Posts by Carly
ANNOUNCEMENT: Hitting and Fielding Lessons with Cassie Reilly-Boccia
If you’re in the New York tri-state area (or are willing to travel there) and are looking for hitting and/or fielding instruction this summer, you can get lessons from former Alabama star and National Champion Cassie Reilly-Boccia. Read on for more info and a flier.
Read MorePitcher Spotlight: Blaire Luna
While the whole Schonberg family was watching college softball this past weekend, Texas pitcher Blaire Luna’s mechanics really stood out to us! She exemplifies so many of the things we’re trying to teach. Take a look!
Read MoreGetting Started With Fastpitch Power’s Pitching Style: A Guide
I got an email last week from a reader asking if our pitching articles followed a particular progression. I thought it would be very useful to compile some of our pitching articles and videos into a guide that could be used either by a complete beginner or by a pitcher who is transitioning from a different style to the one we teach. Reader, if you’re seeing this, thanks for the suggestion! Your email kept bouncing back so I’m sorry I was only able to reply this way. But now, everyone can benefit!
Read MoreAre You Tipping Your Pitches With Your Pre-Motion?
There are a number of ways you can tip your pitches—that is, accidentally give away what pitch you’re throwing to the batter or opposing base coach. Probably the most obvious is simply not hiding your grip well; there are a number of pitches with distinctive grips, and if someone on the opposing team can see your hand while you’re finding your grip on the ball, you could be in trouble. BUT, there is another common giveaway that I’ve come across a few times recently in some of my pitching lessons. Ask yourself this: are you 100% sure your pre-motion is the same every time?
Read MoreTherapy for your Hands and Feet
If you read our email newsletter, last time you received some great therapy for your often-ignored feet. I decided to share that info with everyone, and include some for your hands too!
Read MoreLearning to Whip your Arm When it Doesn’t Come Naturally
Loose arm whip is absolutely critical to pitching fast. It’s not a stylistic choice; every single elite pitcher whips her arm, regardless of how she was taught to follow through after the arm whip takes place. Some lucky windmill pitchers begin whipping their arms within the first few days of learning; it just comes naturally to them. To many, however, it does not come naturally, and in those cases I believe teaching the arm to whip is the hardest thing for a young pitcher to do. BUT, it’s not impossible. It’s a long and arduous process that requires a lot of dedication and patience, but it’s not impossible. For those who are trying to learn arm whip and aren’t quite getting it, or for those who have learned a different way to pitch and are now trying to switch to the arm whip, I will compile some resources that you can use to help get the job done.
Read MoreCorrecting a “Swimming Glove” in Pitchers
Poor glove hand movement is a very common problem among windmill pitchers, especially young ones. It usually takes the form of the glove hand flying way out to the side, or “swimming,” instead of remaining on line with the catcher. Fortunately, it’s also one of the easier problems to address. All you need is a simple drill.
Read MoreHow to Deal with Closed-Minded or Contradictory High School Coaches
I’ve had a number of parents come to me in the past month or so with the following conundrum: their daughter has worked extremely hard with a private coach to get her pitching or hitting mechanics to a particular place. Then when her high school season starts, the coach tries to change her mechanics to something completely different. This is an extremely difficult and delicate situation that must be handled with care—no matter how much frustration it may cause you. Not every instance of this problem will be identical, and there’s no way to pin down a solution that will work every time. The following advice, however, may help you get through it as smoothly as possible.
Read MoreEvery Athlete is Not the Same
Today I’m going to talk about a couple of pet peeves I have when it comes to teaching/learning windmill pitching, though what I say can be applied to any skill. The key concept I want to underline is that every athlete is not the same. Every athlete has a slightly different body type, different physical strengths and weaknesses, and different ways of mentally processing information. What do we, as both instructors and students, need to take away from this?
Read MoreAvoid Unnecessary Confusion in Young Pitchers
I had a conversation with a parent last week whose daughter, a 10U pitcher, is in a transition phase with her pitching mechanics and struggling. It occurred to me that her dilemma probably applies to many of you, so I want to talk about it a bit.
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