The popularity of fastpitch softball in the United States continues to grow. Parents and players are faced with more opportunities to play at higher competitive levels and there are more pitching instructions selling there services than ever before.

Before you select one individual instructor over another there are a few things you should take into consideration.

First, am I willing to commit my time and energy into transporting my child to and from lessons and countless hours of lessons and working on what has been taught at home?

Second, do I have the ability to continue to pay for lessons and club teams for a long period of time?

Lastly, is my child willing to commit the time and energy and sacrafice time away from friends and other interest so that she can be a better pitcher?

Learning to pitch doesn't happen overnight and going to a pitching instructor but not working on what is being taught outside of the lessons will not make your child a better pitcher.

If your answer to the questions above were an affirmative yes, then it's time to find a credible pitching instructor. There are a lot of instructor's out there who have no qualifications what-so-ever and apply a "cookie cutter" one size fits all approach to instruction. The basic techniques may be the same, but the different physical assets and athleticism of your child needs to also be considered when determining the training approach.

Find an instructor who has experience working with different age groups and has a good abilility to relate to your child.

Talk to other students and their parents who are using the instructor in questions and find out what the instructors strengths and weaknesses are.