Over pitching

[BlaineAB]

A 14u pitcher's weekend at a tournament I worked this past weekend:

Friday 65 pitches
Saturday 97 pitches
Sunday 270 pitches
432 total

That doesn't include warm ups.

Dad is a coach, mom keeps Game Changer,
so they aren't in the dark.

Personally, I don't think that type of volume should be applauded.

 

[Traps71]

Certainly seems like too much. Three days in a row and way too much volume on the Sunday. Are there no other pitchers on the team? Probably can get away with it once and while (not that you should), but if it is a consistent practice, will be a recipe for injury and burnout.

Fully mature, young women in their 20s at the highest levels of collegiate softball—playing in big, nationally televised tournaments—are not typically asked or expected to pitch at that volume. Why would you expect a 14 year old girl to do that in some BS local tournament?

 

[nightskiier]

Ugh seeing that makes me cringe. In our first scrimmage this spring, the opposing team had their pitcher go about 130 in the first game as a starter and then 129 in the second. I remember her crying coming off the field because she couldn’t find the zone with a dead arm. Coach didn’t pull her and she basically walked out of the circle and handed the ball to 2B and went to the bench.


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[BlaineAB]

Certainly seems like too much. Three days in a row and way too much volume on the Sunday. Are there no other pitchers on the team? Probably can get away with it once and while (not that you should), but if it is a consistent practice, will be a recipe for injury and burnout.

Fully mature, young women in their 20s at the highest levels of collegiate softball—playing in big, nationally televised tournaments—are not typically asked or expected to pitch at that volume. Why would you expect a 14 year old girl to do that in some BS local tournament?

Yep, they had other pitchers, but they would not have won the $5 trophy if they were more realistic with the volume of their #1.

Long-term health & development is more important than short-term glory and the Facebook photo with the trophy.

 

[radness]

just yesterday was speaking with a travel ball 18u coach who his number one and number two pitcheres were over-used in high school.
Now will not be able to be play this summer because of overuse injury.

These stories are a reminder to parents and players to pay attention!!
Do not just hand your kids over to people/coaches. Need to oversee
(By paying attention to)
the people/coaches your kids are playing for! Have a healthy standard! The standard is set by the family and player ~ not the coach.
That said , a lot of people will argue that and say you have to do what the team coach wants you to do...often without thinking through consequences.

imo
We have to think for ourselves because there are others who don't think.

 

[heman1202]

Honest question, what is the ideal pitch limit for a weekend? Per day?

 

[Traps71]

There have been many debates about this on this forum. I even have asked the question myself after a particularly long outing by my daughter a year or two back that I later regretted allowing her to do.

My DD recently turned 15. Been pitching about 6 years now. Although it would depend on a variety of factors (how does she feel, how does she look, how hot is it, how stressful or labored have the innings been, etc.), I would be comfortable with her pitching the equivalent of two full games (14 innings) over the course of a two day travel tournament. Might stretch that out to 18 or so for three day travel tourney. She tends to pitch pretty efficiently, so this would probably put her somewhere between 200-250 in-game pitches for the typical travel weekend. Because travel games rarely go 7 innings, this would probably be the equivalent of two game starts (one in pool, one in bracket) plus some relief innings. Again, in top college programs, the #1 would rarely be asked to pitch more than two games in a weekend series (and might also make a relief appearance). These young women are being "paid" to play (i.e., scholarships). In travel, you are PAYING for your daughter to play.

I would start to sweat a little if she was 125+ in a single game. Much higher than that and I would ask the coach to pull her, if he hadn't already. We have never had this issue. Coaches have generally been mindful of this and even asked what my/her limits were in the heat of competition.

A travel ball team needs 3.5 competent or better pitchers to compete successfully at tournaments, partly to manage the workload. These pitchers need meaningful innings to develop or they won't be able to answer the bell when their number is called. If you just ride one, you can't really develop the others.

 

[DNeeld]

A travel ball team needs 3.5 competent or better pitchers

Man, I'd hate to be the girl sitting next to that 0.5 pitcher on the bench. What a mess that must make!

 

[Gags]

We've all known players, male and female, who just weren't quite all there...

 

[Wildfire]

140 total pitches a day is plenty for 14U.