10U less than six months live pitching

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
She has set her target at 60% strikes, however so far the coaches have not been calling her pitches and I think that's why we aren't closer to the 60%.
Can you clarify this? Do you mean she's just throwing what she wants to, and that's why she's not as accurate? Unless she focuses better when being told what to do, I would think calling inside/outside pitches may lower the % further if she misses off the plate. (vs. going for down the middle, and missing left/right).
 
Sep 19, 2022
7
3
Can you clarify this? Do you mean she's just throwing what she wants to, and that's why she's not as accurate? Unless she focuses better when being told what to do, I would think calling inside/outside pitches may lower the % further if she misses off the plate. (vs. going for down the middle, and missing left/right).
Sure. By this I mean when I catch for her, if I notice she throws a couple high fast balls, I can call a change up and then go back to a fast ball to help correct down to the strike zone. Just kind of a reset for her. For some reason, she won't "reset" on her own.

I've also read that having pitches called tends to help with confidence levels of pitching.

While she only has a fastball and change-up (screwball in the works), her coach would not call anything. Therefore, the pitcher and catcher weren't on the same page as to what was coming, which can also be a big negative as well.

 
Apr 14, 2022
564
63
IMHO Her focus should be throwing as hard as she can straight down the power line. If she starts going high more than likely she is throwing harder and will take some time to find the release point.
Movement pitches are not as effective at 35 or even 40’. They tend to break after the hitting zone. Amanda Scarborough says 70% strikes before adding. Also while the underhand motion is easier on the shoulder it is more than likely the curve and screw have a similar effect on the elbow as baseball.
Work on form and throwing hard.
#of pitches is for you to decide. If she has not been pitching long I would not go very high.
When DD was 9-10 it took about a month before the improvements seen in practice showed up in the game. Everyone is looking at the pitcher. Focus will come with experience. Just tell her next pitch.
One thing that frustrated me was reminding a pitcher to cover home with a runner on third. Guaranteed wild pitches 😀

Strike% can be effected by level of play and umps. The hardest team to pitch too is a league with kids that will not swing. At Req and lower levels the Umps will not give the width of the ball or the high strike. The zone is supposed to be any part of the ball bottom of armpit to knees. Will hardly see strikes with center of ball at belly button level.

Goals at 9-10
1. Do not get hurt.
2. Do not burn out.
3. Learn to calm down and own the circle.
 
May 18, 2019
278
43
This weekend I asked her several times if she was sore throughout both days and she said no. I think she was more nervous the first tournament of the season with this team and was more rigid and stiff, causing her to strain her muscles more. This tournament she seemed more relaxed between games. I did give her a mini massage in between a few games (which the passer-bys asked if they were next LOL). Just rubbing her shoulders a little and that seemed to help her relax more as well.

She has set her target at 60% strikes, however so far the coaches have not been calling her pitches and I think that's why we aren't closer to the 60%. Her first game was 55% and her second game was 42% but a few missed pop flys/foul balls (one was hers) caused her to have more pitches. I'm hoping with a shake up in coaching they will start doing that as well as trying to get her to do positions (outside/inside/middle). :)
I just realized that I misread your original post. 150 in a weekend probably ok if split over 2 days. Sorry for the mis read. Glad she's handling it. One other thing I wanted to mention is that many girls get hurt early in the tournament season because they haven't worked up to the load. If that's done properly, lower risk of injury as the body is more prepared.
 
May 13, 2021
643
93
According to a lot of posts on here the best thing for a long career pitching is to not be very good in 10u. According to them the really good 10u pitchers don’t make it past 12u. So don’t worry to much, if she is average or below in 10u she is right on track.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
According to a lot of posts on here the best thing for a long career pitching is to not be very good in 10u. According to them the really good 10u pitchers don’t make it past 12u. So don’t worry to much, if she is average or below in 10u she is right on track.
Being good at 10u and it’s predictive value for future success is a different issue than a parent putting too much emphasis/importance on being good at 10u..
 
May 13, 2021
643
93
In 10u work on mechanics as much as possible. When she is in a game or game situation just tell her to go 100% and throw strikes hard as she can, if she has a change up throw it every once in while to batters near the top of the line up. Just my .02.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I agree, but that makes my statement no less true.
Right and I agree that the notion that being good at 10U is a detriment is silly. I would be willing to bet that most top athletes in any sport were better than most of their peers at 10 YO.

That said the parents that prance around like peacocks because their kid's 10U team is the best in the state are just as silly and way more annoying. It usually is a sign that they have never done anything in life (sports or otherwise) where they ran into somebody who they just looked at and said "I could never be as good as that person at X, regardless of how hard I worked..."
 
Last edited:
Apr 14, 2022
564
63
You can have a focus on the future and be good at 10U.
According to a lot of posts on here the best thing for a long career pitching is to not be very good in 10u. According to them the really good 10u pitchers don’t make it past 12u. So don’t worry to much, if she is average or below in 10u she is right on track.
I did not read any that way. You can limit a pitch count and focus on improving first and still be really good 10U.
The girl the coach sends out for her 4th game of the weekend, would be just as good only pitching 2.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,469
Members
21,443
Latest member
sstop28
Top