Will Virtual Lessons Ever Rule the World?

For parents and players trying to learn more about pitching, gathering all information from online sources can be overwhelming. As a result, it gets demotivating. Every coach says something different. The key is to ask, “What are my goals and what are my daughter’s goals?”, and “What methods of learning would fit our lifestyle best?”

Do you expect your daughter to practice on her own or will you be the one to initiate this? Based on where you live, your motivation level, and competition in your area, which source of information will help you the most?

Identify what kind of “sport-parent” you are. You might be deeply invested in your child’s athletic abilities and development. Others use it as a way for their daughters to get out of the house and stay active. Evaluate how much money you are willing to invest in softball. Will this monetary support start at the beginning of her experience? Or will you spend money only once she shows more promise and talent?

It’s a tricky thing to evaluate when girls begin dipping their toes into sports. It’s impossible to determine how successful a pitcher (or any athlete) will be when she is 7, 8, 9, or 10. Championships and scholarships derive from a persistent work over an athlete’s career. The most important thing for you and your daughter that which whatever method you choose, you must understand is that consistency and dedication are key.

YouTube Videos

When looking for information on pitching, YouTube is helpful if you are looking for a specific tip. As a warning, you must first be able to articulate what you are looking for to get the best results. Sometimes parents aren’t even sure what words to search or what the “lingo” is. You’ll spend tons of time looking for what to look for. Not only that, if you compare the amount of softball instructional videos to baseball hitting videos you’ll find a huge disparity. Totally unfair! But I’m working on it. Even with the competitive level of fastpitch rising to new levels, there still isn’t enough information available.

Hire a pitching instructor

Hiring a pitching instructor is an excellent source of information for a young athlete. I have gone to pitching instructors my entire life because they are credible sources that give you one-on-one coaching. This coaching is tailored to your daughter’s specific needs and mechanical issues. Professionals can quickly catch the mistakes because they are well-informed and have seen just about everything, depending upon their experience level. Instructors also serve as an important role model for your daughter. The female coaches in my career have inspired and motivated me to become a better person and player. They are women that I look up to and have the utmost respect for. Having an inspiring figure in your child’s life can do wonders for their softball experience. They care about the success of their students, can offer friendship, emotional support, and might come to a few games to cheer on your daughter.

Hiring an instructor, on the other hand, is a huge is the monetary and time commitment. Schedules of both parties must be shuffled and accommodated. Plus, most live lessons have gone virtual, including us at Practice Pro. It’s not the same as in-person but it keeps skills fresh.

Pitching Clinics for a Team or League

Once we get back to normal, your little league will probably hold one of these. Large pitching clinics are a great start for your daughter. They will usually have a large number of participants and will cover the foundation of pitching mechanics. They get players excited about pursuing the position in a more dedicated fashion. Good clinics will cover arm health, the mental side of pitching, and most importantly, make it fun.

The downside of organization-wide pitching clinics isn’t the student-teacher ratio, as might be perceived. The downside is the false sense that 1 - 3 large scale clinics per year is all your daughter needs to throw strikes . You might be disappointed to discover, as your daughter pitches in her first game, that learning to throw even 30% of pitches as strikes requires a year-round effort.

Pitching books by Cheri Kempf and Cindy Bristow

The Softball Pitching Edge and The Complete Book of Pitching are excellent resources for pitching instruction. I still refer to them frequently. These books come with online videos of the drills in order to clarify their instructions. It’s great!

This resource is similar to online pitching videos; they cannot fix the mistakes your daughter makes when practicing. As a parent without any experience you might not know how to make corrections. You might have trouble identifying mistakes. If you do manage to identify them, it will be difficult to decide which ones are worth trying to change.

Online Program

Different from live online training, these are more like Masterclasses for pitching. You follow along, video by video, completing a pre-created program step by step. Sometimes coaches have players send in videos that they analyze. Some versions of this will require an appointment and occasionally a lesson in person. If your daughter is self-motivated, likes practicing alone, this would be a great resource. If your on a budget or live in an area without coaches, you might find what you need here.

My best advice for choosing the best method of learning for you and your daughter is to give each method it a fair chance. Try the ones you are interested in for at least 3 months. Any less than three months you won’t get an accurate idea of the effectiveness. Progress is slow and steady in pitching, but that’s why the rewards are great!