Complete Newb

[uncdrew]

My daughter is about to turn 10, and started her journey as a 9 year old exactly one year ago.

Just looked at GameChanger and she's thrown 1,000 pitches in tournaments from last Fall until now. I estimate about 20,000 pitches total (400 per week). Yes, we take several weeks off in the winter and slow down a tad in the heat of the summer.

We only pitch fastball and change. But we work hard on location.

She does well. Has a blast. Loves the game. Thinking back on the year, we both loved it. Loved playing catch, working together, going to lessons, and especially game time.

Take the plunge, I think you might look back with fondness as well.

 

[clemenslee1]

My daughter is about to turn 10, and started her journey as a 9 year old exactly one year ago.

Just looked at GameChanger and she's thrown 1,000 pitches in tournaments from last Fall until now. I estimate about 20,000 pitches total (400 per week). Yes, we take several weeks off in the winter and slow down a tad in the heat of the summer.

We only pitch fastball and change. But we work hard on location.

She does well. Has a blast. Loves the game. Thinking back on the year, we both loved it. Loved playing catch, working together, going to lessons, and especially game time.

Take the plunge, I think you might look back with fondness as well.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to sit down and have a talk with DD if this is really what she wants to do and then dive in.

 

[Rick M]

Wow, this week of all times, when Oklahoma is the center of the softball universe, it's hard to believe that it's so difficult to find good instructors.

Reiterating some previous points:
1. Get throwing as often as possible. The sooner (ha, see what I did there?) she's comfortable with the underhand motion, the more quickly she will develop as a pitcher. Lots of underhand catch -- it's not so important to perfect her frontside resistance right off the bat.

2. You may have to travel, but try to find a weekend clinic that would be worth your while. Checking in with a pro every few months is better than nothing, and as her bucket dad you will learn as much as she does.

3. Be sure you're both all-in She's going to have some tough days where you will wonder why she's voluntarily stepping into the circle. You're also going to need a comfy bucket seat because you'll be spending a lot of time there. But if you spend some team reading through this forum (which you should), you won't find a single parent lamenting all the time they wasted playing catch with their daughter.

 

[fanboi22]

I am not, and have not claimed to be any type of coach. But I have literally read almost every pitching thread on this site. i think maybe back from 2008, i was not on the site then, but 5 or 6 years ago my DD had interest in pitching and i, as other posters have said, found this site. I asked my DD's pitching coach at the time about Hillhouse as i found his videos and she was not in agreement with his style.

Fortunately i continued to read and watch videos and Hillhouse even mentioned this site on one of the videos. Since no one in the area taught IR and since i was going to be integral in her progression needed to be as informed as possible so continued to read.

My feeling is If you put enough time in as well as your DD (perhaps even more like in my case), you can help her progress significantly. I feel that quality slow motion videos does more for me and my DD than most anything else. Having read the forums, i am able to then compare to what the best do and see the differences nearly immediately. we can work on one thing specifically and call out issues after most any pitch. Real time, not going thru 30 min of practicing something wrong, but pitching and reviewing after each throw. We do then have sessions that are just pitching and working how to correct on the fly, but most of the progression was done with specific video review.

To me, the pitching side of this site is so much easier to improve than the hitting side. Pitching seems to have many absolutes that are easy to compare to, whereas everyone seems to have an opinion on hitting and may even see something totally different in the same videos, pitching mechanics on this site has been explained in infinite detail. If you can read and comprehend, you will be able to do more than you know.

Take it with a grain of salt, as i have posted some of my daughters videos here in the past, i believe she has fairly solid mechanics, when she works at it, but usually not consistent enough due to lack of practice.

Where i feel a coach most definitely does help is that most have seen more than just one pitcher, and they will be able to help fix the problems quicker. If i had one main struggle, it was the tricks of the trade that allowed verbal cues to work for my DD. i just didn't know what to say to have her open up, or keep the elbow slightly bent, or drive of the mound etc. But alot of the work is done away from any coach anyway at home in the many hours of practice until the next coaching session.

Shout out to Doug Romrell for working with DD thru emailed videos. I haven't seen him post in a few months, but he helped my DD on a few specific things that i had not even seen before.

All in all, i believe the below would be my list of to-dos (without regard for speed or pitching strikes) - i think all are stickies:

1. IR in the classroom - need to make sure that the arm circle is set.
2. in tandem, make sure that Brush interference is engrained during step 1. that was one thing that really wasn't talked about as much in the older threads. It was thought to hurt the arm of the pitcher but in actuality is one of the best control mechanisms the pitcher has.
3. Front side resistance - when starting to drive, my DD always bent at the waist, this seemed to be a combination of no brush and leaning over front leg.
4. Drive mechanics (see JavaSource posts) - this really brought it all together.

There may be different approaches and other little nuances, but reviewing what my DD has been thru, this seems to be the way i would suggest. Most of the speed is from the arm, so the last 2 came later in the process. Also as other posters have noted, we always start with just 'throwing underhand'. No pitching specific motions, no drive, just leisurely throws. make sure there is brush, no brush, stop and redo until there is.

Take it for what it's worth, just one DD's journey. Not over yet, unless the teenager in her decides to chase boys instead of softballs.

 

[CoachJD]

Just a suggestion that may or may not work, depending on how much your DD can tolerate you for extended periods of time .

Why not learn together? I wouldn't necessarily make her sit and read the Sticky threads on this site (though, if she's the type of kid who likes to read instructions like I was, this could work!). But watch the videos with her. Maybe watch them a couple times by yourself, then watch them with her. Make this part of the process a thing you do together. Don't make it feel like homework or a chore.

Your daughter knows you're not a pitching expert, right? So while, yes, you should do everything you can to learn it all, I don't think approaching this as a thing you're going to learn together is a bad idea.

 

[clemenslee1]

Thanks everyone for you help. I didn't mean to waste anyone's time. Had a good conversation with DD about Pitching and If this is something that She wants to put the time and effort into. In which I made very clear that I would do what it takes to help her with, even try to find a pitching coach if possible. She said she really wants to put her time into being a better fielder. Both infield and outfield. I didn't have any issue with this. Its her playing the game not me.

 

[uncdrew]

Thanks everyone for you help. I didn't mean to waste anyone's time. Had a good conversation with DD about Pitching and If this is something that She wants to put the time and effort into. In which I made very clear that I would do what it takes to help her with, even try to find a pitching coach if possible. She said she really wants to put her time into being a better fielder. Both infield and outfield. I didn't have any issue with this. Its her playing the game not me.

The (softball) world needs about 8 fielders for every pitcher.

 

[DrRiello]

It’s all good. I’m sure this thread helped someone. It’s never a bad thing to hash out issues. Someone always learns from them.
I wish her luck.


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[clemenslee1]

The (softball) world needs about 8 fielders for every pitcher.

This is her Journey, I'm just here to encourage her along the way and help the best I can. Never know, maybe she will one day. She's young only 8-9. Although I don't know how late is to late to get started in this pitching thing.

 

[DrRiello]

This is her Journey, I'm just here to encourage her along the way and help the best I can. Never know, maybe she will one day. She's young only 8-9. Although I don't know how late is to late to get started in this pitching thing.

Well my dd pitches rec from 9-12. No lessons. No real practice. Just get out and throw.
2 Nd year 12 u was her first travel team and first year of lessons. She is first year 14u pitching For about 1.5 years serious and she is making great strides. This was not optimal. But it’s working.


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