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Resident Experts Column - September 2006
"Ask WHY!" - by Bill Hillhouse

Every pitcher is unique in some way. Differences in sizes, strength, ability, coaching, intelligence, and the team playing defense, all make every pitcher's situation something with a lot of variables. Yet, when there is trouble in the mechanics or things go heywire somewhere many parents refer to the internet for advice and help. This is sometimes a dangerous thing to do.

There are some fantastic people willing to share their knowledge of the game online. There are forums and message boards in nearly every state for girls fastpitch softball and there are a few national and international ones too. But, to seek advice in on these forums isn't always the wisest thing to do on many levels. It's troubling to me that there are soooooo many pitching coaches offering this advice with soooooo many theories about pitching and pitching mechanics. It's baffling. It can be a terrible task for someone to figure out who's right and who's wrong.

Ever notice on TV cop shows, they are always reluctant to put a "tip line" for people to call in tips about a crime? It's because they don't want weirdos and people with nothing better to do calling in. Yet, if you post any question about pitching on a message board and 1000 people will reply with their 'insight' about how to fix a certain issue. On some message boards, the more 'posts' you've made somehow increases your stature within that group and makes you a resident expert, regardless of your actual knowledge. While many of the people who offer this advice have no malice in their hearts and genuinely believe they are helping with their answer, there are many who simply don't have a clue about what they are talking about or a personal frame of reference to help them base their opinions. Obviously, these are the dangerous ones.

You see, pitching problems have a lot to do with 'cause and effect'. One thing happens because of another. There are literally a dozen reasons why someone is pitching high constantly. It's something that cannot be analyzed over the internet and usually not something that can be corrected without knowing WHY it's happening. You have to know WHY before you can fix WHAT.

Without question, any pitching coach worth his salt will help the pitcher and parent understand this. Finding a quality pitching coach is a whole other topic for discussion! My advice... study the world's best pitchers (male and female). You will see they all do things the same for the most part. Then, copy them as much as you can and ask a million questions. Asking WHY will separate the good pitchers from the great ones.

Bill Hillhouse
House Of Pitching