3 Reasons Your Coaching is Broken: And How To Fix It

When I first came out of college, I was teaching an introductory pitching clinic for 9-year-olds in Oak Park. My previous interaction with softball was during college, where our coach was intense, I was intense, and discipline was prioritized.

I thought it would be a good idea to have all the young girls line up and try to pitch a strike, one at a time, while everyone watched. After all, everyone will be scrutinizing them in a game, and we have to toughen them up. I'm pretty sure my uncle and Dad made me do that, so I'll do it too.

Unfortunately, I found out that 9-year-olds who've never pitched before can't actually pitch a strike. None of us, me, the parents, or the pitchers, knew that after one hour of a clinic they would not be able to accomplish the simple task of throwing a ball to the glove.

I also found out that they can be very self-conscious. Two girls started crying, and I sensed something might be wrong with this approach.

I learned that the words I think I'm conveying to players are not always interpreted as intended.

Over the past 8 years of coaching 100+ players per week, I noticed the following trends in phrases that parents and coaches, including me, say that confuse players. These phrases are "broken" because they confuse girls. Here are some ideas of what to say instead.

Take Your Time! Slow Down!

What you are trying to say is that in between pitches, your pitcher is not taking a breath, not thinking a positive thought, not looking at the target, not being strategic. She might be trying to "get this at-bat over with" or she might just really like throwing the ball, which is way more fun than focusing.

When you shout, "take your time!" or "slow down!" she might interpret this as literally slowing her arm down. She might think that her team behind her isn't set up yet, or that she's a bad pitcher and is doing something wrong. After all, she never really worked on the fundamental of "slowing down" in practice. That's because it's not a fundamental.

At pitching school, we practice a method of using your "think box and play box." I got this concept from a golf sports psychology book, and it works wonders for pitchers. A player must, before stepping on the mound, think about where she's going to throw the ball if she fields a grounder, think a positive thought, and visualize a great pitch. Then she steps on the mound, takes the sign, stares at the target for two seconds, then throws it.

This is a very specific process that requires no re-interpretation during a game. There is already so much going on that any guesses on the pitcher's part could end in disaster. We practice the think/play box in lessons, and I instruct parents to keep track of how many times per inning his or her daughter accomplishes the method. This is immediately controllable, but pitching strikes is not.

Broken: "Slow down!"
Fix It: "Do your think/play box!"

Use Your Legs! You're All Arm!

Not using your legs is one of those mistakes that looks funny, but parents can't quite figure out how, exactly.

Pitchers usually interpret this phrase as the need to push off harder. But "using your legs" isn't really about effort; it's more about mechanics. There are three specific ways a pitcher can use her legs in pitching.

The first is the drive off the mound. As a warning, we start trying to improve glide or drive off the mound once players grasp the concept of resistance (see below), so I wouldn't focus too much on this one with girls in their first 1-3 years of pitching. When a pitcher pushes off the mound, she should travel forward with her chest and hips facing the catcher all the way until the arm reaches 12 o'clock, not sooner. If sooner, she'll be turning sideways too soon, and it will look like she is using all arm.

Correct

Incorrect

The second is resistance, as mentioned above. Resistance happens upon toe-touch of the stride leg. The stride leg abruptly stops the forward momentum of the body, allowing the hand to propel the ball out with speed. If a pitcher has a "soft" stride leg or falls over forward after the pitch, she is not using her legs.

Correct

Incorrect

The third is what we call at Practice Pro, the "banana." It's basically when she rotates her closed at delivery. Pitching is a lateral and rotational movement. After resistance, the hips, shoulder, and hand rotate to face the target, unraveling the torque created at toe-touch. Then the right toe drags on the ground in the shape of a banana. The hips rotate back towards the target very quickly. When a player doesn't do her "banana," her right push-off foot looks like it's stuck to the mound. This is one of the first mechanics we teach, and the most common ways players don't use their legs.

Broken: "Use your legs!"
Fix It: "Do your banana!"

Do the Work! Practice!

As a young person, I remember thinking, how much do I practice? Pitching 10 pitches doesn't seem like enough, but one hour seven says a week of pitching seems excessive. Am I wasting my time just doing the 10 minutes of pitching that I don't feel like doing anyway? I might as well do none at all. "Anything helps" and "something is better than nothing," they say. But really, how much and what do I do?

I think we have to be more specific about a practice plan for the day, week, month, and year. I have a number of blogs about this, this, and this, about how to create a plan so players can feel accomplished, track their improvement, and adjust along the way. Unless you've already specified her practice plan, athletes don't get a clear picture with instructions like this.

Broken: “Do the work!”
Fix It: “Go complete your Tuesday practice plan!” “And add 20 push-ups! :)”

These ideas go for players who are brand new to those in college. Don't assume that because you are on a top-level high school team you don't misinterpret what coaches say. At an NFCA conference, the Alabama coach told us that her pitchers didn't know where the actual strike zone was. That's when I started questioning high-level players on seemingly basic concepts. I found out everyone needs to go back to the fundamentals frequently, and there's no shame in that!