Controlling Pitchers Emotions.

SyndreSoftball · Oct 16, 2014

My DD is 9 years old and a pretty good pitcher, she throws about 48-50 MPH, can hit her spots pretty well and has a good change up. Her biggest issue is not getting upset on the rubber. She is such a competitior which is amazing, I love her drive, but sometimes it holds her back. She gets so upset over nothing. She is so angry if she walks someone, if someone gets a hit, and oh no dont let anyone score. She has gotten better at controlling her emotions, but I can still see her getting flustered on the rubber at times.

I have tried the stern,, lets bear down approach, I have tried the comforting its ok have fun baby approach, I have done the silent approach, and I have come to the conlusion that, it is just her. She wants to be perfect as many times as I have told her it is impossible. My oldest was not a pitcher so I am hoping that with age this problem will not be a problem. She has alredy gotten better, but I want her to have fun and not put so much pressure on herself, believe me it is not me, the kid is just a competitor.

For all you bucket dads, and moms

out there did you go through this, and if so how did you handle it, did it decrease with age.

knightsb · Oct 16, 2014

SS: Do you like to pitch?
DD: I love it.
SS: I notice sometimes you appear to get upset in the pitchers circle.
DD: Yeah, I hate giving up walks, hits, and runs. It frustrates me.
SS: When you get upset or frustrated, how does that effect your pitching? How does that effect your teammates?
DD: I loose concentration and it effects my ability to hit my spots. When my teammates see me upset they press and it leads to errors.
SS: Do you want to become a better pitcher?
DD: Definitely.

....try to approach it from the perspective that having short term memory loss, staying in the moment, concentrating on the next batter will help her become a better pitcher, teammate and leader.... and that it is a skill she can develop over time. A pitcher losing composure in the circle is like blood in the water to sharks... they see it, feed off of it, and try to exploit it. Lets not give them that advantage.

Provide positive reinforcement when when she works out of a jam staying composed. Composed doesn't mean she can't be a fireball in the circle or have a little moxie.

quincy · Oct 16, 2014

Is she playing 10U? She sounds like she would be pretty dominate.

When the other players catch up to her it should settle down a little bit or she might just imploded in the circle one day.

SyndreSoftball · Oct 16, 2014

knightsb said:
SS: Do you like to pitch?
DD: I love it.
SS: I notice sometimes you appear to get upset in the pitchers circle.
DD: Yeah, I hate giving up walks, hits, and runs. It frustrates me.
SS: When you get upset or frustrated, how does that effect your pitching? How does that effect your teammates?
DD: I loose concentration and it effects my ability to hit my spots. When my teammates see me upset they press and it leads to errors.
SS: Do you want to become a better pitcher?
DD: Definitely.

....try to approach it from the perspective that having short term memory loss, staying in the moment, concentrating on the next batter will help her become a better pitcher, teammate and leader.... and that it is a skill she can develop over time. A pitcher losing composure in the circle is like blood in the water to sharks... they see it, feed off of it, and try to exploit it. Lets not give them that advantage.

Provide positive reinforcement when when she works out of a jam staying composed. Composed doesn't mean she can't be a fireball in the circle or have a little moxie.

Yup that sounds like my girl. I have been very positiveall the time no matter what, and make sure I let her know when she did not get upset, or show emotion. I used to be the one to always say work harder, or point out a flaw because she hears from everyone how good of a pitcher she is, so I always wanted to keep her grounded and play devils advocate, but I have learned that is not the approach to take with her. My approval means the world to her.

SyndreSoftball · Oct 16, 2014

quincy said:
Is she playing 10U? She sounds like she would be pretty dominate.

When the other players catch up to her it should settle down a little bit or she might just imploded in the circle one day.

She is playing 10U, but is still 8U eligible until January. She played up to 10 this year and made the Gold Team for All-Stars, I am lucky she doesnt turn 10 until January. She is a big athletic kid.

quincy · Oct 16, 2014

For DD the other players on the field do a better job of settling her down then the adults. It can be any IF doesn’t need to be the C.

Jojo · Oct 16, 2014

quincy said:
Is she playing 10U? She sounds like she would be pretty dominate.

When the other players catch up to her it should settle down a little bit or she might just imploded in the circle one day.

She'd be dominate at 12u here with that speed.

Well she's 9, the emotional and mental aspects of pitching are as much of a learning experience as the physical part.
It's going to take time and a lot of games.
I've known pitchers to struggle with this their entire careers.
There takes a level of maturity when they finally are able to control it and realize what needs to be flushed.

cuzmail · Oct 16, 2014

Wow! My DD was 44 max back in 10U and she was considered one of the faster pitchers!

SoAZDad · Oct 16, 2014

When my DD said she wanted to pitch I immediately got her lessons from an IR pro. She quickly showed progress, and her passion to pitch and play grew concurrently. So I caught her (and still do) regularly, sometimes reminding her what her PC said to work on.

But from Day 1, I began talking to her about composure in the circle. Don't let the other team know when you are rattled, or you're done for the day. It's a lot easier just NOT to get rattled. Focus your thoughts on your next task: the next pitch.

Here we are 4 years later. I guess I said the right words because she has great composure, whether she is doing great or getting rocked. The other day after a game I asked her if a routine play error by her 2B, that put the team in a bind, upset her. She told me she was totally pissed. I was so happy and I told her I couldn't tell. I told her I know her better than any of her teammates and any of her opponents, and if I couldn't tell she was pissed, neither could they. Fantastic composure.

So keep trying to find the right words that click with your DD. So important. I guess I got lucky.

SyndreSoftball · Oct 16, 2014

Jojo said:
She'd be dominate at 12u here with that speed.

Well she's 9, the emotional and mental aspects of pitching are as much of a learning experience as the physical part.

Thank You, she throws hard, and usually has good contorl, but recently had a bit of a wild streak, but I think we got it fixed. I hope she will learn how improtant compsure is. She has all the physical tools.

Controlling Pitchers Emotions.

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

SyndreSoftball

knightsb

quincy

SyndreSoftball

SyndreSoftball

quincy

Jojo

cuzmail

SoAZDad

SyndreSoftball

Similar threads

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Share this page

Online statistics

Forum statistics