Sadly, I have seen a few of those...
Unfair comparison. MLB'ers have to pitch to Angel Hernandez umpiring!! That alone can change a pitcher's % one way or another very badly!!!
Yeah, I'm fine with anything between 60% and 75% if we're simply talking that percentage with no other details. I don't really draw any conclusions from it.
60% strikes could be 60 strikes in a row followed by 40 balls in a row. That might make for an interesting game.
Pitch calling is not rocket science. Tell her to throw the pitch called and have the catcher point her index finger in or out for location. In the meantime I would request a confidential meeting with HC and AD.
Every one of my lessons, and I teach beginners or someone with a basic skill level, always includes a break to talk about why we throw what pitch where or a certain pitch when or just thinking about location and speed. Obviously little may sink in but at least I have them thinking.I just previewed my post, sorry it's so long. Wow, I'm long winded. Sorry.
I don't normally read through 4 pages on a thread but for this one I did. I came away with a different thought. First there's a lot to be said about this coach thinking too many strikes are thrown, which might honestly be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. But that aside. Overall, I think this situation is the poster child for a pitcher who's had every pitch of their life given to them from the bench. Girls are being turned into robots and here is this girl, who doesn't even seem to know what to do without being given directions. If kids were taught how to call pitches and learn from their own mistakes while pitching, there'd be less of this. While it can be easily argued that whomever is teaching them at a young age must also know what to call and when so they can teach it, I would agree. Except you have that same situation now at an older age where a HS age pitcher has an issue when not being told exactly what to throw and where. So the question becomes, do you want them learning how and what to throw on their own at 12u or 18u?
I was amazed at entering the college game coaching ranks at what these ladies were never taught as kids. Things that, to me, were very basic like: don't throw a riseball with a R3 and less than 2 outs. Why give them the higher % of getting a sac fly? Or, Not throwing slappers change ups until they have 2 strikes, or else good ones will drop a bunt when they realize the pitch (most won't bunt with 2 strikes). I see change ups thrown with 0-2 counts a lot at youth levels, which never really made a lot of sense to me. Usually with 2 strikes a hitter is trying to protect and cuts down their swing, which (again going on % here) means a change up will be less effective. Can it work? Sure.
The ones that really ruffle my feathers are the coaches who don't let the pitcher shake off a pitch call. Even for me, I would sometimes have to shake off a good idea by my catcher because I have a ball in play that is bad. It might slick. It might not have good seams. It might feel heavier than the other ball in the ump's bag, etc. If a coach (or catcher) calls for a riseball when I'm holding a slick ball without seams that feels heavy, it might not be the best time for that pitch under those circumstances. I think more and more umps are allowing pitchers to switch balls even without the one going out of play, but some still follow the strict rule of not changing the ball until the one in play goes out. Personally, when I've had an umpire who won't let me have the ball in his bag, I will throw the next pitch over the backstop! Whoops!!! Now give me the other ball please!!
I'm not in favor of waste pitches. Sometimes the simplest thing can throw a pitcher out of their rhythm. Intentional walks are another, I've seen pitchers struggle on the next hitter after an INT walk because the rhythm has been broken.
I'm equally as angry when I give up a hit on an 0-2 pitch as I am on a 1-0 pitch. I believe in throwing the least amount of pitches to every single batter as possible. I need 21 outs, and if I can do that in 21 pitches where everyone hits the first pitch on the ground, I'd be ecstatic. Obviously that's not realistic but, the point is 21 outs. I know having only 3 K's in a game isn't considered a sexy stat for a pitcher but, if those 3 K's still provided me the win, I'd take it.
Final thought to consider, the situation the OP described is a good reason to NOT play HS ball. I know it's fun for kids to play ball with their school friends and have a good time. And that's great, go have fun like kids should be having fun!! But it seems to me, and this is from 23 years of lessons, school ball coaches tend to overstep their bounds more than TB coaches. What I mean is, as a whole, I've seen more HS coaches try "teaching pitching" or "teaching hitting" that contradicts what the kid's private coach teaches. Again, in my experience, TB coaches seem to let private coaches do their thing more than HS coaches. NO, not all HS coaches do this. I'm not condemning them all. Only saying in my experience the coaches who try to "reteach" pitching to my students comes more from HS than TB coaches. The reality is, your kid isn't being recruited to college based off HS stats. There isn't a college coach in the country that will ask a recruit about their HS stats, they may ask how the season went to be polite. But, it's very rare a college coach will even see a HS game, let alone recruit from one. So, just know, if college is the goal, she does not need HS ball. Especially if the HS coach is going to try to alter what the private coaches that you're paying for are doing.
Oversimplified? Maybe. Or perhaps others just make it more complicated?
I don't like pitchers calling their own pitches. I have seen it and it doesn't work. A catcher that has been on a good pitch calling team can easily call pitches. Again it's not rocket science. Watch the batters swing in on deck circle. Is she crowding the plate? Open stance? Does she cast the barrel? Keep her off balance.Our school ball experience this year was certainly a lesson in patience, and this was one of the biggest parts. Throw two pitches in a row and the hitter is way late. Bet yet 99% of 0-2 counts were a change-up. In TB almost never throws a 2 strike change, it is primarily a cheap strike or just change of timing pitch.
The same coach that also didn't think there was a need for curve, screw, rise, or drop (all of which DD has been throwing for couple years). And for 90% of the hitters they faced FB/Change were enough. But when they played couple of teams that actually could hit, it predictably failed.
I had DD ask early in the season if coach would allow her to call her own pitches using wristband with catcher, thinking it would be good time to understand sequence more instead of just throwing what coach calls. But coach said no she would handle that. Didn't want her to call the wrong pitch
