Category Archives: Pitching

Thoughts and Posts on Pitching

General Softball Discussions, Hitting, Pitching

STOP BEING COOKIE CUTTER! STOP CHASING THE FAD! EMBRACE THE LONLEY WORK!

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STOP BEING COOKIE CUTTER! STOP CHASING THE FAD! EMBRACE THE LONLEY WORK!

I’m just so over it. The cookie cuter way. Here, here is the booklet that will show you how to be a great pitcher or hitter. Every kid that walks in the door doing the same drill.  It just doesn’t work like that! Every kid that walks in the door has different issues or areas to improve on and fix. So not everyone can move like that, or honestly, they may never be able to move like you want them to, or do it a specific way. So even when the expert says you must do this……… it still may not work for you!!  YOU MUST ADAPT! I’ve been an educator for 24+ years now, teaching Drivers Ed, Physical Ed, and Health Ed, if there is one thing I have learned in those 24 years, it’s how to adapt, and how to adapt on the fly!

Today’s day and age, it seems as if we are so focused on the movement patterns, the HLPs, the HLMs, that we are missing the boat on several things! We are no longer creating pitchers and hitters, we are creating robots! Players who just know what to do, not how or why to do it! Drives me crazy!

I find it extremely funny that the best pitchers to pitch in the game are all older, 36+ years of age. Cat Osterman, Monica Abbott, Sarah Pauly, and Yukiko Ueno. Not to sure they had all these expert feet people, and movement assessment people their whole career, but they still get the job done, and at the highest level. Oh, and still are the best pitchers in the world!

Plyo balls have been around for years! But now it’s the crazy! Why? Well the experts say to use them to help teach movements……Lets put some between our elbows, our knee, heck on top of the head! Whatever the experts say and do, whatever we see those on-line instructors doing on their fancy tik tok videos! I must do that as well… yet, lets not fix that same kid who is opening early, replanting off the mound, could use a better spin axis on their curve….. nope just train those movements, with fancy plyo balls, and wide stances!

Embrace the lonely work! – You in front of a mirror looking at your mechanics, letting your eyes work for you, not just trusting a movement pattern. Video tape yourself, look for areas of inefficiencies, then tackle those areas! Don’t work on what you’re good at, work on the areas you need to improve on!

I love my plyo balls I bought back in 2019 from The Velo Lab that came with a great pitcher arm care and speed workout! Guess I or they were ahead of our time! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about tech and gadgets, and I love new things, but some of these drills I see are so counter productive….. but hey don’t miss out! You keep developing movers, I’m going to keep developing college ready pitchers and hitters.

Drills, General Softball Discussions, Pitching, Uncategorized

Week 4 BG Fastpitch Pitching Clinic PowerPoint

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BG Fastpitch Pitching Clinicw4

You heard me speak about Austin Wasserman and High Level Throwing (HLT) Here is a link to what he is all about! –He has worked with several softball teams, as well as baseball teams! – https://www.highlevelthrowing.com/

Videos from Clinic are below – just click the link

Warm Routine –

Stretch – K Bands – Run – Throw Overhand – Then Loose Warm Up – Walk Through – Run Through – Full Pitch!

Loose Warm up – NO WRIST FLICKS! — Helps with Timing!

Cross Over Drill – Regulates Rotation – Great for Over Rotators!

Exercise Ball – Core – Body Control – 

Balance Board – Body Control – Balance – 

Pitching Clock —

 

General Softball Discussions, Hitting, Pitching, Uncategorized

Lesson Availablity! Taking on new clients both hitting and pitching!

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My schedule is opening up! I’ll have a few days that lessons can be done on! Mondays,  Wednesdays (some) Saturdays, and Sundays (once the pitching clinic is over) will be days that I’ll be available!

 

I’ll be taking on both pitching and hitting clients! If you’re looking to get in, now is the time to set up your time and day!

You can schedule a lesson 1 of 2 ways! Use the Appointy app (Free) and set it up! Click below!

Or you can reach out to me via the BG Fastpitch site — Appointy will be the most current up to day times and days. More weekdays will become available in the next few weeks!

 

Click below to contact me via the BG Fastpitch site.

Jason (Jay) Bolden

 

 

Pitching

That “New Style” of Pitching

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I hear it all the time. I want to send her to you for that “new style” of pitching… New style?? Really? I believe the other way is the new style… It’s not a new style, has never been. It’s THE STYLE.

I have a friend I converse with on several occasions, he’s more “old school” if you will in his ways. Great guy loves the game, and is a great coach! I have a few of his players I give lessons to. Some have made huge gains. He calls it “that new style”.  His daughter was a pitcher as well back in the day, didn’t pitch this way.  I just keep telling him, this is the way THE BEST pitch, so why limit kids, and not have them strive to be one of the best?

There is no debating how the best pitch and have pitched. There is a way they have from the get go. I will say this until I am blue in the face, the ball faces 3rd base, or even palm up! The pinkie leads the ball to release!  The ball stays or traces on the inside of the circle or hula hoop just off to your side, it’s not pushed out! The arm should whip! The hand should be palm down on finish, not fingers to the sky or fist to chin!

Analogy time…. You and I go to lake Michigan. We get to skip 3 rocks.

You skip yours by pulling up to the sky, and I get to skip mine across my body with my arm loose and following the rock. Who’s goes farther? Why?

People have said to me countless times, “that new style” it’s not new. It’s the proper way to pitch, and if you’re not being taught that way, you risk being injured. I say this because most of the kids I see, that come to me, have prior injuries related to how they were taught to pitch.

So this past week I wanted to show everyone that this is not the “New Style” It’s THE style, and always has been. Watch as the ball will face 3rd base or palm up, the elbow is slightly bent, and the finish is thumb internally rotates inward(because bio mechanically that’s what its supposed to do) towards body and arm follows the ball just like extension in hitting, or overhand throwing! These are pitchers who pitched in the WCWS… I could have kept going into the 2010s + but I think you get the idea!! There are absolutes in pitching… Below you’ll see them!

1979 – Margie Wright

1990

1991

1992 – Lisa Fernandez

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001 – Jennie Finch

2002 – Jennie Finch

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007 – Taryne Mowat

2007 – Monica Abbot

Pitching

You have to Brush it!

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You have to Brush it! It’s what my wife and I tell our 3 daughters on a daily basis in the mornings! Brush that hair, brush those teeth! Ahh the life of having 3 young daughters 6 years old and younger. It’s an important time in their lives where we as parents have to teach our kids how to do things and why! I can’t even imagine teaching my crew pitching…. Ugg! I might pull the hair I have left out…..

 

I think it’s important as parents to make sure what is being taught to our kids is correct. There are a lot of “ways” to pitch.  But I think as parents that we want our kids to be taught the best injury free mechanics.

Two of my biggest hurdles when it comes to teaching pitching instruction is teaching students that propper posture dictates release. There should be no bending over or at the waist at all. I see lots of girls bending at the waist and forcing a wrist snap, only to question why their accuracy is off and the ball is sailing high.

Now, I’m not talking about shoulder tilt. I love shoulder tilt, it’s crucial to throwing several movement pitches. I also tell my students that pitching is like old people dancing. We  (older people) dance with our shoulders, so when you come to pitch, come to dance like old people! Blake Shelton could throw a mean rise or drop ball with these shoulder tilts!

 

Now lets look at some really good posture!

Do you see any bending over at the waist on this pitch? She looks tall and her shoulders look pushed back, creating great posture to use resistance for her whip! Did you also notice the brush she is getting with her elbow? She’ll get even more as the forearm will wrap around the hip. Brush is just that, we are brushing (not striking) the hip with the forearm. What helps us get here is the  BENT elbow being pulled to the ribcage (suck it in) (Hulking!!) A little brush will help generate a great whip! Whip assisted brush, that’s what we are after!

The best Brush!  Sure do!

Here is Monica Abbot – She knows a thing or two about pitching! Look at her posture as well. Very tall no waist bending, and look at that arm brush the hip and fire!

 

How about Megan Kleist from Oregon?

yup.. She brushes!

Lastly one of the more underrated pitchers that I like is Trinity Harrington from Texas A & M. She’s a brusher too! See that wrist sneak around that hip? The brush is what is helping that wrist snap!

So it comes down to what pitcher to do you want to be like? If it’s like any of the above, you’ll need to be tall, and brush!

 

Until next time…… Thanks for reading!

 

 

Pitching

Food for Thought… Pitching.

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I came across this video the other day from the NFCA tip Tuesday in regards to pitching styles, and it really puts things in perspective. You see softball like all other sports changes on a daily basis. If you’re not willing to change, continue to learn, listen, and ask for help, then you’re not a good coach.  Having coached for almost 20 years now, I would be lying to you if I told you I haven’t changed things that I did over the years. A lot of that is because I continue to research things, I continue to go to clinics, and ask questions. It’s important!

One thing that I try to relate continued growth and learning to is baseball. Lets talk quickly about baseball since softball and baseball are very similar, and many people clump the 2 together. About 10 years ago you never heard of launch angles, and exit velocity. Now, that’s spoken on a daily basis when talking about hitting and home runs. You see, people began to do research, they continued to learn, and grow. They used their research to formulate drills, and incorporate them into hitting lessons and so on.

So let’s get back to this video. You see 10 – 15 years ago, all you heard was, “slam the door” and warm up using “wrist flips”.  Some of the best pitchers in that time frame pitched like that. Then we began to do research, we learned that the most “elite” pitchers threw a different way.  Mens fastpitch pitchers threw a different way as well. Why? Why did these pitchers throw completely different from the others. Part of it is studying what the body does naturally, compared to a forced action. Part of it was injuries that were occurring in pitchers both at a young age and even in college. You see people began to research and study the different methods.

I’m not saying you can’t be a great pitcher with the slam the door, hello elbow mechanics, you very well can be, especially at a young age. However, you may incur injuries more frequently. You may top out at lesser speed then the elite. You will not have as much movement as you like. These are some things that are hindered by slow and forced mechanics. All in all, we live in a day and age where we can take the best DI pitchers, and slow them down with technology on our phones. I challenge you to look and see for yourselves what mechanics the best use. The evidence will be clear as day!

 

Until next time!

Coach Jason (Jay) Bolden