Semi funny first TB tryout story

[Rocketech1]

This was buried in one of BMs posts somewhere, but when I read it I thought of it as a legal CYA statement to prevent a frivolous lawsuit in case anyone blew out their arm using his advice. I did not take it as actual concern that what he was saying would cause injury.

Yes, BM wrote that and its a disclaimer at the bottom of arguably the most read pitching thread "Internal Rotation" on this site. Just thought it was worth noting as I had gone back to reread the IR thread. I also have not seen this disclaimer on any post since.....

 

[canyonjoe]

I like to watch a 9 or 10 year old pitcher who claims they have four pitches.

I usually find they are correct Ball 1, Ball 2, Ball 3, Ball 4.

I did once see one who was trying out with my DD. She made the team a player, but they asked if she pitched. She was an OK 10U rec pitcher, but not a TB pitcher. After she threw a few the next girl game up and they asked her if she had a curve and she said which way do you want it to break. Granted it moved very little but she really could do it. We then realized that we would work more on hitting than pitching.

 

[Eric F]

I like to watch a 9 or 10 year old pitcher who claims they have four pitches.

I usually find they are correct Ball 1, Ball 2, Ball 3, Ball 4.

My DD's 8U All-Star team had a pitcher with 9 pitches. 9 fastballs around 43mph. 3 strikeouts. Inning over.

I don't care what level you're playing, 3 Ks with 9 pitches is a pretty awesome performance.

 

[Jojo]

I like to watch a 9 or 10 year old pitcher who claims they have four pitches.

I usually find they are correct Ball 1, Ball 2, Ball 3, Ball 4.

I did once see one who was trying out with my DD. She made the team a player, but they asked if she pitched. She was an OK 10U rec pitcher, but not a TB pitcher. After she threw a few the next girl game up and they asked her if she had a curve and she said which way do you want it to break. Granted it moved very little but she really could do it. We then realized that we would work more on hitting than pitching.

Another thing the parents don't understand when teaching kids this young all the pitches is how much the frustration level is increased for both the parent and the child.

I had a 9yr old leave me when I refused to teach her all the pitches. Her dad asked me to before she even had the fastball down.
A couple of months later I saw her practicing in the pitching area and he was calling out all the pitches and she was just chunking balls all over the place. Then he started yelling at her and she started yelling at him and eventually it erupted into a screaming fit with her throwing her glove down and sitting down and crying.

I tried not to feel bad her, I mean that's what they wanted.

 

[WaSpeed02]

He likes the fact that we're only working with one pitch at a time. All the other pitchers in her league throw everything while throwing absolutely nothing.

This is so true. I'd rather my DD have mastery over 3 pitches than incompetence at 7 of them.

 

[JJsqueeze]

more fun tryout stuff-

Tryout number 2 last night.

Coach takes DD to the outfield to warm her up and get a look at her. I don't really pay much attention as I think he is just warming her up to throw live BP.

after 10 minutes I see DD back at 3rd and she never makes it to the mound. Meanwhile I see them go through 4 pitchers that cannot throw 2 strikes in a row. Speed varies from slower than DD to about 5 mph faster, but none of them can find the zone.

I ask the rugrat how she pitched in the warmups. "Good"

"what did you do?"
"just K drills, then a little full circle without the step, then I pitched, but not from full distance"
"Oh...from a distance you looked slower than normal"
"yeah, I was so close, like K drill distance that I slowed it down so I wouldn't hurt him"
"did you ask the coach if you should throw slower because you were close?"
"no"
"hmmm...you might want to think through that strategy there genius"

pause....thinking

"oh....he probably thinks that's was full speed"
"yeah...probably"

 

[JJsqueeze]

One last tidbit from a tryout yesterday....we are done with tryouts now.
DD pitched great and was throwing really accurate and pretty fast, looked to me to be able to complete for number one for this team on accuracy,y another pitcher was a tad bit faster but was more innacurate....

anyway...DD was CLEARLY holding her own.....

HC saw her finish with the hand down and I will give you all a lollipop if you can guess what he told her to do on the finish?.....

He looks at her....says "nice pitching.....BUT you should follow through and finish with your elbow up it will make you faster" and he points his elbow at her. She looked at me dumfounded and pointed her elbow at me and I just said...."do your thing" The AC got it and corrected the HC and told her just to pitch. It blew me away....do these guys think that pitchers fall off of the pitching tree? Don't they realize that maybe there are PCs involved and some of this stuff is thought out? I am not impressed with the TB coaching I have seen so far. These are not high level teams, but really, I am trying out the coaching as much as they are looking at DD and I see really poor stuff out there, the same guy told her to Squish the Bug....he literally said "squish the bug" when hitting...trust me when I say that this was the most off point suggestion you could give my daughter in her swing.

 

[FP26]

Not surprised at all JJ. Until approximately 2 years ago, all I ever heard was "point the elbow" and "squish the bug". The first time I heard someone speak against "point the elbow" was DDs first lesson with her current PC. She never liked pointing the elbow anyway, so it wasn't hard for her to stop. The first time I ever heard someone speak against "squish the bug" was at a Triple Threat Camp. Kelly Kretschman was teaching the hitting portion of the camp.

I don't claim to be an expert, but I am trying to learn. Luckily I have some resources now that provide better information. However, most teams in my area (including high schools) still teach this stuff.

 

[cmustangsfp]

As a TB coach if a girl has a different pitching style than mine, I will ask if they have a pitching coach. If they do, I let them be. If they are just going off things they learn on the internet, I will suggest that if they are serious, that they find a PC. I have seen too many battles over pitching styles to count. If they say they have hit a wall with their current PC then I see they might be open to discuss it, but only if they come to me. To me it becomes, can they get the job done with whichever style they have. More production usually equals more mound time. The P's with the greatest desire usually find a way to make it work.

 

[FP26]

As a TB coach if a girl has a different pitching style than mine, I will ask if they have a pitching coach. If they do, I let them be. If they are just going off things they learn on the internet, I will suggest that if they are serious, that they find a PC. I have seen too many battles over pitching styles to count. If they say they have hit a wall with their current PC then I see they might be open to discuss it, but only if they come to me. To me it becomes, can they get the job done with whichever style they have. More production usually equals more mound time. The P's with the greatest desire usually find a way to make it work.

I agree with this completely. In fact, I do the same thing with hitting. As I mentioned in other threads, people in my area are very big believers in squishing the bug. I'm not. I am open to discuss hitting or pitching with anyone on the team that is interested, but I don't push the topics myself. I am especially careful when the players are paying someone for the instruction. Too many people believe that if someone charges for the training, they are automatically validated as experts. I think that belief is a bigger myth than squishing the bug.