Still Working....

Stand an said:

Boomers, so I watch this video and I have to ask how far is she throwing in these?

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I dont really know. Not 43 feet, probably about 35 or so. We have a mat that she pitches into when she is just working on throwing it as hard as she can without too much regard to location. We do this about once a week......seems to help her "let loose".

JJsqueeze said:

you noticed how fast it reached the mitt didn't you? impressive stuff.

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It would be fast for 10U at 35 feet!! Thats is NOT from 43 ft. But yes, that would fast super fast. I just watched it again and noticed that it did seem supersonic!! Maybe one day she'll pitch that fast....for now, she is nowhere near supersonic!

Boomers2012 said:

I think we want her pitching a little faster before we tackle the rise ball......or at least that is what I have been told. Now that I think about it...i am not real sure why we are waiting. Is there a certain speed the pitch has to be in order for a rise ball to "rise"? Or, is it just a postural/release point thing?.......

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Since the riseball takes a long time to "perfect" the spin and movement, no reason to wait if she is throwing around 50 and has good mechanics which your DD does. Most middle school batters have a hard time hitting a pitch high in the strike zone so even if she doesn't throw it perfectly and it doesn't "rise" as much as you would like, it will be an effective pitch for her is my prediction. Plus its a fun pitch to experiment with. Give it a shot.

JJsqueeze said:

you noticed how fast it reached the mitt didn't you? impressive stuff.

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Yes, that's exactly what I noticed.

Boomers2012 said:

I dont really know. Not 43 feet, probably about 35 or so. We have a mat that she pitches into when she is just working on throwing it as hard as she can without too much regard to location. We do this about once a week......seems to help her "let loose".

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Well you tell her that we are all watching her and she should keep challenging herself to get better. And also, great job.

I think she looks good- her arm whip and timing are great. not sure what you are seeing or what your concerns are but I will share my DD experience after two years HS- first year was WORST of this. don't know for MS how much your dd pitched, but hs dd pitched ALOT. plus she had practice for HS ball. As a result, her own practice time, for working on her mechanics declined since she was in games or at practice all the time, plus she had school (those darn classes!). So without that attention to detail, small mechanical changes occurred, individually not an issue but collectively- a problem. Did not really get them fixed for 2-3 mos. what a mess. your DDs mechanics are more solid than my DD's and your DD does not look to me like she has an issue, but what worked for us was to pin point the things that had crept in- then this past season, she was proactive in paying attention to the drills that helped keep her trouble spots from gaining a foothold.

with regard to outclassing her MS peers, you and she could set goals for her pitching in those MS games so it challenges her- a high percent of 1st pitch strikes, favorable strike to ball ratio, creating an effective ladder effect for her pitches (corner, further out, etc) whatever you want, but something that challenges her to keep focused and continue to improve even if she is outclassing the batters, her specific goals make her perform more than just for W-L. (if YOU think she is ready for that, sometimes kids just need to have success too, as it helps them feel good about themselves and gives them confidence, and that is OK too, just sounds and looks like she can push the envelope a bit)

MandM said:

As a result, her own practice time, for working on her mechanics declined since she was in games or at practice all the time, plus she had school (those darn classes!). So without that attention to detail, small mechanical changes occurred, individually not an issue but collectively- a problem. Did not really get them fixed for 2-3 mos. what a mess.

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Pretty much sums it up for us as well. Fortunately, DD didnt get too many bad habits engrained over the school ball season but there were defenitely some that are still being ironed out. I am fairly new to pitching but it seems like there is always something to "fix". Perhaps that is what keeps us crazy bucket dads/moms going......if it were perfect all the time, i would assume most of us would lose interest!! I appreciate the input!

Boomers2012 said:

Pretty much sums it up for us as well. Fortunately, DD didnt get too many bad habits engrained over the school ball season but there were defenitely some that are still being ironed out. I am fairly new to pitching but it seems like there is always something to "fix". Perhaps that is what keeps us crazy bucket dads/moms going......if it were perfect all the time, i would assume most of us would lose interest!! I appreciate the input!

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That strategy did work for us this past season, we focused on a few specific things that seem to relapse without attention- Even the best professionals in sports that require specialized skills (pitching, batting, golf, just to name obvious ones) can experience slumps when a small change in their in-grained mechanics derails their performance. Your DDs athleticism and the solid foundation of her mechanics coupled with a little vigilance will prevent this from becoming a major issue for her (now and in the future) I think! Just a little preventative medicine.

Boomers2012 said:

I think we want her pitching a little faster before we tackle the rise ball......or at least that is what I have been told. Now that I think about it...i am not real sure why we are waiting. Is there a certain speed the pitch has to be in order for a rise ball to "rise"? Or, is it just a postural/release point thing?.......

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Have her play with the spin, add it to her spin practices. She has plenty of speed to get the pitch to be effective.
I had a 12yr old last night only throwing mid 40's, but she's been working on the spin for a couple of months, so we took it for a test drive last night. When my girls first learn the rise I get them to concentrate on spin and not "rise" by trying to throw the pitch as a line-drive. She did this last night and got some great wiggles on it. She was really excited but her mom not-so-much

Boomer. I see a lot of Java in there! She really looks good. Fast arm circle! Great two step! Would have been great having her on the Texas 2 step team! Great job. Keep it up.