All you need is a simple drill.
Read MoreI’ve had a number of parents come to me in the past month or so with the following conundrum: their daughter has worked extremely hard with a private coach to get her pitching or hitting mechanics to a particular place. Then when her high school season starts, the coach tries to change her mechanics to something completely different. This is an extremely difficult and delicate situation that must be handled with care—no matter how much frustration it may cause you. Not every instance of this problem will be identical, and there’s no way to pin down a solution that will work every time. The following advice, however, may help you get through it as smoothly as possible.
Read MoreToday I’m going to talk about a couple of pet peeves I have when it comes to teaching/learning windmill pitching, though what I say can be applied to any skill. The key concept I want to underline is that every athlete is not the same. Every athlete has a slightly different body type, different physical strengths and weaknesses, and different ways of mentally processing information. What do we, as both instructors and students, need to take away from this?
Read MoreI had a conversation with a parent last week whose daughter, a 10U pitcher, is in a transition phase with her pitching mechanics and struggling. It occurred to me that her dilemma probably applies to many of you, so I want to talk about it a bit.
Read MoreLast week I discussed what pitches are necessary for pitching in college, and the answer was to play to your strengths, develop the pitches that allow YOU to get batters out most effectively, and not worry so much that a particular pitch isn’t working for you. This, like all skills that take work and practice, is easier said than done. I’ve discussed some of the challenges facing young pitchers trying to learn movement pitches and I know it can be a frustrating process. As I said in the aforementioned articles, you may have to learn all the pitches before you can determine which one or two will be your strength. But how do you know when to abandon a pitch or when to keep going?
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