Fastpitch Softball Pitching - Control Problems

I have a daughter that is very big into fastpitch softball. She started playing when she was 8 in little league fall ball. The next year she played little league in the spring ,all stars in the summer and then decided she wanted to start pitching. She started in august and pitched for fall ball little league. She worked really hard the next few months, got a whole lot better and we ended up finding her a 10u travel ball team the next spring for her play for and pitch. She played for 3 travel teams last year, 2 10u teams and a 12u team. She is 11 now and playing 12u ball for the Peaches in Yadkin, NC. She is one of the youngest on the team. Some of the girls are 7th graders and my daughter is in 5th. She is also one of the smallest. She is mainly an outfielder for this team and does really well. The coach wants her to pitch but she has had control problems. I think we have probably solved that and I wanted to share our experience.

We started going to a pitching coach when she first started to pitch. Honestly I figured she would try it and not like pitching or the work she would have to put in to become a real pitcher. I was wrong. She loves it. We go out most days and pitch and during the winter we go indoors and practice pitching, hitting and bunting. The first pitching coach we tried was at a hitting center. This woman was a great pitcher for a local college but we only went to one lesson. She seemed pretty good but we found one we liked better. This guy is one the nicest people I have ever met in my life. He actually works with my father in law, which is how we found him. He is very genuine and my daughter loves him to death and he has been coaching and teaching pitching for many years. They both teach pitching like so many others. Push off, open your hips and close them very fast. The faster you close your hips the better. She did that and actually pitched very well in 10u, especially last fall for the 10u Cardinals. They got a second place gold bracket finish with her pitching. She also got her first no hitter that tournament. Problem is, they pitch from 35 ft. Now she is pitching from 40ft. Her control left and never came back until recently.

Her travel ball coach eventually suggested something and she tried it. He said they teach this at the University of Arizona and after I researched it I found a lot more people teach this way now than I thought and it makes total sense. When you close you hips fast as she was taught, they start getting the way of your arm. Her pitches were tailing off bad to her right very often. She was worried about hitting her hip with the ball. A pitchers hips have absolutely nothing to do with how fast or accurate she throws the ball (at least not in a good way). What he suggested was don't close your hips at all. It is a huge adjustment but as she gets used to it I think her accuracy is coming back fast and her speed might actually be improving. While she is still getting used to it, when she does it right (which is more than half of the time now) she is very accurate. Also her delivery is much smoother than it was. She can relax her arm better because she doesn't have to think about hitting her hip as she releases. Now she does close up after the ball is gone but this is only for fielding purposes and has nothing to do with her pitching. It really does work. I would love to see what you guys think. This is just my personal experience. I am sure different things work for different people. Now I just have to figure out how to tell her pitching coach....

Watch Cat Osterman during her no hitter in the olympics. Notice how she never closes until well after the ball is gone.

UPDATE: My kid decided she could NOT do this... haha. Well know she does kind of a hybrid between both. She doesn't close her hips fast like she used to but she still does a little. It is what is comfortable for her. Her control is a lot better but we will find out tomorrow as she is pitching her first game of the spring.