DD is a hard thrower compared to the girls in her league (9 YO, cruises in the low 40s). But the catcher she works with can't actually catch her. She's afraid of the velocity and I see that she often closes her eyes and turns away.
So the passed ball has been DD's enemy. She has had innings where every pitch that didn't make contact with the bat got away from the catcher. These aren't balls in the dirt, they're mostly fastballs in or just outside the strike zone. (I imagine that it also makes it harder for DD to get strike calls on close pitches when everything gets away from the catcher.)
So DD is very discouraged. Her coaches are happy with her pitching, but she feels like she's a disaster because she can strike out five in an inning but 2 runs scored on passed balls. Her coaches tell her to keep doing what she's doing regardless of the catcher, which I think is the right thing to say except that it doesn't address her disappointment that she can strike out the side (and more) but it's nearly impossible for her to pitch a scoreless inning.
So how do I help her keep her head up? At 9 years old, "You're doing great and in the fall I bet you'll get a better catcher" isn't cutting it.
So the passed ball has been DD's enemy. She has had innings where every pitch that didn't make contact with the bat got away from the catcher. These aren't balls in the dirt, they're mostly fastballs in or just outside the strike zone. (I imagine that it also makes it harder for DD to get strike calls on close pitches when everything gets away from the catcher.)
So DD is very discouraged. Her coaches are happy with her pitching, but she feels like she's a disaster because she can strike out five in an inning but 2 runs scored on passed balls. Her coaches tell her to keep doing what she's doing regardless of the catcher, which I think is the right thing to say except that it doesn't address her disappointment that she can strike out the side (and more) but it's nearly impossible for her to pitch a scoreless inning.
So how do I help her keep her head up? At 9 years old, "You're doing great and in the fall I bet you'll get a better catcher" isn't cutting it.