14 Common Misconceptions About Pitching

Slow it down to get a strike, pitching lessons are only for serious pitchers, and you have to master a fastball first. 

These are concepts which most beginners believe to be true - but many are simple misconceptions. So much of windmill pitching is counter-intuitive. The culture of pitching in Illinois is misunderstood.

Here are 14 things that are not true about softball pitching.

1.Lessons (learning to pitch) are only for serious pitchers. 

A parent thinks his or her daughter simply needs to throw more strikes. If she slows down and focuses, she’ll get better, they think. First, focus on accuracy, and she can speed up as she gets better. 

Actually, everyone needs to learn how to pitch, especially new players who don’t know how to pitch! Would you sit your daughter down at a piano on stage and ask her to play without any lessons? Girls and parents need to learn what a safe motion is and have confidence for their first season on the mound. If they don’t have that, it’s unlikely they’ll even get to the serious part.

2. I can learn online. It’s not that hard. I can figure it out.

There is so much great information online, you can learn anything! Unfortunately, there’s too much information and it’s almost impossible to know what to teach your daughter first. Rookie instructors (parents) usually waste a lot of time focusing on teaching the wrong thing in the wrong order. They aren’t sure what their 8 year old is or is not capable of accomplishing. It usually slows her progress down and she gets behind and sometimes never catches up.

3. Pitching is  just like any other position, the more you put in the more you get out. 

People think the pitching skills and accuracy curve goes like this. For every pitch you practice the success goes up proportionately. Some are fine with stopping in the middle or just taking it slow. 

NOPE!

YEP!

But it actually goes like this. And the line only thinks about going up after at least 4 days per week of focused practice. Then after many months of that, you’ll start climbing this Mt. Kilimanjaro. Before then, I’d suggest adjusting your expectations.

4. You can injure your arm just like baseball with pitching curve balls. Pitch counts for injury prevention is the same with both sports.

Softball pitching puts a tremendous amount of pressure on your arm. However, the underhand motion is very different from baseball pitching. The underhand motion is similar to how we swing our arms when we walk, allowing softball pitchers to safely throw more pitches than baseball pitchers. 

Curveballs have the same principal. Because we do not deliver a curve from the  overhead position in a cross-body motion, our elbows are not put under the same stress. These two lists (linked) are a good comparison of the different types of injuries in baseball pitchers vs. softball pitchers The best way to prevent injury is to play multiple sports and do these exercises.

5. First, pitchers must master fastballs, then she can add other pitches.

If I waited until I mastered my fastball (whatever that even means) I’d have been a sophomore in college before I even got to learn a changeup.

Learning multiple pitches is like learning two languages at the same time as a child. Children are slower to master each of them individually, but by a young age they are fluent in two. Try being an adult and learn your second language, it could take years.

Pitchers need to learn all the movement pitches before the age of 12. Up until that age kids are sponges and learn quickly. It also helps develop body awareness and as a result they become better at fastballs.  If you are worried about taking practice time away from speed and accuracy, I’d ask if you are doing your 4 days per week of practice before you get concerned about the allocation of time.

6. It will be easy to find a pitching coach. Once I easily find one, I’ll be able to show up when it is best for my busy schedule.

Pitching coaches are hard to find in this area. Once they are found, they are hard to get in. Many times, you’ll have one but they will move away, or change main jobs so they’ll have limited time for lessons.. Some are really far away and you’ll have to drive an hour or more to get there. There just aren't enough. 

Obviously, we are trying to change that with Practice Pro. But this is something you might find once you decide to get lessons for your daughter. Don’t be surprised, it’s going to take some administrative effort for calls and research!

#7 - #14 coming up next time!