Coaching the Youth Softball Pitcher

Jenny Allard uses her years of experience as a Division I Head Coach and an All-American pitcher to guide players and coaches through the the basic principals of pitching from the grip, spin and stride. She breaks the motion down into manageable steps that players of any age or ability will be able to comprehend and implement, giving you an understanding of the common flaws young pitchers make when starting out and how to correct the mistakes.

Coach Allard opens up by explaining how to correctly grip the softball, and adjustments that can be made based on the size of the pitcher's hands. Young pitchers may or may not be big enough to grip a 4-seam fastball, so teaching them a grip for a 2-seam will help them get the proper rotation on the softball. She then moves on to the proper wrist snap and release. Using a couple of young pitchers as demonstrators, Allard introduces a series of pitching progression drills that train pitchers to lead with the wrist and stay behind the ball. These begin by isolating the wrist snap, and gradually build up, moving the arm further and further back, until the pitcher is doing almost a full arm circle.

Coach Allard then introduces four drills she uses to isolate the arm circle. Pitchers begin by practicing the arm circle on a knee, and after mastering that, stand up and gradually incorporate more use of the legs. Again, Allard has two of her beginning pitchers demonstrate each step. Getting good leg drive is one of the biggest struggles for young pitchers. Legs are crucial to the speed and power of your pitcher. As an introduction to proper leg use, Allard gives you some basic instruction on how to use the legs to generate more power behind the pitch, as well as the basics for how to line up the pitcher's feet on the pitcher's mound. She also presents three drills for learning how to load and drive with the legs. Also discussed is the optimum stride length for young pitchers, as well as a few teaching cues for coaches to allow them to drive out farther, creating more velocity and less time for the hitter to react to the pitch.

Pitching is a difficult skill to master, and learning the correct fundamentals is essential for later success. Coach Jenny Allard will help young pitchers develop the basic pitching skills that will frustrate opposing batters for years to come.

70 minutes. 2013.