Your Instructor Recommends Pitching Drills? Read This

Unfortunately the vast majority of pitching instructors or pitching coaches our there could not do a credible video analysis if you held a gun to their head. So that’s why they not do them of each pitcher prior to their first lesson which is the only possible way they can see all of a pitcher’s possible faults.

Their lack of ability to do a video analysis of a pitcher’s mechanics is one reason why you should immediately fire your pitching instructor. After all doesn’t it make sense that the instructor would want to know everything about a pitcher’s delivery so that he could explain why he was going to have the pitcher make certain changes. He should then explain to the parent exactly what their son’s pitching faults are and how he intends to go about helping him make changes.

That would seem to make sense. But how many actually do that? A very small percentage if any. What they do instead is teach a “one size fits all.” That means that every kid gets the same first lesson—whether he needs to work on that particular problem or not.

The instructor’s inability to video analyze simply demonstrates his lack of knowledge of the pitching motion. And this is one of the big reasons why pitching instructors recommend so many drills. Pitching drills take up time andcost parents lots of money and are a very poor way of teaching the pitching delivery. The return on investment is very, very low.

So parents are wasting tons of money on private instructors who know little or on books, videos, DVD’s that have you doing these magic drills when it has been proven that drills do not transfer to the pitching motion and clearly are a poor teaching method for a movement such as pitching which has no natural breaks.

This means that once a pitcher starts the pitching delivery there is no place in the delivery where he stops until he completely finishes the pitch. When you drill one small piece of the whole delivery you pull out that part and work on it in isolation intending to put it right back in after you drill it. The endless repetitions are supposed to put it into “muscle memory.” That’s how instructors will explain it. But they are all dead wrong. And you are being taken for a big ride with your money. And your son is wasting his time.

The problem is that it doesn’t work to drill in isolation and ends up disrupting the entire delivery because in pitching each part in proper sequence effects the whole.

In the 4th and recent edition of Motor Control and Learning by motor learning experts authors Richard A. Schmidt, Timothy D. Lee they state:

“It seems obvious that if practice is given on the part, it would certainly transfer highly to the whole task, as the part would seem to be identical to one element of the whole. The problem with this idea is that practice on the part in isolation may change the motor programming of the part so that for all practical purposes it is no longer the same as it is in the context of the total skill.”

The only time it makes sense to do drills is if a pitcher is beginning to learn how to pitch. A beginner. Partial practice in the early stages may make sense but only in the beginning. Endless drills should never continue. Even for Little Leaguers who already have been pitching a year or two going back to drills can actually make things worse and again is really just a waste of practice time.

Practice should be done where needed adjustments are simply made within the entire delivery. Any drill that has a pitcher stopping will end normally developing a very mechanical pitcher who is always thinking about his delivery in parts.

Learning a two step motor skill such as pitching requires mental effort as well as physical. When drills are performed their is poor learning taking place because eventually the student is not taking part in the cognitive effort which is required to learn. So the idea that drills provide muscle memory is totally false.

Before you hire an instructor make sure he uses video tape and explains what he sees to be the problems and then what he will do to help the pitcher make the needed adjustments. If he offers drills as a method of making these adjustments I suggest you find another instructor…and continue to look for one he can teach without the false aid of pitching drills.

There is one more thing you should ask your instructor before you hire him—how does a pitcher develop more power? Then listen. If he doesn’t begin by explaining how the lower body delivers the upper body and throwing arm, then immediately look for another instructor. You will find that few understand how pitcher’s develop their power.

If he says they gain power by pushing off the rubber then have him demonstrate this. If he says it comes from the hips that’s fine but have him explain it in detail how and then have him demonstrate this. Most can’t. You will notice that they get tongue tied with all these questions.

Ask the instructor how stride length effects power and control? Ask him about the role of the back leg in producing power. If he says it’s for pushing off, then have him demonstrate what he means.

One more thing—if your instructor also teaches hitting…find another instructor. Good pitching instructors do not know hitting or shouldn’t pretend to. If he seems to know hitting then more than likely he doesn’t know pitching.

And if by chance you ever have an instructor pull out a towel to be used as a baseball…you have found the wrong instructor. A baseball is released…a towel stays in the hand. Does a towel feel just like a baseball? Does using a towel make sense?

Be extra cautious who you hire to teach your son or whose philosophy of pitching you are following.

Dick Mills

If you have questions about this blog post or on any phase of pitching—mechanics, strength and conditioning, mental training, strategy send those questions to dickmills@gmail.com and I will answer them here.

If you want an explosive body and explosive mechanics you need to get my Free Report at http://www.powerpitching.nexcess.net. We won’t waste your time. We show you how to recognize exactly what is holding back most pitchers…find the problem—fix the problem. I show you a comparison between two high school pitchers, a Little League pitcher and a major league pitcher who throws mid to upper nineties. You will see the biggest problem that reduces velocity in the majority of pitchers.

(If you are a high school or college coach, ask for our special Free Coach’s Report.)