CLOCKING YOUR DD

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

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

May 13, 2019
9
3
Please describe in detail how a pitcher would 'overpitch' while being gunned.

I gunned kids from 10-20 for a decade and never witnessed this.
Mostly due to getting anxiety seeing the gun come out. Instead of focusing on their mechanics they try to muscle the ball. My DD old pitching coach used purely speed as a reward to teach a new pitch.
 
Jun 27, 2021
418
63
Mostly due to getting anxiety seeing the gun come out. Instead of focusing on their mechanics they try to muscle the ball. My DD old pitching coach used purely speed as a reward to teach a new pitch.
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
radar-gun-syndrome
Hahaha. That article is nonsense.

". The speed will be significantly slower on the pitches that are being tracked by the radar gun"

Now we are at the root of it.

Radar Syndrome Translated: when dd or daddy don't get the velocity they thought in their head.

Even I was guilty of this with college/pro scouts' guns
 
Last edited:
Oct 26, 2019
1,375
113
One positive to utilizing the radar gun in pitching practice is to help build intent. Having a kid merely focus on mechanics and not learning to throw fast is not a good way to develop young pitchers. I would argue that the most important thing to build in young kids whether hitting or throwing is intent.

Speed is a skilled that must be practiced
 
Jul 19, 2021
630
93
Mostly due to getting anxiety seeing the gun come out. Instead of focusing on their mechanics they try to muscle the ball. My DD old pitching coach used purely speed as a reward to teach a new pitch.
Hence my opinion that if I had to do it all over again, I would have the gun on for every pitch of every backyard bullpen. Trust me, after a few weeks, there would be no more anxeity. But bucket dads, including myself, don't want to sacrifice 2 weeks of bad bullpens when they are young becasue we think that will force bad mechanics and make or break them. I know now how dumb and wrong I was. 2 weeks in the grand scheme of things is nothing. Make the commitment now, you will appreciate it later. Much easier to get them to buy in to a new grip or mechanic when they see the gun light up but you have to have a baseline and in order to get that baseline you have to condition them to the gun's presence so you're getting their true numbers.
 
Jun 27, 2021
418
63
One positive to utilizing the radar gun in pitching practice is to help build intent. Having a kid merely focus on mechanics and not learning to throw fast is not a good way to develop young pitchers. I would argue that the most important thing to build in young kids whether hitting or throwing is intent.

Speed is a skilled that must be practiced
I get the logic in what you're saying, but you can accomplish intent in other ways. Part of mechanics is putting everything together, power generation, launch, fast arm and finish. At the younger ages, keep it simple. I do agree with speed has to be practiced but bad mechanics for a kid throwing 50 mph in 12U does not do well in 14U throwing 50-55 mph with bad mechanics as they are already behind the top pitchers at this point. Those kids typically step aside.
 
Last edited:
Oct 26, 2019
1,375
113
I get the logic in what you're saying, but you can accomplish intent in other ways. Part of mechanics is putting everything together, power generation, launch, fast arm and finish. At the younger ages, keep it simple. I do agree with speed has to be practiced but bad mechanics for a kid throwing 50 mph in 12U does not do well in 14U throwing 50-55 mph with bad mechanics as they are already behind the top pitchers at this point. Those kids typically step aside.
Right - I’m not saying it is an “either” “or” issue. Both need to be practiced. I don’t care how you teach intent, but without it you have nothing. The best time to teach it is when they are younger and failure isn’t that big of a deal.

When I work with young hitters the only real instruction I give them is to point their feet in the same direction and swing as hard as they can. When they swing hard and miss I praise the intent.
 
May 13, 2019
9
3
1) I would run from this instructor

2) agree

How do you know her mechanics are improving without this simple tool?

I started gunning my kid at 11, and we would try a technique from others, and if it did not make him faster, we discarded it. At 14 and 140 lbs., he was throwing 90.

All that to say that most things PC say are nonsense
DD's PC stressed this. He still won't talk speed with DD because she's still fine tuning her mechanics and spin. He challenges her to work as fast as possible, but there is almost no real focus on a MPH number. "Once she's got mechanics and spin, then we'll milk every ounce of velocity out of her".

We use the gun at home simply as a measuring metric. One of many. As the mechanics improve the velocity should increase. It's also a moving goal/benchmark to incentive her to be explosive and fast. But we don't solely chase a number, if that makes sense
Absolutely. Without any work on velocity she gained speed and accuracy. We play against girls who still
Hence my opinion that if I had to do it all over again, I would have the gun on for every pitch of every backyard bullpen. Trust me, after a few weeks, there would be no more anxeity. But bucket dads, including myself, don't want to sacrifice 2 weeks of bad bullpens when they are young becasue we think that will force bad mechanics and make or break them. I know now how dumb and wrong I was. 2 weeks in the grand scheme of things is nothing. Make the commitment now, you will appreciate it later. Much easier to get them to buy in to a new grip or mechanic when they see the gun light up but you have to have a baseline and in order to get that baseline you have to condition them to the gun's presence so you're getting their true numbers.
at a certain point yes I agree that getting them used to the gun is important. Every college camp, showcase, etc is going to have the gun out. But it doesn’t matter what the gun says if the girl is being taught bad mechanics. Most bucket dads (myself included) are not pitching coaches, or understand what perfect mechanics are when our daughters start. I can only speak from what I’ve seen around here, most of the coaches who gun every lesson focus on what the gun says and the fact that the mechanics are bad is a side note.
 
Jun 27, 2021
418
63
Right - I’m not saying it is an “either” “or” issue. Both need to be practiced. I don’t care how you teach intent, but without it you have nothing. The best time to teach it is when they are younger and failure isn’t that big of a deal.

When I work with young hitters the only real instruction I give them is to point their feet in the same direction and swing as hard as they can. When they swing hard and miss I praise the intent.
Absolutely.
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,831
Messages
679,491
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top