The three-pitch challenge

One of the continuing challenges of learning the game of fastpitch softball is transferring skills from practice to a game. That’s because they’re often two different experiences. In practice, you get multiple repetitions to execute the same skills. If you miss one, no worries – you have the opportunity to try it again. That makes […]

More...

Great topic and is an often overlooked area of pitching practice: creating game like conditions and urgency under pressure. It reminds me of something my DD and I do at the end of every practice that we call "Sequences" and it's probably the single most important drill that my DD does that has helped her be a confident and consistent pitcher.

Here's how it works:

We pretend there is a batter in the box. DD has to "strikeout" 6 batters before we are done. I keep track of the pitch counts, strikeouts, and walks. For example, I might call a fastball, low and inside. If she hits her spot, the count is 0-1 (no balls, 1 strike). The next pitch might be an outside, change-up, but if she misses her spot, now the count is 1-1, and so on until she walks or strikes the batter out. Occasionally, I will give her a mulligan (do over) if she just missed her spot.

When we first started doing this, DD only had a fastball and she would "walk" several batters, and the session would take 10 or 15 minutes to complete. Over the years as she has gotten much more consistent and added several pitches to her repertoire, the session only take about 5 minutes and its a fun and competitive way to end the practice.

If you have never tried the "3 Pitch Challenge" or "Sequences", I highly recommend you give it a shot.

I will have to incorporate this into my DD's workouts on occasion. Now we typically end with three "come out of your shoes" fastballs.

this is a great concept and we have been doing it for a while. It tells you a lot about where they are when you remove "transition" pitches.