6x Ivy League champions; five 30-win seasons; over 450 career wins; has mentored 5 Ivy League Pitchers of the Year; Former Big 10 Player of the Year and All-American as a player at Michigan
Jenny Allard uses her years of experience as a Division I Head Coach and an All-American pitcher to guide players and coaches through the the basic principals of pitching from the grip, spin and stride. She breaks the motion down into manageable steps that players of any age or ability will be able to comprehend and implement, giving you an understanding of the common flaws young pitchers make when starting out and how to correct the mistakes.
Coach Allard opens up by explaining how to correctly grip the softball, and adjustments that can be made based on the size of the pitcher's hands. Young pitchers may or may not be big enough to grip a 4-seam fastball, so teaching them a grip for a 2-seam will help them get the proper rotation on the softball. She then moves on to the proper wrist snap and release. Using a couple of young pitchers as demonstrators, Allard introduces a series of pitching progression drills that train pitchers to lead with the wrist and stay behind the ball. These begin by isolating the wrist snap, and gradually build up, moving the arm further and further back, until the pitcher is doing almost a full arm circle.
Coach Allard then introduces four drills she uses to isolate the arm circle. Pitchers begin by practicing the arm circle on a knee, and after mastering that, stand up and gradually incorporate more use of the legs. Again, Allard has two of her beginning pitchers demonstrate each step. Getting good leg drive is one of the biggest struggles for young pitchers. Legs are crucial to the speed and power of your pitcher. As an introduction to proper leg use, Allard gives you some basic instruction on how to use the legs to generate more power behind the pitch, as well as the basics for how to line up the pitcher's feet on the pitcher's mound. She also presents three drills for learning how to load and drive with the legs. Also discussed is the optimum stride length for young pitchers, as well as a few teaching cues for coaches to allow them to drive out farther, creating more velocity and less time for the hitter to react to the pitch.
Pitching is a difficult skill to master, and learning the correct fundamentals is essential for later success. Coach Jenny Allard will help young pitchers develop the basic pitching skills that will frustrate opposing batters for years to come.
70 minutes. 2013.
YSD-04265B: with Jenny Allard, Harvard University Head Coach;
6x Ivy League champions; five 30-win seasons; over 450 career wins; has mentored 5 Ivy League Pitchers of the Year; Former Big 10 Player of the Year and All-American as a player at Michigan
Usually, pitching instruction has been targeted at beginners and advanced level pitchers, neglecting a very large segment of pitchers who fall in the in-between. Jenny Allard gives instruction targeted for intermediate pitching students, those pitchers who are beyond the beginner level but are not quite advanced. These pitchers have the basic fundamentals and coordination of the pitching motion, but still need some correction and development on additional pitches.
Usually, with an intermediate level pitcher, their hands will be big enough that they can grip the ball along the "C" of the seams, giving a four-seam rotation to help the ball spin. She introduces six drills she uses to further develop an intermediate pitcher's wrist snap and release. A good wrist snap will create more power and velocity on the ball. These drills build up from isolating the wrist snap and gradually incorporating more arm circle, until the pitcher is throwing with a full arm circle motion.
For each drill, Coach Allard explains and gives instruction, as one of her intermediate level pitchers demonstrates.
Coach Allard then moves on to the legs, aiming to teach her intermediate pitcher better leg drive and follow through. She demonstrates three drills she uses to teach leg drive, including starting the pitcher from a loaded position, walk-throughs, and long toss. Allard also alludes to some of the mental game of pitching, giving some advice for pitchers who need to make corrections in game, explaining that they should say a cue word off the mound, then have a clear mind when they step on the mound and pitch.
Finally, Coach Allard talks about throwing four types of change-ups, explaining the grip and mechanics for each. Not every athlete is successful with the same type of change-up, her instruction will give your pitcher options to see what works best for them. She explains how she develops the pitch, beginning with flip drills, the building up using a snap progression, and finally throwing full distance.
Coach Allard will show you how to develop these intermediate level pitchers and help them step up their game!
44 minutes. 2013.
