Time off from pitching

[WaSpeed02]

DD ended fall ball in mid October. I gave her 1 month off from pitching to let her arm rest. She's been playing basketball on Tues/Thurs as well as speed & agility training on Wed/Fri. She also has hitting practice for an hour on Friday's after speed & agility. The only pitching drills I've had her do is I/R drills with a rolled up ball of socks into a mirror in her bedroom. It's amazing how hard a girl will work if you put a mirror in front of them.

So last night we started back up with real pitching after her hitting practice was over. Wow. She was throwing harder than ever. Seriously, I wish I would have had a gun, because she was throwing at least 5 mph harder than last month. She was really excited about how hard she was throwing and how good she felt, but I have to confess---she was making me really nervous on the bucket. She had really good movement and velocity, and for the first time ever, I was not comfortable catching her without protection. She could tell that I was a little bit jumpy and had the gall to question my manhood by suggesting that she was afraid she was going to hurt me. Hurt me? My 11 y/o DD is afraid she's going to hurt me?? No way. I basically told her to quit worrying and just throw hard. And she obliged.

Then I took one in the shin. I took it like a man, though--I fought back the tears as I bit into my tongue to squelch the urge to scream for my mommy. As I hobbled back to her to reassure her that I was okay and it wasn't her fault, it was obvious she could see right through my pathetic facade. Her tears began to flow and I knew we were done.

I guess it's time for Dad to get some shin guards.

 

[FastPitchCat]

LOL. i learned my lesson last year when DD turned 12. didn't wear any protection when she was 11, but getting hit a few times in the shin was lesson enough for me to get a few cheap soccer shin guards. they do work well but doesn't protect the foot nor the knee. when DD started throwing her drop, one of her pitches hit me in my left big toe and man that HURT! nail turned black and eventually fell off. ugh.
catcher's gear? maybe.

DD is also taking a 3 week off after fall ball. she starts again tomorrow. we'll start work on mechanics. she still needs a few things to tweak and hopefully, she'll be throwing faster too.

yeah, taking a break is good and so are shin guards

 

[Stand an]

Cheap steel toes from wal-mart, and knee pads from Home Depot.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

In defense of all the young pitching DD's out there you are going to hear me be a broken record on this:

Every year give the back a greater than 6 week "no-torque" break.

Or potentially pay a very tall price (in every respect $$ & pains)

Trust me - you DO NOT want to go through what my DD and probably the best other pitcher here in my state went through last year. This is EZ insurance.

 

[smddad]

I took a drop ball that hit the dirt, then my knee and then my nose. Just wait till you get one in the jimmy's when your undercarriage hangs over the bucket. OUCH!

 

[cmustangsfp]

Yes the increase in speed does bring it's perils. My catcher is now saying she needs a new mitt because it "hurts" to catch my DD. I must admit, I catch her with a regular glove and it does hurt. I also have taken it off the shins and a drop ball in to the big toe, if it was a car they would have totalled it. Lost the big toe nail. Still looks ugly to this day, glad I am not a foot model. This year my Christmas list includes shin gaurds, cup and a new catchers mitt.