Unraveling Pitching Frustrations

Danica said:

About frustrations with team errors...we've recently dealt with this. My daughter tries to keep her focus on her role. She is there to pitch and her teammates are there to play defense behind her. If there are errors then all she can do is try to keep doing her job and lift her teammates up. If she loses her cool then she can't do her job.

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I think this is a very important point for all pitchers to understand. You just have to make the best pitch you can every pitch and then what happens will happen. The pitcher has a critical role to play, but it takes a team to win.

Greg Tudor said:

I’m following this cause my daughter is a 12u pitcher and she only pitches in the mid to up 40’s but her spin and rotation is pretty awesome so the majority of the hits are all ground balls so it really bothers her that even though she is pitching a awesome game it’s the defense that’s not doing their job and let’s not forget the dropped 3rd strikes and the girl is safe at first so far she doesn’t blame the other players but it is really taking a toll on her mentally


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Dropped third strike!!!! I'd say that's one of the biggest discouragements for a pitcher.

I didn't read all of the comments but our coach has taught the girls to "own it" when making a mistake and say my bad to the pitcher and move on because you can't dwell on it. He has also told the pitcher to turn to a player that made a mistake and say shake it off, they are a team and the game goes on....

Maturing as a pitcher (and a hitter) is to
Take one pitch at a time. That good play or bad play that just happened has nothing to do with the pitch you are about to throw. That bad (or great) pitch or call or play has to be immediately forgotten and the only thing that matters is this pitch.

easier to say then do, but that’s what has to happen.

madone09 said:

If LF came charging “in” and the ball went over her head than that is clearly an error and misread ball. If she was charging in full blast and didn’t reach the ball that dropped in front of her then no error.


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Unfortunately though, it’s not an error. It’s a mental mistake and is scored a hit. Believe me, would love to score these as errors all day long, but they’re not.

Also - on the other side of that coin - if a player dives for a ball and it’s not a routine play but it glances off the fielder’s glove - that also is not an error!! See any ball that a fielder touched with her glove scored as an error, even if they completely laid out for it.

The ironic part, as seen on ESPN often is when a great play is made by the fielders and the camera flashes over to the pitcher for her reaction. Most of the time the pitcher jumps for joy, yells out loud to the fielder, points to her while yelling "great job!" or something else while fist pumping her excitement. THAT is considered ok, and the commentators say "Look how pumped she is after that great defensive play!!" But, any reaction shown after an error they all say "She needs to keep her composure and keep her cool here in the moment".

How can this be? You can't have it both ways. If the pitcher is supposed to be stoic then fine, they have to be stoic for good and bad plays.

Nobody ever says, the pitcher should wait until the inning is over and in the dugout to praise and high five the fielder who made the great play, while keeping their cool while in the circle. Losing one's composure isn't just when things go negative, it also happens when things go positive. But we most don't see excitement and pumped up as "losing composure" but it is, it's the same thing. Emotions, good and bad, can effect pitching. We all know the effects of negative emotion while pitching but the effects of the "positive emotion" usually results in the pitcher over throwing, which flattens the pitch when they are full of adrenaline. It's not the worst idea in the world to call a time out after a huge defensive play when everyone is over hyped, just as a coach does on a bad defensive play when everyone has their heads down. For no other reason than to make sure the pitcher is still focused on the next pitch, the next batter. So they don't over throw with excitement and flatten the pitch out which will get crushed.

Honestly this is a big portion of what helps weed out the haves from the have nots in the circle. You either can handle adversity and make the next pitch or you groove one down the middle and it gets parked over the fence. Those that can handle it continue to pitch as they age. Those that can't quit or move to other positions.

My DDs are both tough cookies in the circle. Both have been a part of below average defensive teams. That experience along with some mental toughness training has helped them to adopt the saying "so what, next pitch".

DD had a complete melt down last weekend. We were leading by two runs into last inning and lost the game, first bracket game on Sunday. After the after-game meeting, I still had to hold her for a couple of minutes for her to complete the cry. When she played 8U, she never cried, very composed. Now two years later, she became completely different. I want that cool 8U girl back. I feel it is really too hard for young kids. It almost feels like that the more you practice, the harder you tried, the bitter the loss is.

Hillhouse said:

How can this be? You can't have it both ways. If the pitcher is supposed to be stoic then fine, they have to be stoic for good and bad plays.

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jadefish said:

DD had a complete melt down last weekend. We were leading by two runs into last inning and lost the game, first bracket game on Sunday. After the after-game meeting, I still had to hold her for a couple of minutes for her to complete the cry. When she played 8U, she never cried, very composed. Now two years later, she became completely different. I want that cool 8U girl back. I feel it is really too hard for young kids. It almost feels like that the more you practice, the harder you tried, the bitter the loss is.

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Look into Sports psychology. Or google Derek Mayson coaching.

Thank you for the suggestion. It seems that Derek Mayson's program recently increased the subscription price? Will you be able to get a coupon from him? I didn't buy it when you first introduced the program here because I thought DD was too young. But now, I feel that she probably need some mental training like that.

Hillhouse said:

Look into Sports psychology. Or google Derek Mayson coaching.

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