What I learned from a 7yo.

It was her first lesson and I'm saying things like "never pitch down the middle of the plate." She asked why and I told her that the ball could come right back at her face. And she said "Don't I want them to hit the ball?"

I was so glad that she said that. I had no idea that a little girl coming out of t-ball and coach pitch would think that you lay the ball in there and let them hit.

It's not just hard at 7, I have problems with the 9yr olds. And that comes from the coaches, always screaming, "Let them hit it!".
And you're the one that has to explain, that's not how it's done.

Jojo said:

It's not just hard at 7, I have problems with the 9yr olds. And that comes from the coaches, always screaming, "Let them hit it!".
And you're the one that has to explain, that's not how it's done.

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I am not a pitching coach just a pitching dad and I know both of you have tremendous experience. But I have to say where are you finding these 7 and 9 year olds that are accurate enough to throw at the corners? Around here at that age if they get it in the general vicinity of the strike zone two times in a row the crowd does the wave. I am exaggerating....slightly.

Or are you just talking to them in general saying as you get better control you will want to hit specific spots? More just curious than anything else.

AndyS said:

I am not a pitching coach just a pitching dad and I know both of you have tremendous experience. But I have to say where are you finding these 7 and 9 year olds that are accurate enough to throw at the corners? Around here at that age if they get it in the general vicinity of the strike zone two times in a row the crowd does the wave. I am exaggerating....slightly.

Or are you just talking to them in general saying as you get better control you will want to hit specific spots? More just curious than anything else.

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If I were a pitching coach....I would teach to throw to a target and never use a home plate!

This was a pretty confusing concept for my DD initially, at first you are trying so hard to get something over the plate that might get you a strike call and as soon as you start having any sort of success at that they say "don't throw it over the plate!" haha. It is sort of funny when you think of it from a kid's point of view

"I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it." -Sandy Koufax

Early on throw as many strikes as possible. Later on they are trying to throw as few strikes as possible

AndyS said:

I am not a pitching coach just a pitching dad and I know both of you have tremendous experience. But I have to say where are you finding these 7 and 9 year olds that are accurate enough to throw at the corners? Around here at that age if they get it in the general vicinity of the strike zone two times in a row the crowd does the wave. I am exaggerating....slightly.

Or are you just talking to them in general saying as you get better control you will want to hit specific spots? More just curious than anything else.

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It's more along the mental concept of the game. I want them out there trying their best to be a good pitcher, that it's a game between them and the batter. Not to get excited about the other team hitting your ball. The coaches around here drill that into their heads, "let them hit it!" so that becomes their mental fix. Sure at 9, they are slower and hits don't generally go that far, but the next thing you know at 10, and they're pitching a little faster and with more control and the coaches are yelling at them because the other team is hitting off them and their fielders arn't fielding the ball.
The coaches are not explaining to them why the game has changed. So I explain it them right away.
I want them to throw it past the batter to the catcher, not to the batter.
As soon as they start to throw to the batter, they start slowing down and reaching out and aiming and abandoning all their mechanics and turning into a coach pitcher.
It all goes back to that -trying to throw strikes- which hurts them more than it helps them.

humpty said:

Early on throw as many strikes as possible. Later on they are trying to throw as few strikes as possible

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I read that somewhere;
10u--trying to get it over the plate.
18u--trying to keep it off the plate.

My own DD had severe issues with trying to do both those things at both those age groups.

At the 8u level, I focus on rythmic, smooth mechanics. I pay most attention to the major details of getting open, and getting a firm base to pull down against. If the get that much mastered, they'll throw a ton of strikes for ya. It's not until 2nd year 10u or 12s that we start really mixing speeds and locations. (And in very rare cases, spin)