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INTRODUCTION TO ROCK n FIRE
Hello!
If you
are considering Rock n Fire as your choice for your daughters pitching
instruction, PLEASE READ THIS
INTRODUCTION
FIRST:
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Has your
daughter’s velocity and/or skill level stagnated, or tapered off in the last
12 to 16 months?
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Do your
daughter’s pitches seem flat, and lack that late life and “pop” that other
pitchers pitches possess?
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Does your
daughter often complain about pain or “soreness” in her arms, shoulders,
back, hips, knees or ankles on a regular
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basis,
after she throws?
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Is your
daughter being taught various, opposite or “multiple” pitching motions for
the various pitches?
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Is your
daughter getting frustrated because she works hard but does not seem to be
“getting anywhere?
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Do you
question whether your daughter’s current pitching coach possesses the proper
levels of knowledge and experience, in both the areas of injury
prevention and the bio-mechanics of pitching, as it pertains to the female
body?
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Do you
question whether your daughter’s current pitching coach possesses a deep
enough level of knowledge, understanding and experience, in the field of
college recruiting?
If you have
answered yes to any or all of these questions, there is a good chance that your
daughter is not enrolled in a program that is thorough enough to provide her
with the tools she needs for long term success. Continuing on this path can
harm your daughter’s physical well being, as well as her recruitment/scholarship
opportunities.The strategy of “throwing” money at the sport of softball by
playing in more and more games, and making it to “all the right tournaments” on
a year round basis, is not the total answer when it comes to trying to compete
for recruitment opportunities. In fact over-use will only compound the problem.
There are VERY FEW exceptions to this rule. If your daughter is not being
guided, with close adherence to the proper fundamentals and biomechanics of the
pitching motion, her chances of getting recruited are greatly reduced. And her
risk of serious injury will be greatly increased.
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Rock n Fire
offers a complete, comprehensive program that prepares each student
physically, mentally, mechanically and emotionally for the rigors of
softball pitching.
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Rock n Fire
possesses over 25 years of coaching experience at every age group, and level
of the sport. This includes 16 years of coaching experience at the division
1 and 2 levels of collegiate softball.
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Rock n Fire
also takes great pride in being well versed and up to date, in the field of
biomechanics and injury prevention.
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We strive
to develop and instill into each of our students, all of the proper skills,
techniques and habits required to perform at her “peak level”.
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We want
each student to be able to perform safely and efficiently at every level of
the game, up to and including the collegiate level: in some cases,
even the professional level.
Rock n Fire
ALWAYS puts its students first. We make every effort to see that all
students receive the proper training, guidance, support and advice needed to get
her on the path to LONG TERM success. We DO NOT engage in
teaching our students “gimmicks” or “quick fixes” to enhance their performance.
We strictly adhere to the principles of physics and biomechanics, during every
pitching session.
As a result,
the learning process early on, takes longer. And in MOST cases the
student will notice a short- term decline in her performance. This is normal. It
takes time (in most cases several months) for the new and PROPER
techniques to feel natural. But if everyone “stays the course” and continues to
do the right things, LONG TERM success usually follows
In the
beginning, the process can prove to be a little “un-nerving” for the student, as
well as her parents and coaches. We do everything we can to reduce the anxiety
that is experienced by the student, early on in the process. We here at
Rock n Fire do not concern ourselves with others whose opinions may differ from
ours, as they pertain to the techniques, and/or philosophies we stress to our
students.
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We chose to
stress to each student, what we consider to be a “COMMON SENSE”
approach to player development.
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We believe
in putting development BEFORE competition, to help the student gain
the “competitive edge”. Not the other way around.
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We believe
that introducing accuracy or precision pitching (spots), “breaking pitches”
and “strategies”, at the younger ages, before the basic fundamentals are
learned, and at least “SOMEWHAT MASTERED”, is a recipe for disaster.
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Only in
rare cases, does a student overcome what we feel is the mistake of
introducing control before speed. We are very aware that most coaches prefer
control before speed at every level, to reduce the amount of walks.
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We
understand their plight. But we believe that engaging in the philosophy of
introducing control and precision, before the fundamentals of speed and ball
movement are mastered, is not conducive to developing prime pitchers.
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Forcing a
pitcher to postpone, what must eventually be learned, will only “set her
back” developmentally, in later years. We want our students to learn to
throw correctly from the very beginning.
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We prefer
to help provide coaches at all levels, with quality pitching. But we make a
conscious effort to never put the coaches needs before the needs of our
students.
This practice
may not always “sit well” with a student’s team coaches. But we will continue to
respectfully decline to change the way we go about developing our pitchers. We
here at Rock n Fire, have met with a tremendous amount of success, in adhering
to our present formula for developing prime pitchers; we plan to stay with it.
If, after reading this introduction, you feel that Rock n Fire may be a “good
fit” for your daughter, please feel free to call us at 484-269-4281.
We will be glad to help her get started on her “road to long term success”. We
think that you will find that your experience was “well worth it”.
Thank you for
taking the time to read our introduction, and we hope to hear from you soon.
Respectfully,
Dan DeMarco/
Rock n Fire
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