Another day, another messed up coach

[coach james]

My thoughts are, we play to win.... we practice to get better. However, having a deeper roster is vital. So, I would absolutely let her pitch until the yips set in and then pull her for the better of the two. But bottom line is they both need the circle time to grow. If this kid was that fluid and natural, but lacked consistancy, she probably just needs taught about brushing...then you'd have an ace in no time. (Not that it would matter if her counterpart was the coaches kid)

 

[NVfishing]

Wild pitchers are hard to work through. They need time in the circle to get better but their team also deserves the chance at winning by having the player best suited to win in the game. I've seen a lot of games lost trying to let a player grow in the circle.

 

[BobInMadison]

Sometimes it takes several years for a hard thrower to find the strike zone. Great to see it when it happens. One girl quit pitching, then her HS coach asked her to pitch again after a year or two away from the circle. Suddenly she could find the strike zone. She was never a really good pitcher, but she helped her school through a bad pitching drought.

 

[softball88]

What is fun as a coach is watching the improvement and hard work by younger pitcher. My 9u team in the fall was throwing 35% strikes. This past winter they took lessons and practiced. We took Nov and December off. For the spring/summer they are throwing 55% strikes, last 2 tournaments are 59% and 64%. my daughter has thrown 3 innings. My 1,2 and 3 has the rest. Very fun to watch.

 

[NVfishing]

I had a very hard time this spring with my rec team's pitching. The one girl that showed the most ability didn't have anyone to practice with. Her 2-3 innings a week were her practice. Finding that girl that wants to throw on her own is the key to improvement.

 

[marriard]

So, there is a kid who I saw pitch last year. She has "it". She has the fluid motion, the loose arm, and the attitude to be superb. She could be much better than my DD ever was. In my 40+ years of following this game, she is in the top 2 or 3 pitchers I've seen at that age.

Her problem is that she is young and she is wild. She plays 12U, and it is really hard to find that tiny strike zone on some of the batters. She can be wild. What the coach *should* do is put her out there and let her pitch a few innings. When she starts losing it (and she will), she should get taken out. (Sparky: I saw a certain girl who ended up the PC at Stanford losing it at 12U one time. It was really, really funny for everyone but her and her Dad.)

Yeah, DD has had this player before on her team.... except she was getting the pitching time. Lots of 10K games which we lost by 8 because she hit 3 or 4, walked lots and lots of girls, and every base runner ended up scoring with wild pitches. We once lost a no-hitter she threw 8-0. Two years on and nothing has really changed. She still LOOKS awesome when you see her and on the day when the stars align she is pretty close to unhittable - it happens about 2 times per season and even then it can go off the rails on a moments notice.

Oh and if it rains - she may as well not turn up.

Every coach who has had her struggles. You can be out of a game before you know it. Throwing her in elimination games is always risky even against weak opponents because she can walk/HPB/wild pitch in 4 runs in 5 batters. It is tough. Even in pool games it can go bad. You have to carry an extra pitcher because some weekends she may be good for NO INNINGS and we all know how hard finding decent pitchers is (especially when you technically have pitchers)

 

[chrispots]

So, there is a kid who I saw pitch last year. She has "it". She has the fluid motion, the loose arm, and the attitude to be superb. She could be much better than my DD ever was. In my 40+ years of following this game, she is in the top 2 or 3 pitchers I've seen at that age.

Her problem is that she is young and she is wild. She plays 12U, and it is really hard to find that tiny strike zone on some of the batters. She can be wild. What the coach *should* do is put her out there and let her pitch a few innings. When she starts losing it (and she will), she should get taken out. (Sparky: I saw a certain girl who ended up the PC at Stanford losing it at 12U one time. It was really, really funny for everyone but her and her Dad.)

Unfortunately, the coach of her team has a pitching DD, and she won't let the other kid pitch. She is using the "wildness" excuse, but I wonder if the trauma of seeing a kid who is simply so much more talented that her child is too much. To paraphrase John Updike, seeing her pitch is like flipping through a stack of Norman Rockwell paintings and coming across a VanGogh or a Rembrandt.

The kid's parents don't understand the dynamics of TB...and they are making the classic "Oh, we just love her teammates' parents!" mistake.

Oh well...just needed to blow off some steam.

Ray,

I'm just curious as to what you would deem "wild?" What is her ball\strike ratio? Even if it's a ballpark figure...CP

 

[CoogansBluff]

Yeah, DD has had this player before on her team.... except she was getting the pitching time. Lots of 10K games which we lost by 8 because she hit 3 or 4, walked lots and lots of girls, and every base runner ended up scoring with wild pitches. We once lost a no-hitter she threw 8-0. Two years on and nothing has really changed. She still LOOKS awesome when you see her and on the day when the stars align she is pretty close to unhittable - it happens about 2 times per season and even then it can go off the rails on a moments notice.

Oh and if it rains - she may as well not turn up.

Every coach who has had her struggles. You can be out of a game before you know it. Throwing her in elimination games is always risky even against weak opponents because she can walk/HPB/wild pitch in 4 runs in 5 batters. It is tough. Even in pool games it can go bad. You have to carry an extra pitcher because some weekends she may be good for NO INNINGS and we all know how hard finding decent pitchers is (especially when you technically have pitchers)

Had a similar player when I formed a team of 9-year-olds. We were playing entry-level tournaments. Pitched her in a pool game once and she strung together 3 great innings, mowing down almost every hitter, and the other coach is praising her in one of those ''why is she playing this level? She's too good. Is she a pickup player? Where did you get her? Why did you pitch her in a pool game?'' kinda of ways.

So that earned her a start in bracket play, first 6 batters reached without swinging the bat, and a couple had to be helped down to first base. That was probably the only time she had 3 straight good innings all season. She didn't like pitching enough to stick with it. Fortunately, she also was strongest batter and was a catcher w/ a great arm. She had an older sister who loved to pitch and worked hard at it, but lacked the natural talent of little sister.