My daughter is good at keeping things in perspective. We were discussing a particular issue in the pitching motion of a student. She said I should not to see it as the kid is doing something “wrong”, but try to help her see if she could be “better” if she changed it. It was a great point.

Sometimes I will suggest a change and a student will say that she picked up a particular habit from watching someone else. Is it wrong? Not necessarily. Could she do it better? Perhaps.

I look at it this way. I enjoy shooting skeet on occasion. I am not the greatest at hitting those little clay discs, but one day I was watching a pro, shooting behind his back and far exceeding my abilities. So, the moral of the story is that I should shoot behind my back, right? Of course not. Even the pro wouldn’t enter a competition and shoot that way. He needs every bit of proper form when challenging other professionals. Just because something works for you doesn’t mean that is the best possible way you could do it.

I always respected our daughter’s inquisitiveness. Even when things were going very well, she searched for tiny advantages. Could a subtle change in this part of the body give her more power, or could it make the riseball jump a bit extra? She wasn’t pitching wrong, but wanted to be sure there wasn’t a way to get even better.

Today I tend to teach that way. When a kid sees me with the radar, she wants to know the speed. I always answer, “Not fast enough”. We then get into three or four things that could add a fraction of a mile per hour, but when added together make a significant difference. If she throws a good drop, I am going to press her to make it break later, break more, or make it faster. These things require her to get out of her comfort zone and discover things she would not have considered before.

One thing I always tell my pitching students is, “The minute you begin to believe you are special, you begin losing ground. We are always going uphill or downhill, and the altitude is determined by the attitude”.