Speed v. Location

[96Coach]

IMHO, Being able to throw a fast ball effectivly with proper mechanics leads to learning other pitches. If a pitcher can't throw a fastball, in the zone. A change up will do nothing. Now if she can locate a change up, then that's different. Definetly don't go down the path of learning all the pitches in the begining. I stressed to my dd, that if you can't locate a fastball( and I'm not saying throw it down the pipe, I'm talking corners) then a change up does no good. At 14u the hitters are better and will just watch the change up and have aother ball in her count. Starting a batter 2-0, is alot harder on a pitcher than starting 0-2. Oh and it's harder on the pitching coach as well.

Start with mechanics, once she understands what takes place in the pitch then start working on strength and speed(can be done at the same time if done properly, definelty don't let her lose her mechanics), then focusing on location, fastball strikes 75%, Change up. Once she masters those, then start with a drop or rise. The rise though needs to have a lot of speed to work correctly. I've seen a lot of girls who say they have a rise and it's just a high pitch, the spin is all wrong the release is wrong, but the dad's insist it's a rise, because her PC says it is.

On a side note, every girl is different in learning to pitch. Some get it out of the gate and you can go into speed and strength alot sooner in the development, and new pitches and all the cool stuff. Some never picked up a ball before, let alone try and pitch it. I say if a pitcher can pick up the mechanics quickly, or has that it factor then push her more than the normal pitcher.

My dd has this switch that the head coach and I call it. In practice she basically goes through the motions(oh and it makes me very angry, because I know she can get even better if she really works hard) but once that umpire says game on, then bam she's the hardest worker on the team, and we sit back and are in shock at some of the things she does. We have won many a tournament because of her. Can that be taught? No. So there are girls out there that have the drive to want to be a pitcher, then there are others that are just born that way, and yes my dd loves being a pitcher. She can't stand it when we're up by alot of runs and we sit her to rest for the next game.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Now that your DD has been playing for several years now (I presume), anything you would have done differently when she started? For example, in SoCal we have a very competitve (if this is not an oxymoron) fall and spring rec league with All-Stars/Heat at the end of the season with maybe 5 tournaments, even for 8U. The other option is year-round travel ball (maybe for 10U?) but seems to be a huge, life changing commitment. My concern with keeping my DD in rec ball is the level is extremely varied with girls who practice weekly, even in the off season and girls who play 3 months out of the year only.

 

[96Coach]

Well, in AZ, and this is very unfortunate but our Little League system is flawed. The competition is very weak, being the players, the coaching, the system. We have been on a travel team for the last 4 years starting on our fifth. In order for us as a team to play competitive rec teams we would have to play 16 to 18 year olds, and our girls are 13 and 14. In AZ there are tournaments almost every weekend, we as a team play in two tournaments a month, and we practice 3 times a week.

"The other option is year-round travel ball (maybe for 10U?) but seems to be a huge, life changing commitment. "

Yes it is, in AZ we play from August to July, and sometimes into July if you make it to nationals. We get holidays off, and "every now and then" time off. For the majority of the time we are working. Yeah there is burn out taking place, but for the most part we manage it really well. We schedule our whole season up front so that families can plan around it. last team we were on, we just picked tournaments to enter and parents were furstrated alot. I spend thousands of dollars a year on club ball, equipment for dd, hotels, food, gas, therapist(jk) so it is a life changing event. I look at it as training for college, she wants to play badly in college. Will she? it's hard to say. Until she is turned down, my hopes are high.

"Now that your DD has been playing for several years now (I presume), anything you would have done differently when she started?"

We started in rec ball with a team and we had some really good girls on that team, and really good meant they can hit the ball and they could throw it to another player. We played 3 seasons on that team, and never lost so we then took that team to a club environment. Let me just say we got wooped, and we got wooped alot. It was a learning experience that we were glad happened. I don't think my dd would be where she is today if we didn't start in the rec league. If we would have started in club, she may not be playing today. She learned to have fun in rec, and after a while she wanted to get better.

As far as would I have done things differently, the answer is yes. I have learned a lot about pitching, and the overall game of softball. I started my dd on pitching with no knowledge of how to properly teach it, and I'm still not an expert. I should have opened the wallet and sent her to a PC up front. I think she would have been better off now. She is the number 1 on her travel team right now. And honestly, I was too nieve back then to send her somewhere else. I think it was that live through your children mentatlity. Now that we are here we both enjoy it and we work well together. So that is a bonus.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Thanks for the great information and sharing your expereince. I know my last question wasn't necessarily pitching related, but wanted to get some advice on the whole process. Regarding getting a PC early on for my DD, some people not involved in girls softball think I am crazy, but for me, I think it is crazy not to have a professional teach my DD the fundamentals early on. Why would we want to have her practice her "craft" with improper form from the get-go. I certaintly don't know what I'm doing (having never pitched a softball in a game). The other coaches on my team, while great parents and competent coaches are not equipped, even at this level, to bring much helpful advice to our pitching girls.

Regarding travel ball, there does not seem to be much middle ground. Either you play comp. rec or dedicate yourself year-round in travel. Aug - July seems brutal but maybe necessary to get the experience to improve. I do find it interesting that for all of the money spent on lessons, equipment, travel expenses, tournament fees that if one just saved that money and invested in the stock market our DD would have a nice nest egg to pay for college at 18? Of course they would miss out on softball and some wonderful experiences, etc.

 

[Jojo]

Mechanics first, when the mechanics are good location begins to fall into place, with gentle coaxing of speed.
I rarely see tossers and guiders that throw consistent strikes.
I've seen those 9-10 yr olds, warming up and without ever throwing a fastball over the plate, start warming up 3 more pitches, change-ups, drops, riseballs, and sometimes even curveballs.

As far as wasting $, We did not have much money during our DD's softball days, I diligently worked the fund raising, brought our food, used sales for all her equipment and stayed in campgrounds instead of hotels. Cabins run just $35 a night.

I figured it all up once, I can't remember the total now, but it wasn't too bad.
There is NO way I would have saved up the $60,000 she earned for her college education another way.
Note, this paid for everything, tuition, housing allowance, food, books, and another scholarship she earned to pay for her extra semester. All I had to do was send her play $.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Regarding speed, I don't have a lot of experience catching girl fastpitch, but the girls I do catch on my DD's team have little pace to their pitches, have had no formal instruction except maybe 1 week of general softball camp, or have watched their older sister's pitch and fooled around pitching in the yard. Before a game, they go straight from the car to maybe a few throws and then right into full wind-up pitches. No stretching, drills, nothing before they pitch. The first time I tried to show them "proper" warm-up such as the t-drill; arm straight,wrist snap drill; etc. they looked at me with blank looks on their faces. There is no pace on their pitches but the manager likes them to pitch since they can sometimes throw strikes (think coach pitch speed with no rotation) and they are decent fielders. IMHO the parents of these kids do them a disservice because they are not giving them the opportunity to develop as pitchers using proper techniques. Maybe we are talking about the same thing, but when I say I want my DD to learn speed first, what I mean is that I don't want her throwing a ball that looks like a coach pitch if she has to compromise technique to get there.

Point well taken re: costs and congratulations to your DD for playing the sport she loves and getting an athletic scholarship. Yes, fund raising and finding bargains helps to limit the amount of personal expenses that typical SB families face but the reality is that most of our girls will not be good enough to play competitive college softball (especially Div I). A popular softball blogger estimates that families can easily spend 5 - 10K a year playing travel ball year-round. I believe it. I wonder what % of these girls actually make it to their college of choice?

 

[Mark H]

You actually need to stress same release point and try and keep her throwing line drives. When it starts to arc, she is then changing release point to get the ball to you. Have her get to the point just before arc and then move back up. The less arc the better.

Jaeger's protocol for bb pitchers, who would have the same sort of release point issues, and my understanding of what Ernie told me to do years ago with my dd is go ahead and arc it. Keep backing up a little at a time, always listening to your arm (it should feel good underhand or overhand). When you reach your limit, start working your way back in trying to keep the same feel at closer distances that resulted in the longest throws. Finish working your way in to pitching distance - again trying to keep the same feel, flow and effort that resulted in the longest distances. Jaeger calls this the pull down phase and it's key to transferring the gains and learning from the long distance throws to pitching. This is where the release point is re-established. If you don't throw as far as you can letting the arc be what it needs to be to throw as far as possible then you are not getting the benefit of immediate objective feedback which is key to the body learning the feel of what effective feels like.

 

[Jojo]

I also let my pitchers arc their long tosses, but let them try and see how long they can keep the arc out before it starts, then just go ahead and get strong and loose, we work for just "catchable" location, when it stops becoming catchable we quit. Then I have them go back to the rubber and throw 10 with the same intensity, bringing the ball back down in the zone.

 

[Mark H]

Jaeger wants you to work your way back in with the goal of keeping the feel. I'd be concerned about a lack of transference moving straight from max distance to regulation distance.

 

[DonnieS]

Jaeger wants you to work your way back in with the goal of keeping the feel. I'd be concerned about a lack of transference moving straight from max distance to regulation distance.

I am suffering greatly right now because of the combination of speed vs location - speed - was very good, the location, was my toes. I had just recovered from h1n1 enough that I could start my sprints again, and now I cant get a sandal on. I am too old for this. DD just grinned. Sadistic creature.