I often ask that question and get blank stares from new students. Where should you feel strong? Then, after a pitch, I ask where they felt tight? Normally they name places in the body where they should not feel tight. These are often places where tightness can cause injury. The shoulder in an obvious example, but there are several more. Tightness also is an indicator that you are using the wrong muscles.

A good example of that last statement is one my physician friend once used. How well could you throw a softball overhand if your shoes were nailed to the ground? You would probably feel like you were giving it great effort, so you would feel incredibly tight, yet the results would be disappointing. If you try to throw harder, something has to give.

Yet, that is what we see very often with new students. They are using the wrong parts of the body to try to generate power, and when the results are dismal, they simply try harder or pick up a weighted ball or another other tool and try to force the issue.

Recently an experienced pitcher came to me for a the first time. She was quite proud of her pitching and told me so. After watching her throw a few pitches, I sat down and gently told her that she should forget the lesson if she liked what she was already doing. I could see that the kid worked so hard, but she was getting no results. I told her that she would have to forget everything she believed about pitching and start as a ten-year-old. She refused to leave and finally admitted she was ready to give up on all of her dreams if I couldn’t help her.

The next hour was intense as we re-trained the kid in how her body worked, how to generate power, how to transfer energy, and which parts of the body should feel powerful. She began to say she felt relaxed for the first time in her life. Yet, she said she felt strangely powerful in new places. The kid jumped from the mid-50’s to low-60’s in one hour and everyone watching, including myself, was stunned. I knew we could get a few miles per hour, but this was exciting. The greatest compliment from her came at the end, when she said she wasn’t even tired and could tell she wasn’t going to be sore for the first time in memory.

When I first started teaching, I wasn’t excited about new students who were extremely tight and upper-body oriented. But, that soon changed as I realized these kids were some of the best students. They weren’t afraid to work hard. In fact, they were some of the most goal-oriented and obsessive kids you could ever meet. They would work day and night if that is what it takes. Sometimes I tell them I want them to be a little lazy, and remind them of the saying in golf, “Swing easy to hit hard”.

It takes some time, but they soon learn that tightness is the enemy, but power IN THE RIGHT PLACES is their best friend. Helping them discover those places and how to use them in the transfer of energy sometimes takes some creativity, but the excitement on their faces when they finally experience it is worth the effort. Being tight is far different from feeling powerful. Power in the right places enhances the pitch, whereas tightness normally impedes the pitch and puts the pitcher at risk.