Meet Rita Lynn Gilman- Softball Authority Guest Coach
About Coach Rita Lynn Gilman
Here is the second featured coach in our new series for 2008 called "Softball Authority." The premise of Softball Authority is to showcase articles and/or training videos by coaches who have have demonstrated an exceptional ability and devotion to transfer their knowledge and expertise of fastpitch softball in order to help female softball athletes reach their maximum potential and take their game to the next level.
Coach Rita Lynn is considered one of the premiere pitching instructors in Virginia. She has influenced the careers of many outstanding pitchers in over 21 years of instruction. She co-owned Batter Up, Inc. Indoor training center from November 1998 - August 2004. Following that she opened up a "pitching only" school on her family farm in Hanover County Virginia, August 2004.
Coach Rita Lynn began teaching pitchers the summer of ’87 when her travel team's batgirl (graduate of Marshall University after completing four-year softball scholarship and winning Virginia high school state championship) asked Rita Lynn to show her how to pitch between games. Over the years she sent Rita Lynn plenty of new students and the lessons have never stopped.
Coach Rita Lynn witnessed the evolution of fast-pitch softball in central Virginia both as a participant and as an instructor. In the infancy of travel ball in Richmond, Rita Lynn led the first and only Richmond travel squad to two national ASA tournaments, pitching a no-hitter in the first game of the 1989 Sioux Falls, South Dakota ASA national.
Coach Rita Lynn witnessed the evolution of fast-pitch softball in central Virginia both as a participant and as an instructor. In the infancy of travel ball in Richmond, Rita Lynn led the first and only Richmond travel squad to two national ASA tournaments, pitching a no-hitter in the first game of the 1989 Sioux Falls, South Dakota ASA national.
A native of Hanover County, Virginia, she was a 3-time All-Region basketball player & softball pitcher in high school and was named the Richmond Times-Dispatch Scholar-Athlete of the Year. After playing basketball at University of Richmond on scholarship, she graduated in 1992 earning a BS in biology and a commission in the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant. She spent 4 years on active duty Army at Fort Lee, VA (1992 - 1996), as a Medical Service Corps Officer. She obtained the rank of Captain and is Airborne qualified...yes she jumped out of airplanes!!!! Kinda cool for a pitching instructor! The drill sergeant mentality really helps during clinics! For more tips and drills, go to her website: www.ritalynn.com.
S
ays Coach Rita Lynn:"Pitching is my passion. Through my instruction, I try to pass on that passion to my students. A true passion for this unique skill is the best internal motivator for pitchers to practice". .
I model my instruction and technique by studying the methods of the best pitchers in the world: our Olympians.
First I use video analysis to demonstrate the mechanics of these elite pitchers to new students.
Secondly, we video, analyze and compare each students' form to that of the Olympians.
Lastly, we go to work! We go step by step correcting and adjusting the mechanics and enhancing their performance.
I write a "prescription" the student takes home and is to have mastered before returning the next lesson. One of the best parts of my day is to re-video at the end of the session. The student the can see her improvement and see herself hitting the correct positions. It is their responsibility to come back with that same perfect form. I have a radar gun to monitor progress. I keep an appointment page on each student and document each lesson. I know what weaknesses had better be gone when I see them again!" - Coach Rita Lynn
One of Coach Rita Lynn's Drills
Stationary Pitching Drill
I love to isolate the pitching arm by doing the stationary drill. Pitcher takes a stride position (both feet touching powerline with stride foot out front) 20-30 feet away from her catcher. She doesn't move her feet at all. Her weight is slightly tilted backwards to prevent any forward lean. We work on tons of drills from this position:
1. ball in bag - use to smooth out plane of arm circle, increase arm speed
2. release flap - pitcher wears "perfect circle" flap extending out the side of her leg; if her circle is on plane, her hand should hit the flap 3 times as she does her complete circle and releases the ball
3. 2 super fast arm circles - with no ball in her hand, have pitcher do two consecutive circles as fast as possible to pump up the arm speed, end with a nice follow through in line with the target; make sure the next pitch has that arm speed!
4. noodle helmet - pitcher wears batting helmet that has a noodle glued to the top of it, this prevents arm circles that cross over the head (and provides lots of laughs!)
5. reminders - these are little things we do between pitches in the stationary drill to help us throw strikes:
a) leg taps: tap ball on side of leg where release point occurs to remind self where to let go
b) wrist flickies: at her side, have pitcher hold ball and bend wrist up and down to show herself the wrist action at release; execute that action in the next pitch
c) pendulums: have pitcher swing her arm back and forth directly in line with target; go into the pitch and throw the ball straight; pitch should not miss left nor right
d) self flips: hold ball out front and flip it up creating nice topspin; feel the roll; pitch and feel the roll!
e) glove snaps: practice an aggressive wrist snap by doing a loud glove snap (swing arm back to shoulder height & whip arm downward into release), follow with a pitch with an aggressive release
6. set up Chinese jump rope - stretch the rope at knee height between two batting tees and put it 5 feet in front of the plate; pitcher aims at rope; a fastball with tight topspin will cross the rope and drop if it is released at the right time; give a prize for 3 consecutive hits; I use this rope because it will not deflect the flight of the ball into the catcher
7. Schutt extended plate - Paint the Colors game: for one corner, see how many pitches it takes for your pitcher to hit the yellow stripe on the plate, then the green, black and brown areas; get it in 6 or less!
8. glove slaps - pitcher holds batting glove in fingers, catcher stands in front of pitcher and extends hand towards her; pitcher does a circle and slaps catcher's hand with glove; move hand for inside and outside pitches and arm circles to match them
9. SRS = spin right spinner
a) cross grip - gripping across the spinner, windmill the SRS to catcher and spin as fast as possible, make it buzz as loudly as possible
b) 2-finger grip - with this grip, spinner should rotate smoothly; do 3 drills: flip to self, half toss to catcher and windmill to catcher; work on smooth topspin
10. heavy and light weight balls - overload the arm muscles by pitching an 8.5oz ball as fast as possible for 15 pitches; under load the arm muscles by following with a 5oz ball; arm speed & pitch speed should be faster with the lighter weight ball; follow with a regular ball at faster speeds
11. cannonball - slowly windmill the one pound cannonball; feel the fingers lift at release and feel the roll; a regular ball now feels like a feather!
12. 14 inch ball - use this big ball to enhance grip and spin; do tape line work drills: self toss, half toss, windmill to catcher; 12" ball now feels like a 11" ball!
13. clicker - use this simple tool to learn how to hold the wrist angle on pitch downswing and to snap "at one moment in time", follow with glove snaps to repeat action in pitch
14. whiffle ball tosses - use for finger control; windmill waffle ball as hard as possible; any error in release point will be exaggerated and the ball will fly wildly
15. eyes closed - to feel the motion and create body awareness, do any drill with your eyes closed
16. alternate between pitches - use 3 balls to pick the speed up; mix between pitches to learn to transition from one pitch to the next
17. pitch combinations from the stationary drill
a) fast in - change out
b) fast out - off-speed further out
c) fast hi in - fast low out
d) rise hi in - drop low away
e) screw in - curve out
Here are two videos from Coach Rita's video collection. All of her videos can be found on You Tube
>> How to Improve Arm Whip
>> How to Increase Spin Speed
I write a "prescription" the student takes home and is to have mastered before returning the next lesson. One of the best parts of my day is to re-video at the end of the session. The student the can see her improvement and see herself hitting the correct positions. It is their responsibility to come back with that same perfect form. I have a radar gun to monitor progress. I keep an appointment page on each student and document each lesson. I know what weaknesses had better be gone when I see them again!" - Coach Rita Lynn
One of Coach Rita Lynn's Drills
Stationary Pitching Drill
I love to isolate the pitching arm by doing the stationary drill. Pitcher takes a stride position (both feet touching powerline with stride foot out front) 20-30 feet away from her catcher. She doesn't move her feet at all. Her weight is slightly tilted backwards to prevent any forward lean. We work on tons of drills from this position:
1. ball in bag - use to smooth out plane of arm circle, increase arm speed
2. release flap - pitcher wears "perfect circle" flap extending out the side of her leg; if her circle is on plane, her hand should hit the flap 3 times as she does her complete circle and releases the ball
3. 2 super fast arm circles - with no ball in her hand, have pitcher do two consecutive circles as fast as possible to pump up the arm speed, end with a nice follow through in line with the target; make sure the next pitch has that arm speed!
4. noodle helmet - pitcher wears batting helmet that has a noodle glued to the top of it, this prevents arm circles that cross over the head (and provides lots of laughs!)
5. reminders - these are little things we do between pitches in the stationary drill to help us throw strikes:
a) leg taps: tap ball on side of leg where release point occurs to remind self where to let go
b) wrist flickies: at her side, have pitcher hold ball and bend wrist up and down to show herself the wrist action at release; execute that action in the next pitch
c) pendulums: have pitcher swing her arm back and forth directly in line with target; go into the pitch and throw the ball straight; pitch should not miss left nor right
d) self flips: hold ball out front and flip it up creating nice topspin; feel the roll; pitch and feel the roll!
e) glove snaps: practice an aggressive wrist snap by doing a loud glove snap (swing arm back to shoulder height & whip arm downward into release), follow with a pitch with an aggressive release
6. set up Chinese jump rope - stretch the rope at knee height between two batting tees and put it 5 feet in front of the plate; pitcher aims at rope; a fastball with tight topspin will cross the rope and drop if it is released at the right time; give a prize for 3 consecutive hits; I use this rope because it will not deflect the flight of the ball into the catcher
7. Schutt extended plate - Paint the Colors game: for one corner, see how many pitches it takes for your pitcher to hit the yellow stripe on the plate, then the green, black and brown areas; get it in 6 or less!
8. glove slaps - pitcher holds batting glove in fingers, catcher stands in front of pitcher and extends hand towards her; pitcher does a circle and slaps catcher's hand with glove; move hand for inside and outside pitches and arm circles to match them
9. SRS = spin right spinner
a) cross grip - gripping across the spinner, windmill the SRS to catcher and spin as fast as possible, make it buzz as loudly as possible
b) 2-finger grip - with this grip, spinner should rotate smoothly; do 3 drills: flip to self, half toss to catcher and windmill to catcher; work on smooth topspin
10. heavy and light weight balls - overload the arm muscles by pitching an 8.5oz ball as fast as possible for 15 pitches; under load the arm muscles by following with a 5oz ball; arm speed & pitch speed should be faster with the lighter weight ball; follow with a regular ball at faster speeds
11. cannonball - slowly windmill the one pound cannonball; feel the fingers lift at release and feel the roll; a regular ball now feels like a feather!
12. 14 inch ball - use this big ball to enhance grip and spin; do tape line work drills: self toss, half toss, windmill to catcher; 12" ball now feels like a 11" ball!
13. clicker - use this simple tool to learn how to hold the wrist angle on pitch downswing and to snap "at one moment in time", follow with glove snaps to repeat action in pitch
14. whiffle ball tosses - use for finger control; windmill waffle ball as hard as possible; any error in release point will be exaggerated and the ball will fly wildly
15. eyes closed - to feel the motion and create body awareness, do any drill with your eyes closed
16. alternate between pitches - use 3 balls to pick the speed up; mix between pitches to learn to transition from one pitch to the next
17. pitch combinations from the stationary drill
a) fast in - change out
b) fast out - off-speed further out
c) fast hi in - fast low out
d) rise hi in - drop low away
e) screw in - curve out
Here are two videos from Coach Rita's video collection. All of her videos can be found on You Tube
>> How to Improve Arm Whip
>> How to Increase Spin Speed
Visit her website for more training tips. Click >> Coach Rita Lynn.
To receive notice of our next featured coach, submit your name to receive an email alert (use the subscribe button on the left sidebar of this blog). If you want to nominate your coach to be featured on Softball Authority, please a email the Softball Authority Guest Coach Program.
