Pitching: 101 The Begining

I have worked with pitchers for over 10 years and I consistently get asked this question by parents: Which comes 1st, Speed or Control?

My answer is………it completely depends on who you call your pitching coach and the natural ability of your child.

I have worked with pitchers from park ball thru college who all have their own private pitching coach. In order for me to be help the players I coached I had to learn the terms and philosophy of their pitching coaches. Over the years I have discovered that regardless of who you see for pitching lessons there are some very basic fundamental truths about the fast pitch pitcher (more on this subject in a latter post). Early in a young pitchers development they can be classified into one of 2 categories of pitcher: Speed or Control. Neither is wrong or a bad thing; however, this is when what you as a parent choose to do next, will be critical in your child’s pitching development.

The 1st thing you do as a parent when your daughter says she want to pitch is eventually get a bucket, buy some balls, read a book or buy a pitching video. Then you ask a friend whose daughter pitches to get a few tips and then several bruised shins later you decide it’s time to get a pitching instructor. THIS is the single biggest decision you will make that will impact your child’s growth.

Since you know basically nothing about pitching and really have no idea what to look for in a pitching coach/instructor, I will spend the next few moments on some basic things you need to know that I hope you find helpful:

The most important thing you need to know is if your daughter is classified as a speed or control pitcher. If she just rare backs and throws the piss out of the ball with reckless abandonment and you spend most of your time yelling “just hit the mitt” then I would bet she is a speed pitcher 1st, control 2nd type of pitcher. If your daughter is consistently hitting her targets and you find yourself saying to her “throw it harder or faster”, then I would bet she is a control pitcher 1st, speed pitcher 2nd type. WHY is this important, let me explain.

Since I stated there are 2 types of beginner pitchers (speed and control), then there must also be at least 2 types of pitching instructors as well. If your daughter is a speed 1st pitcher and you are taking lessons from a control 1st instructor then you are wasting valuable time and your hard earned money, and vice versa control 1st pitcher going to a speed 1st instructor. This is why so many parents change pitching coaches because eventually they are not seeing the results for that which they are paying. It is classic for an instructor to blame your daughter for her lack of improvement, and if that’s ever the case then STOP right then and find someone else to give your money too. The reason you are not seeing improvement is more so that your daughter’s natural ability is different than the pitching methods the instructor is trying to make your daughter adapted too. Another classic cover-up is for an instructor to try to teach several pitches at one time. Since your daughter can’t possibly learn them all it hides the fact that she maybe be struggling, not at learning the new pitch, but at how she is being taught to throw because you have the wrong combination of speed Vs. control instruction going on.

Bottom line: 1st find out what type of pitcher your daughter is and do not force her to be what she is not naturally. 2nd find a pitching instructor that fits your daughter’s natural ability and not one that you are forcing your daughter to fit their style. 3rd stay away from an instructor, or find a new one, that insist your daughter learn anything but fast ball and change-up under the age of 10. When she moves up to the bigger ball in conjunction with the further pitching distance, then it will be time to begin working on her 3rd and 4th pitch. Learning anything prior to that will be for reasons not related to your child’s development but rather along the lines of instructor issues or a parent wanting their daughter to be the next Kat Osterman at age 10. Remember this: ALL Pitches derive from the fastball. If you have trouble with your fastball then you will have even more trouble learning other/new pitches. There is no quick fix in fast pitch with regards to pitchers. They have to throw and throw and throw to develop. It takes time, a lot of time and then they may still never make it. At least if you are going to put in the time and throw and throw and throw, be sure to find an instructor early in your child’s development that best fits her natural ability and will work at developing her unnatural talents.

For the record: These are my thoughts and in no way should be taken as anything than an opinion. I am sure people out there will dispute what I write and that’s fine. It takes all type to make the world go round. Since I have nothing at stake or anything to gain by taking my time to put my thoughts into words, I hope you will consider your source. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at: coachrin@charter.net.