Our Philosophy

Before you can be superhuman, you must first be human.

When you set out to become a highly competitive athlete in any sport, you ask your body to perform superhuman movements. But how can you expect your body to carry out these extraordinary, often unnatural actions reliably when it may not even be able to handle ordinary ones? The truth is most people, often unknowingly, have some movement restrictions. These restrictions could be the result of natural body structure, lifestyle, playing sports or performing other physical activities without the proper preparation, or a number of other factors. In order to prevent injury, it is extremely important to develop a normal range of motion before subjecting your body to the demands of advanced athletic movements. This can only be achieved through strength training. One of our goals for Fastpitch Power is to make high quality, sport-specific training information accessible to anyone; however, since no two bodies are exactly alike, we highly recommend getting evaluated by a professional trainer experienced in testing for motion restrictions in addition to trying any training techniques we may present on this site. You will have the best chance of avoiding injury if you are able to tailor your training routine to your specific needs.

We teach optimal mechanics… and obey the laws of physics.

There are many schools of thought governing the various aspects of softball instruction, and windmill pitching is no exception. We have put a tremendous amount of effort into developing our pitching technique. We’ve attended national clinics, consulted with experts, and spent our winters watching countless hours of college world series video in slow motion; and we’ve spent the last twelve years tweaking and synthesizing all that information into what we firmly believe are the best pitching mechanics anyone can offer. Not only that, but we’re also not afraid to learn something new. If we come across some new information that we find works better than what we’ve been doing, we incorporate it.

What makes our technique optimal? The mechanics we teach obey proven physical principles and respect what your body wants to do naturally. We also go beyond the motion and explain how to strengthen your body to achieve your ultimate potential. The result: you get maximum command and velocity without getting hurt. In short, optimal mechanics get you the best chance of succeeding. You may play against, or see on TV, highly successful pitchers who do not utilize the same mechanics you will learn through our program. That’s OK! There are many girls who have natural strengths that may allow them to pitch a certain way, or weaknesses that force them to. We’re not concerned with that. Our method is one that, if implemented correctly, can help anyone become a better pitcher.

You don’t have to just take our word for it. We can back up EVERY single aspect of our pitching technique with an easy to understand, logical explanation that is consistent with real biomechanical principles. If something doesn’t make perfect sense to you, please ask us about it!

And don’t worry; while pitching is our specialty, we’ve put the same amount of time and effort into developing all of the softball skills we teach!

Physical therapy is great, but we’d rather teach you how to avoid it.

Over the many years we’ve been coaching, a lot of young girls have come to us after debilitating injuries have shut them down, or with high levels of frustration at a lack of progress. Unfortunately, the mechanics behind windmill pitching tend not to be as clearly understood as those behind  other general softball skills, and many techniques that are still widely taught are not optimal for power, command, and overall well being.

Softball, of course, does not live up to its name… it’s anything but soft. We understand that when you play hard, injuries sometimes happen. However, your normal day-to-day play should absolutely not be a source of chronic pain. When you work with us, you will learn to balance flawless, natural mechanics with the physical preparation necessary to perform at your highest potential without getting hurt.

Success is the enemy of excellence.

If your goal is to become a truly elite softball player, and perhaps play at the NCAA level, you will need to break out of your comfort zone. If you find yourself throwing too many no-hitters or hitting .500, it’s time to push the envelope. You don’t improve by dominating weaker competition; you improve by facing hitters who can take your best fastball over the fence, or pitchers you can’t touch.

We won’t lie; windmill pitching is an incredibly difficult skill to learn, especially for a young girl. Hitting, likewise, is one of the most difficult skills in all sports (can you think of another situation in which succeeding 3 times out of 10 makes you an all star?).  Some girls are taught “tricks” at a young age to get them around their natural weaknesses, enabling them to succeed more quickly. That’s not our style.  A 10-year-old coming to us on day 1 doesn’t learn special 10-year-old mechanics; she learns the same drills our top high school varsity, tournament, and college players still use to warm up before their games. It’s not easy, and it may be frustrating at times, but it doesn’t matter to us how many 12-year-olds you strike out when you’re 12, or how many rolling home runs you hit off of someone lobbing pitches right into your wheelhouse. It matters that when you get to high school, you’re out performing girls older and bigger than you, while those who learned the “easy way” struggle to take their skills to the next level.

Your stats are important, but they’re not who you are.

This may be the most important part of our philosophy. We want to do all we can to help you become the best softball player you can be; but there is more to playing softball than your ERA or your batting average. Through this sport, we want to help you grow as a person. Our instructors pride themselves on the ability to train players of all ages, even the most highly competitive players, in a nurturing, educational environment. We measure success not by wins and losses, but by the joy, confidence, and enthusiasm our girls bring to all aspects of their lives.