THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504210204
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
The whack of the softball hitting the catcher's mitt brought a smile to the face of Tim Laws.
``Just about 50 miles an hour,'' said Laws.
He had no speed gun. His stop watch was tucked away.
``Listen,'' he said, ``I've been doing this so long I can tell you by sight just how fast they are throwing.''
Laws isn't a high school coach. He's a 38-year-old naval officer on the aircraft carrier America.
But virtually all the outstanding girl fastball pitchers in area high schools get instructions from him. To them, he's ``Mr. Tim.''
His daughter, 15-year-old Denise Wack, is a sophomore pitching star at Great Bridge. She was in the NSA National Championship last summer. Her pitching speed is 63 mph.
Laws provides pitching expertise for most of the area's best - Booker T. Washington's Donna Self, Cox's Courtney O'Konek, Greenbrier's Alyson Mazur, Princess Anne's Sara Smith, Granby's Elaine McCall and Portsmouth Christian's Ginny Fletcher are among his pupils. On Tuesday, the left-handed Fletcher, only a ninth-grader, hurled her second no-hitter of the season and struck out 14 batters.
``At last count, my students had lost only three games this season and have about 50 victories,'' he said.
He has 15 personal students and works with about 25 others in groups.
When Laws moved to Chesapeake from Florida last June, he brought along a little enterprise he calls Pitch A Fit.
He teaches girls how to pitch.
Once upon a time, Laws himself was a softball pitcher, throwing better than 60 miles per hour. His claims to fame include a stint against the King and His Court.
``I can't do that anymore,'' he said with a laugh. ``No speed now. But I can still do the other things that I teach. And that's what it takes to be a pitcher.''
Laws teaches only the windmill delivery.
``Not many are ever going to get anywhere with the slingshot,'' he said. ``In the long run, it hurts your arm. It puts stress on the shoulder and the elbow.''
His first lesson probably startles those who already have had moderate pitching success. He checks the way they hold the softball.
``Believe me,'' he said. ``That's important. The number of seams cutting through the air in a rotation changes the speed and what you can do with the ball. Four seams cut from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock on the ball causes it to bite down.
``I've had coaches tell me they can't keep the pitcher from throwing the ball too high. There's a simple correction. She's holding the ball too far down on her fingers.''
Can he really increase a pitcher's speed?
``When I started with Alyson at Greenbrier, she threw 42 miles per hour. Now she is up to 53.''
But there's much more to being a good pitcher than having a strong arm.
``A pitcher must utilize her whole speed range. It's necessary to screw up a batter's judgment. A good pitcher mixes in overhand drops and off-speed pitches.
``Actually, it takes about 10,000 pitches to be trainable,'' he said.
He has designed a training process he calls ``the training triangle.''
``It's the hallmark of Pitch a Fit,'' he said. ``It helps the pitcher, the coach and the parent to understand where an athlete is during her training.''
It involves trouble-shooting (``Like a doctor understanding the problem and taking corrective action. . . ''), strategies (``Searching for clues against batters help to strike them out. . . '') and flatline (``It simply means displaying a firm, positive and in-control attitude all the time. Cooler heads always prevail.'').
Laws conducts clinics for beginning pitchers through those in the college ranks. He gives lessons for $10 to sixth-graders, private lessons in two-hour sessions for $25.
``When I first began, I did it for free,'' he said. ``Then I started to charge and gave the money away for projects. Now I take half and use half to go toward funding an Orion team for girls 18-and-under, which we will form in 1996 and will go after the national championship. I hope to be able to underwrite its expenses.''
Laws points out that softball can be a good vehicle to help a girl get a college scholarship.
``There are 750 colleges and universities offering it as a sport now. A good pitcher with good grades can do very well for herself.'' ILLUSTRATION: Tim Laws coaches his daughter, Denise Wack, whose pitching speed
is 63 mph.
by CNB