Acts totally different in a game

Larrry D · Jul 13, 2014

I have worked with my DD and in practice we have good form and speed. In games she pitches noticebly slower and drags her foot kind of sideways instead of with the toe down. Almost like two totally different pitchers. I can live with the foot/toe but the much slower is the one that bothers me.

How do I fix this please?

humpty · Jul 13, 2014

How much slower? Have you gunned her. My dd does same thing with hitting. Looks great off the tee and front toss but goes back to bad habits against live pitching.

NVfishing · Jul 13, 2014

My DD is 10u and does the same thing. I've clocked her at 46-48 in practice and she throws 40-43 in games. For my DD its mental. She doesn't want to walk a batter.

quincy · Jul 13, 2014

I would guess DD throws the fastest when I am catching her. She is just comfortable since we have done it enough.

Does she know she throws slower in games? If she does ask her why. Afraid to walk or hit someone?

Get a batter, doesn’t have to swing, and another catcher as often as possible.

sluggers · Jul 13, 2014

Most likely, your DD doesn't have near the control you think she has. You talk about how fast she throws, but you never discuss her accuracy in the backyard.

E.g., how many pitches does it take her to do "around the world" (low inside, middle inside, high inside, high middle, high outside, middle outside, low outside, low middle)?

Checking her speed while doing the "around the world drill" is a much more accurate measure of her in game speed.

quincy · Jul 13, 2014

We used to go to the park and she would pitch while other games were going on. I think that was more stressful then her pitching in a game. Just out there on her own with 50 people wondering around staring at her.

okie · Jul 14, 2014

Mine has the same problem and its simply a confidence issue. At home, shes throwing hard, if its a bad pitch then its just a bad pitch. She usually follows it up with a good one. In the games though, she very often slows her arm down and in some cases even changes her footwork trying to "aim" the pitch in for a strike. The problem with that is the slower arm circle and different footwork changes her release point and more often than not, the results are worse.

I see mine do this alot, especially if the strike zone is tight. We've tried to play alot more simulated games at home and in practice getting her to be comfortable with her mechanics, regardless of the situation.

starsnuffer · Jul 14, 2014

Make sure she isn't warming up in grass. Some pitchers who have a heavier drag will have their mechanics absolutely destroyed by trying to pitch in grass. Finding a good spot isn't always easy, but it's worth doing.

-W

Coach JV · Jul 14, 2014

ahhhh- the argument of a practice pitcher or a game pitcher......

There is a mindset that she needs when facing live hitters. Some girls fear hitting the batter,
some fear not 'hitting her spots' Some fear balls being hit hard and hit OTF. These fears need
to be boxed up and discarded. Once she settles into a great frame of mind the problems will
hopefully diminish

NVfishing · Jul 15, 2014

My DD is seldomly hit hard. She was hit more often this year though and I attribute it to her pitching very steady but not as fast as she can. Tonight we talked about pitching her first pitch to every batter as fast as she can. I think doing it once every batter will not only get her mindset to do it more often but it will intimidate the opposing batter and other players.

Acts totally different in a game

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Larrry D

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