What to Look For in a Quality Pitching Coach
Are you having a hard time finding a quality pitching instructor in your area? If so, you are not alone! One of the greatest challenges parents and coaches share is the lack of quality pitching instruction in their area. What does that say about the quality of pitching instructors in the entire country? Although they do exist, there arent many great ones to choose from. Many of the instructors nowadays are teaching students the same way and are cloning their pitchers. Those instructors should be avoided at any cost because they take away from any natural throwing ability any young pitcher has.
Here are some things to look out for when choosing a qualified pitching instructor.
Dont be quick to pick a pitching instructor based on the fact that they have spend some time pitching at the Major League level or they have played professional anywhere. Many of those instructors really are not instructors; they are great players of the game with natural ability to throw the baseball. They may have had a stellar career, but are they the right ones to have instruct your son or team? Maybe they are. In my experience most are not the ones because of their inability to teach what they know. Yes they may know a great deal about pitching, but can they relay that knowledge to your son? That is the question you should ask.
Not only that; if the instructor seems to know what they are talking about, are they a good educator? I have run into many retired Major League pitchers that are great people, but horrible educators. Some I know, understand pitching mechanics, but they have the most difficult time explaining or demonstrating the how toos of mechanics. Just attend a pitching camp or clinic in your local area and ask the boys that attend that camp what they learned that day and how they are going to apply it. They will be hard pressed to tell you anything valuable they have learned.
Dont listen to an instructor who tries to change your natural arm slot or tells you most successful pitchers throw at a 90 degree angle. I throw with a natural three quarter arm slot, most pitchers naturally throw this way, but others really do throw close to 90 degrees.
You should also avoid the pitching coaches who teach a variety of off speed pitches before a pitcher has total control of his fastball or at least has pretty good fastball mechanics. Until a pitcher understands proper pitching mechanics, they should not be taught any other pitch. When they do understand pitching mechanics and become somewhat consistent with them, one of the first pitches they should be taught is an effective changeup.
Last but not least; dont take lessons from an instructor who is behind the plate catching for you and trying to instruct at the same time. They are going to be watching the ball go into the glove and not necessarily what you are doing. They may give you a pointer or two along the way; but they cannot be effective instructors catching for you, they cant see what you are doing out of the corner of their eye. There are some great instructors out there, dont get me wrong! The great instructors are just very difficult to find. Good luck in your pursuit of the perfect pitching instructor.