Six months to throw strikes with good mechanics and some velocity is very optimistic based on my experience. One issue is that when they're learning you almost don't want them practicing on their own because unless they have the basics down pat they'll start doing it wrong, and then you have to work to get them back on track.
Question for instructors
- Thread starter PJR202
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You are looking at this wrong. You need to find the kid who is willing to do the work *and* a parent willing to do it with them, not the kid with the most natural ability.
To be "good," a pitcher has to throw basically 3 to 5 times a week, 50 weeks a year, year after year. Only a very few kids are willing to do the work. If a kid and her parent isn't willing to do this, the kid isn't going to be good no matter how much talent she has.
If you take Suzy with exceptional athletic ability but who throws once a week and you have Judy of moderate athletic ability who throws 5 times a week, Judy will be the better pitcher. She will be the better pitcher by a wide margin.
Why? Judy will throw strikes, inning after innings. Suzy will blow hot and cold--she'll be great for some innings, and absolutely be terrible for others. Coaches, for good reason, won't pitch Suzy.
So, you need to identify kids who are willing to do the work, not the kids who *could* be great if they do the work.
Two of them were basically self taught and had been throwing in LL this past season. They got it over the plate enough to keep it from being a complete walkfest. I made them promise not to throw that way again since we were starting IR, but now fall ball LL is here and there are no other pitchers so I cut them both loose until winter rolls around. They wont be 1,2, or 3 next season anyway.
Two of the remaining three have thrown in MS games a little and I think will be fine with some work. It's not like we have a choice anyway..lol
Inevitably you end up with a choice of throwing strikes in games with bad mechanics that will have to be unlearned or working on good form but being wild in games. I hate off season games when your students are working on mechanics.
- Aug 21, 2008
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I think, if we're honest, it's easy to spot a kid who just "doesn't have it". Has zero athletic ability, zero fitness, and no body awareness. They might love softball but softball doesn't love them. Now, having said that, I'll still help that kid as much as I possibly can. I'll do all I can for them to be the best they can be but, the reality is... God did not point his finger at her and tell her she's going to be a pitcher. But, I'm sure she has talent in things that the world's greatest pitcher does not!! It just probably won't be on a softball field. That said, if the kid loves the game, legit tries to get better and works hard I'm going to continue to help them. And if I'm asked, I will tell them the honest truth about things. That's the only fair thing to do.
radness
Possibilities & Opportunities!
- Dec 13, 2019
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I am glad that there are different levels of competition to be enjoyed in softball.
For that we try!
For that we try!
100% agree. Unfortunately our LL (and really all levels) is still trying to claw its way back from extinction so any kid who can throw is getting time in the circle. They're throwing more of a slowpitch release so I feel like it won't be as difficult to unlearn them in November.
The one good thing here is, they're gonna get some time playing the pitcher *position*. I've seen how valuable that can be, even when done in the coach-bailout pitching arrangement.
Thats really what I'm trying to avoid right now. At some point down the road when we're no longer short on pitchers and maybe I'm charging for lessons, that kid will be fine to have in the mix. Time is really just so short right now that we can't afford to waste any.
radness
Possibilities & Opportunities!
- Dec 13, 2019
- 7,270
- 113
May have missed part of the conversation is this your team? What is your time frame that you are considering development will happen and how long will you be working with them.
I was a MS asst coach the past three seasons, and LL and fall ball coach. Three seasons ago we had one kid who had any real pitching experience. Two seasons ago my daughter started outside lessons as a 12 year old and pitched last season as an 8th grader. Shes in HS this year but I've been learning to coach pitching from lesson observation and working with her, and did the paulygirl intermediate program.
Now the MS has three other girls with a little bit of experience (maybe 10 innings each) that need to shore things up to get through next season. One 7th and one 8th grader. 60-70% strikes by March. I believe, based on their current skill level, that the goal is achievable. But we have no other option anyway.
I won't be an on-field assistant next season, but I've taken it upon myself to essentially be a free pitching coach and am trying to get kids at every level going in the right direction. Lessons aren't an option for most people here, so we either build an internal program or we go extinct again.
