Timid 10u pitcher advice

[CDfastpitch]

Hello,

I started working a few weeks ago with a brand new pitcher who is in 10u. So far things have progressed fairly well seeing as she's going from completely wrong mechanics throwing in her backyard to using proper form about 75% of the time. She's very clearly starting to understand how her body affects the ball and can often tell me what she did wrong with her mechanics during any given pitch when the ball ends up going wacky. My biggest issue here is that although she's still struggling with some of the mechanics (already learned some bad habits on her own), I feel as though she's very timid with the ball. I've gone to some of her rec league games the last few weeks to see her play other positions since she isn't pitching in game yet and to also see some of the other local pitchers for comparison and she's really on par with most of them with the exception of one girl who is clearly a standout who has been working for probably years already. Seasoned girl aside, they're all quite slow with their movements and it's probably just due to focusing on the outcome; however, it seems she's still a little slower than her peers. I've tried to break things down and isolate explosive movements of the arms and legs but she seems either to not understand what I'm asking of her or to just be maybe afraid to mess up.

Has anyone else had any success breaking through this "I don't want to mess up" wall? My dad suggested having her throw into the backstop to eliminate worrying about where the ball ends up as far as location which I am thinking of trying next session along with some arm speed drills and launch drills. I'm not sure after seeing her play other positions with the same timidness (note: she's tough, just slow and unsure) so I can't really tell if it's personality or just simply being new to it all and learning. She's also quite tall for her age so I'm wondering if maybe that has a part in it, as well.

I obviously do not expect her to be leaping from the mound or anything within a month of beginning, but I do want to start working on speeding up her movement once we have a better grasp on the mechanics in preparation for middle school tryouts a year from now. Any advice would be welcomed!

 

[cnardone]

My DD's coach uses a tarp. Pretty much the same thing as a back stop but maybe a little safer on the ricochet . She used it more often in he beginning, but still breaks it out once in a while for specific drills.

 

[CDfastpitch]

My DD's coach uses a tarp. Pretty much the same thing as a back stop but maybe a little safer on the ricochet . She used it more often in he beginning, but still breaks it out once in a while for specific drills.

Thanks! I've thrown into this backstop full speed up close and it dies on impact so I'm not too worried about ricocheting. I'm just hopeful that removing the element of pitch location might help encourage her to focus more on her mechanics and the speed of her body.

 

[quincy]

Do not worry about hitting batter, they choose to be in there.

 

[CoachCeetar]

imo it's not focusing on the outcome, it's focusing on the process. It's hard! they're 9(ish)! It takes a really long time to build the natural muscle memory, not just pitching muscles, in general. In a very real sense, they're still learning how their arms work.

Some kids are full-throttle, and you have to reign them in, and others are more awkward an you have to build them up. There are some kids that can just get on the mound and wing it to the plate ,and make it there* most of the time. Others take weeks and weeks to work their bodies into the right rhythm to be able to do it.

I'd personally be hesitant to over-emphasize the explosiveness. I know my daughter can occasionally struggle with racing through a pitch, and that never really works. There are various drills to focus on though, like the one where they do one circle with a weight ball, drop it behind them and then reverse, grab the real ball and fire. Kind of like the donut on a bat concept.

 

[tomorrow]

basketball in the offseason and watching bigger girls play softball are my suggestions

 

[cvsoftball]

"Timid personality is associated with a lack of confidence and fear of taking risks. This causes people with a Timid personality to fear failure and success, feel anxious and stressed easily." So, work on mechanics and throwing hard. Find a wall, big tarp, whatever so that hitting a target is not IN her mind. You'll eventually find out if she wants to be a pitcher.

 

[ArmWhip]

I've tried to break things down and isolate explosive movements of the arms and legs but she seems either to not understand what I'm asking of her or to just be maybe afraid to mess up.

I would go in the opposite direction, especially considering this girl's age. Internal cues (focusing on parts of the body) are okay if you are teaching basic movements, but if you want to work on velocity isolating movements won't be very productive. I think you are better off telling her what you want her to do, not how to do it, and see if she can self-organize to get it done. But for a pitcher this young and inexperienced, if her mechanics breakdown, I would give her more time just practicing the basics. I have two tasks that I use for adding velocity, one is 'move the ball through the circle faster', the other is 'move everything faster'. And I make it clear that we are just experimenting, playing around to see what happens.

 

[Hillhouse]

It's entirely possible that being "timid" is her personality. If so, I'm guessing she's like this with all things in life like other sports, school work, etc.

Timid can mean several things. Afraid to throw bad pitches? Afraid to get hit by the ball? Afraid to explode off the rubber (which is part 2 of the bad pitches question)? Afraid of giving up hits? Afraid of failure? Maybe this young lady encompasses all of these questions. I'm not saying she's doomed to failure, but this is less than ideal for a pitcher.

There's a balance every pitcher has to make on any given pitch to any hitter. "If you're a good riseball hitter, lets see you hit MY riseball!!!!!!!!!" and balancing that with not throwing pitches which are a hitter's strength. That mentality is hard to do. It's even harder when you're worried about the outcome to the point that you cannot execute the pitch. Now, to be fair, we're talking about a 10 year old who has a ton of room for growth and development. It's possible she'll grow out of this.

Introduce her to the world of Sports Psych. If her parents have the means, and one is nearby enough, it would probably help her in all walks of life not just softball pitching.