Quote:
Originally posted by Roger Bridges
I guess maybe he just didnt want to deal with the arguments that will surely follow,i dont necessarily agree with that,but hes the uic so i would have done exactly what you did!
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The reasoning is solid...men's ball in this state is played at a higher level (most teams are A or Major, a few B and C). What they are trying to do is develop younger teams, younger pitchers (those throwing in the state were either mid/late 40's or mid/late 20's). So, let them learn how to throw strikes HOWEVER they want, and when they get to the upper levels (B, A, Major) they can "adjust to the legal way" and will not be as frustrated as they could have been trying to; A. learn how to throw strikes, B. how to throw legal.
Same holds true (to me) about girls learning to pitch. A very successful pitching coach in my area teaches a leap, then takes it away once pitcher learns how to throw strikes with speed. He teaches a crow hop. He teaches all kinds of "technicalities" against pitching legally...but he eventually takes them away so that by State Tournament time, the girls are legal.
I'm not saying let the girls pitch illegal all the time, but most opposing coaches don't care how the girls throw the ball, just that they are throwing it underhand towards the plate.
A story: I had a game last season where one pitcher was doing about three things way wrong. Opposing coach politely asks me to do something, so inning by inning I spend about 10 seconds reminding the girl what to do to correct herself. By the end of the game, she was throwing just as hard, just as accurate as she was when she was illegal. She was actually more accurate, and the opposing coaches team was having problems hitting her for an inning or so. It was a JV game, so I was able to "get away with more teaching." Varsity level, well, I'm not sure what I would have done.