10U speed vs accuracy vs experiece

[electric72002]

Thanks, I am changing my view on importance of pushing accuracy or even pushing at all. Also trying to form a view point on what accuracy even is for 10U. Definitely made some mistakes already and trying my best to recover.

 

[lostcreek1]

Agree with mechanics first. As a parent of a college pitcher, her whole focus has always been speed. Accuracy comes with good mechanics. DD has never practiced accuracy (and it's never been an issue), even at 10U. But she certainly has practiced getting faster!

I have always heard, never slow down for the sake of accuracy. Go as hard and fast as you can, and learn to be accurate while doing that. This goes for baseball, softball, golf, etc.

 

[daywalkerdad]

How do I help them with mechanics without changing what they already have learned?

Also, where is a good source of 10u mechanics that is somewhat universal?

Lots of great advice on here.
1. The player needs to know what good Mechanics are (pitching coach)
2. The player needs a good amount of reps with the focus on Mechanics and not results.
a. Encourage mirror work, many kids need to see what they are doing to adjust.
3. Reps with bad Mechanics will just reinforce bad mechanics.
4. Focus on fast and straight. High is often they are throwing harder.

 

[clarity]

As a parent of two who pitched, I have the following two takeaways:

1. Don't teach anyone "to pitch" before they can throw underhand with ease. Teach them to throw underhand like football officials. If I could go back to my 8u and 10u coaching days, I would make underhand throwing for all a regular part of every practice.
2. Speed is king.

 

[Northball]

I have always heard, never slow down for the sake of accuracy. Go as hard and fast as you can, and learn to be accurate while doing that. This goes for baseball, softball, golf, etc.

This is how I get kicked off the mini-golf course.

 

[earlg3]

Accuracy is built with practice by developing consistency. Teach kids fundamentals and help them understand why the ball doesn't go where they want it to go and what is going wrong when that happens, and they'll become accurate.

They should not dramatically slow down for accuracy, but they also shouldn't be just wildly yeeting the ball with no control.

Unless folks are never practicing hitting their spots, they are practicing accuracy.

 

[ArmWhip]

But, how do you balance pitching opportunities in games for the experienced person that got lessons who walks everyone vs a new pitcher who hasn't gotten lessons that walks everyone?

Way back when I was coaching rec and 90% of the players wanted to pitch I would have a pregame contest to see who was going to pitch. I set up a net, measured out 35 ft and had everyone throw 10 pitches. The three girls who had the highest scores go to pitch. It worked great because; it cut out the parental whining, it motivated the girls who really wanted to pitch to practice on their own, and it actually improved their accuracy. Later on I started putting a trash barrel in front of the net as the target.

As for learning good mechanics, back during tryout season I was asked by a coach to screen pitchers for good size travel organization. They had 3 days of tryouts, I was at the second day. The 12U's had 6 pitchers show up. All told me they were taking lessons, all of them bowled. The fastest threw 42 but had trouble hitting the pop up net. The 14's had 2 pitchers, both were taking lessons and both were bowlers but had decent control, threw mid 40's. The 16's also had two pitchers, same story, taking lessons and bowling, upper 40's with decent control. In general you need good mechanics for velocity and lots of repetitions for control.

 

[PJR202]

I haven't read through all of this, so someone may have already said this. If you ask for accuracy, they will very likely try to aim. Bad mechanics trying to aim can make for some very bad habits--even if they manage to start hitting the zone. The best way to improve mechanics is to work on the basics. It's hard to do much with the release in-season, but you can always work with them on drive/hips/posture/front side resistance.

Teach them a step out so they aren't anchored down by the back leg. Kill the stride for the new ones. They need the hips in the right spot to get them in position for a stable release. If they're doing a clean step with the hips closing back up, then it won't be detrimental to learning a stride/drive later. Using a step also allows them to more easily freeze in certain spots while doing drills that require it.

No matter what you do, just keep in mind that the ball goes where the body goes. If they collapse in the front, the arm drops, hand drops, ball gets out of position. If they tip to the side, the ball is moving to the side during release portion (9:00-6:00). When the body is still moving at the point of release, no matter what the hand does, the ball will still go with the body. Imagine if you were shooting an arrow while walking. Just like an archer has to be stable, a pitcher does as well.

 

[PJR202]

I agree, more reps and expanded practice.

But, how do you balance pitching opportunities in games for the experienced person that got lessons who walks everyone vs a new pitcher who hasn't gotten lessons that walks everyone?

If they're both walking everyone it doesn't matter much. Lots of reps is great, but if the mechanics are bad then more reps is only going to reinforce bad mechanics. The reps that need done are the pieces of the puzzle. The push or step has to be clean or the release will suck. The hips have to show back up of the body can tip over. The front side has to be stable or they collapse. Doing one drill (when they have 5 corrections to make) then having them throw 50 full pitches will just strengthen bad habits. I made my daughter throw from 9:00 for weeks, then walk-throughs for weeks.

Also, if you take a kid with straight arm release and start teaching them whip in-season, it'll be a disaster. That's an offseason change for a pitcher with even a few months of lessons. New kids, go for it. Backchain, backchain, backchain. Then let them do some baby walk-throughs so they feel like they got to pitch real pitches. Baby walk-through minimizes the opportunity to fall apart and create bd habits, while letting them have some fun so they show back up.

 

[electric72002]

Well folks, it has been a super difficult coaching week. Some parents are definitely frustrated with my incompetence. Can't say I blame them as I have been on the other side. What is enlightening is seeing the difficulty on the coaching side.

I did lose a couple kids this week, but we trained 6 girls to backfill. Four of them will pitch this weekend. Just going to rotate them until we see someone pull ahead.

Keep the feedback coming!