Wanted: A Better Strategy for Developing Young Pitchers

[GunnerShotgun]

So when do you make that determination that the pitcher can't throw strikes so she can't pitch? Before the season? After the first game?

In my area they actually ask if you can pitch (and also if you can catch) when you signup. There is also a skills assessment on all players before the teams are divided up.

I understand that it isn't like that in everyone's rec league.

You just can't have a pitcher that can't throw strikes. I am not talking about a pitcher that can throw strikes and is just having a bad day. Game time is not the time to learn how to throw strikes. That would be the argument I would make.

I would also make the same argument for catchers. You have to actually be able to catch a ball as odd as that sounds.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

My DD couldn't throw strikes her first 5 games in rec ball but turned the corner and was the 3rd best pitcher in a 12 team league by the time the 13 game season was over. If she weren't allowed to pitch those games early on, she wouldn't have been able to develop into a bona fide pitcher.

While that's great for your daughter not so much for the girls that were denied the opportunity to participate (and devlope) in softball plays (hitting, fielding, etc.) at a younger age.

We lose too many kids due that in my opinion.

 

[El Oso]

In my area they actually ask if you can pitch (and also if you can catch) when you signup. There is also a skills assessment on all players before the teams are divided up.

Ours was the exact same. Of course you get those girls that are a bit over confident saying that they can pitch and when they try, it's hitting the backstop every time. But inevitably, there were more teams than pitchers. Always. So if the rule was as you wanted, there would have been 6 teams disbanded so your proposed rule is not reality.

 

[El Oso]

While that's great for your daughter not so much for the girls that were denied the opportunity to participate (and devlope) in softball plays (hitting, fielding, etc.) at a younger age.

We lose too many kids due that in my opinion.

Again, you're dealing in fantasy if you think there are enough rec ball pitchers that can throw strikes that you would have the luxury of telling those that can't that they aren't allowed to pitch. If only there were that many candidates to let you pick and choose.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

So if the rule was as you wanted, there would have been 6 teams disbanded so your proposed rule is not reality.

Just put the extra kids on the other team.

I mean you can say you have 6 teams but if no one is throwing strikes you aren't playing softball.

 

[_MIA_]

The biggest issue in softball in general, since it is a sport which is still dominated so much by pitching, is the lack of good pitchers and that was the topic of the article. If a few position players need to be sacrificed for the better of the sport in the long run, then so be it.

That said, at the youngest ages especially, kids develop more by what they do at home with their parents more than anything else (and second would be what they learn in team practice), including getting 2 groundballs and 3 swings in a game. The nuances that are learned by playing in games will develop as they get older.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Again, you're dealing in fantasy if you think there are enough rec ball pitchers that can throw strikes that you would have the luxury of telling those that can't that they aren't allowed to pitch. If only there were that many candidates to let you pick and choose.

I am only speaking to how it works in my area and what we see.

What we see is that when the girls in our large population area go on to all-stars in 10u and 12u is that we are not as competitive as the surrounding smaller communities that we play.

Our girls struggle to hit and field on the same level with the smaller communities that surround us. The reason for this is the large number of players that we have and not enough quality pitching. They aren't hitting or fielding in rec league and are not making softball plays.

We have too many pitchers trying to "learn how to throw strikes" in rec league, no outside private instruction, and very little quality control.

If they don't go on to travel we tend to lose the players in rec and and in school ball.

You want walkfests at an early age that's fine but you aren't doing anyone any favors other than perhaps the pitcher.

 

[JayW]

If I recall correctly, in our 10u rec league, the coach of the batting team pitched once the count reached 3 balls. The batter could not walk, but could strike out. This seems to be a good compromise. The pitching was good enough at 12u rec not to be a real issue.

The biggest issue in developing pitchers is probably cost. Not too many parents want to spend $50 an hour for pitching lessons for a 10 year old. That’s half the annual cost of rec ball registration. And there are a lot of bad pitching coaches out there. Most other softball skills can be developed by parents/coaches.

 

[El Oso]

I am only speaking to how it works in my area and what we see.

What we see is that when the girls in our large population area go on to all-stars in 10u and 12u is that we are not as competitive as the surrounding smaller communities that we play.

Our girls struggle to hit and field on the same level with the smaller communities that surround us. The reason for this is the large number of players that we have and not enough quality pitching. They aren't hitting or fielding in rec league and are not making softball plays.

We have too many pitchers trying to "learn how to throw strikes" in rec league, no outside private instruction, and very little quality control.

If they don't go on to travel we tend to lose the players in rec and and in school ball.

You want walkfests at an early age that's fine but you aren't doing anyone any favors other than perhaps the pitcher.

Well we are veering off course from the initial subject. Developing young pitchers. Not "how does developing young pitchers inhibit the growth of other players and the sport itself" which is what it is turning into. With that said, I don't WANT walkfests. Wanting to let pitchers develop in games is a far cry from WANTING walkfests. And it is what the initial post was all about.

I do have a question though. On one hand you want pitchers to learn to pitch in the backyard. "Game time is not the time to learn how to throw strikes. That would be the argument I would make" but on the other hand, you want pitchers to throw strikes so fielders can develop.................IN GAMES? Why can't fielders develop in the back yard like you want pitchers to do? There are 2 sides to this but you seemingly only see one. I would even argue that it is more important for new pitchers to develop in games than it is fielders because of the mental aspect of pitching for young girls but really don't have time nor desire to go down that rabbit hole so we'll just call it even.

Now if your argument is walkfests are bad for the game because it makes them boring as hell and girls lose interest in softball because of a lack of action and gravitate towards games with more action like Soccer and Volleyball, we can talk. I agree 100%. Which is why on my one day as King Commissioner of all Softball I would propose half the game being girl pitch and the latter half being machine pitch.

 

[ArmWhip]

Softball in my immediate area is weak. I watched spring and summer rec games this year. In the spring not one pitcher could throw strikes. In the summer there was one girl who do it, but she was just vacationing. So if you can't throw strikes-you can't pitch is the rule, then no more softball here.
Three of those rec pitchers (all 9 yrs old) have asked for lessons, none of them have someone who can catch for them so it's very slow going. I told the parents this: if your daughter just took up the piano how long before she could do a solo at the Spring Concert?
I should add that this league does 3 walks and on the 4th the coach comes in to finish the inning. What's interesting is that the coaches also have trouble throwing strikes. The pressure gets to them!