My site has been empy for quite awhile. I thought it was time to update the page and write some things that have been on my mind.
People tend to give me credibility as a pitching coach because I pitched in High School and was relatively successful. However, I have come to the realization that my profession as an analytical chemist has actually more to do with my effectiveness as a pitching coach than my past abilities as a pitcher. Yes, I do have a unique perspective, but that is an overated credential. Being able to do something is far different than being able to effectively convey to someone elese how to do the same thing. As an analytical chemist I am required to analyze, interpret, and verify highly complex systems through experimentation and testing. This is not unlike trying to unravel pitching. If you focus in on one specific parameter in such a complex system and do not effectively monitor and control all the other parameters, then the final results along with the cause and effects relationships can be misinpterpreted.
Let's say a coach wants to increase a pitchers stride length to see if it will get them more velocity. The coach takes some ":before" video and measures the pitchers velocity. The coach then tells the pitcher to stride out further and they work on this for a couple of weeks. Some more video is taken and the stride length has obviously increased and the pitchers velocity has gone up. Great, that means that striding further will increase velocity. Not so quick! How do you know something else hasn't changed that made the real difference. During the adjustment to the longer stride the pitcher would have to make some adjustments to their motion to accomadate the change. Timing and syncronization of other body parts would most likely have to change. Unless everything else is measured and controlled there is no way to really assess the effect of stride length alone. O Yeah, don't forget about all the stuff you can't see, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Which muscles fired and in which order? How much stretch is there in the ligaments etc. etc. Trying to figure out what is going on underneath is quite a task and requires very expensive testing equipment and procedures.. The point here is that to change one thing you will, in response, have to change other things, either visible or not. In this case the result is positive, but the true cause is subjective. There is also no way to be certain that it will work for someone else, because we can't really be certain what all took place. You cannot cookie cutter pitchers. To date, I cannot find anyone who has proven that there are a set of specific mechanics that are measurable and verifiable that will produce the greatest velocity, best accuracy, and least stress that can be applied across every person.
Focus on the result not the cause and effect relationship that produces that result. It is often more important to know how to effect the result than it is to understand how the effect works. This is how I approach pitching. I analyze motions and suggest changes. I assist the pitcher in applying the changes and see how it effects the results. If the result is better, who cares why it worked as long as it can be repeated time after time. If it doesn't work we try something else. The right experimentation and where to start is the only tricky part. Don't let the results be subjective. Measure! You have to have a way to know if something changed. The only way to do this is by measurement. Define what you want to improve. Determine how you will measure the result. Then compare the before and after mesurement to determine if it worked. Do not rely on perception. I see a lot of coaches try to change a pitchers motion to look like the picture of "Good Motion" they have in their head and when it looks like that picture, they claim success. "Looks better" does not cut it. All to often this is simply an ineffective motion replacing another ineffective motion that the coach perceives as better. Without measurement you will never know and you are at the mercy of the coaches beliefs. Video tape yourself often so you will be able to tell later when something has changed. |
