"I debated about whether to post a response to this baseball parent's question for 2 days..."

Here's a baseball pitching question I received Wednesday afternoon (March 16) from the parent of a baseball pitcher who was responding to our March 16 FREE Baseball Pitching Tips Weblog post titled: “Should Baseball Pitchers Perform Pitching Drills, Flat Ground Bullpens & Throwing At Shorter Distances?”

The baseball parent’s question was direct: the parent had purchased an expensive baseball pitching program from a popular online pitching instructor, but had noticed that the instructor’s views had changed considerably in the past year about pitchers' training routines, the use of training drills and skill-development techniques.

I debated about whether to post a response to this baseball parent’s email on my Weblog for two days because I found it difficult to answer the pitching question in a way that provided a good-solid answer, which is what this parent was asking for, without coming across as taking a “cheap-shot” at the other online instructor’s views on pitching, which is certainly not my intention.

However, it’s a great question. And I decided to re-work the original question leaving the other online pitching instructor’s name out, but leaving the integrity of the original email intact.

Here the question; my response follows…

Coach Ellis,

Is your post from the 16th in reference to [another online pitching instructor]? I bought [the other online instructor’s] program for my son last year. He is 16 now. The problem that I have with [the other online instructor] is that he has changed some of the advice he was giving just last year. I don’t know what year [the other online instructor] wrote his book. Although there’s nothing wrong with changing your ideas, perhaps [the other online instructor] has learned more about something. [The other online instructor] confuses me though because he is almost completely opposite in what my sons’ pitching coach (it’s not his high school coach) tells us. [The other online instructor] is completely against drills unless you’re just learning how to pitch. So far I think I’ve stuck with everything my son’s pitching coach is telling us. Some of [the other online instructor’s] beliefs look well on paper. I assume that [the other online instructor] has trained his son the same way. He talks about his son’s success … and I’m not cutting him down but just wondering if [that other online instructor’s] advice is all that it’s cracked up to be. Obviously, his son is a talented pitcher or he wouldn’t have pitched past college.

Thanks

From the desk of STEVEN ELLIS, The Complete Pitcher™:

Thanks for the question.

In baseball, like anything else in life, the process learning is life-long. Baseball pitching instructors and coaches are constantly changing their beliefs and philosophies because new and different ideas about different and better ways to train pop up all the time -- and backed by loads of scientific research that wasn't previously available.

For example, creatine was a little known supplement until the mid-1990s and today a lot of pitchers and hitters use the stuff. Some love the supplement, others do not. (My March 15 Weblog post is "All About Creatine Supplementation For Baseball Pitchers")

Then, there are new baseball training devices like the BodyBlade, B.O.I.N.G. and threaband tubing exercises (thera-band tubing exercises) that pitchers pre-1990 didn't perform because the stuff wasn't around, but have shown to be great training tools.

Stretching has also been “reinvented” recently: Should pitchers perform static stretching? Or dynamic stretching? And when should pitchers stretch? Prior to the mid-1980s these questions weren’t raised – there was just one way to stretch (it was just static -- or no stretching at all).

The bottom line is this: 

     It's OK for a coach to change his views and the way he instructs over time because the principals of training are constantly changing, too.

However, when it comes to pitchers throwing strikes on the hill, the principals that applied to pitchers in the 1920s and 1930s, 1960s and 1970s do still apply today... and those don't really change.

Elements like proper pitching mechanics (that baseball pitching drills are used to perfect) are one example.

So, should you be concerned if your baseball pitching instructor up and changes his philosophies and principals about pitching over night?

Yes and no.

But remember this: learning is life long. Learning to become a better, more complete baseball pitcher, coach or parent is a life long process, too.

Simply ask the “other online instructor” why his views have changed? And see what you can learn!

Never stop learning!

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher™
www.thecompletepitcher.com
www.thecompletepitcher.blogs.com