Comeback after errors

[softballguy]

Daughter is a strong pitcher. Entire Team moved up to U-16 this year and although she is still striking out batters, more balls are put in play. And although team did well in their first tournament , it seems that both the team and her are still adjusting to the higher level of play. How do you tell her how to come back after errors in the field or a hard hit ball.

 

[JJsqueeze]

How is she reacting now? I would think an experienced pitcher has seen plenty of tough situations by 16U and kind of just rolls with it. I think my daughter is more surprised by a putout or a caught fly ball than she is by an error

 

[Little Angels Softball]

How does she come back after she walks a hitter? I'd think the mindset shouldn't be any different.

BTW, if you haven't already, she really needs just three things (OK, four):

Location, location, location. (and change of speed)

 

[softballguy]

You are right she has played on teams where there have been multiple errors. That is not bothering her. She is very calm on the mound but now seems to be trying to make the perfect pitch after a hard hit or an error.

 

[IR a Pitching Dad]

When DD and I discuss the mental aspects of the position I like to use the compare being a pitcher to being an All Pro cornerback who might get toasted for a long play but still has to line up and go at it again. There will be times that things don't go your way.....you may hit your spot, the ball may break perfectly and it still may get blasted into outer space or there may be a misplay that you have no control over. Bottom line is that your most important pitch is the one that you are getting ready to throw.

 

[sluggers]

This is where you are trying to get your DD mentally:

"Hmm. That was interesting. She hit the ball over the left field fence. How did she do that? Let's see, I threw an inside drop as the knees but it caught the fat part of the plate. I don't think I got enough spin on the last pitch. I will pay more attention to my wrist."

Pitching is a game within a game. Since it is a game, she is going to lose some and win some. (If she is going to win them all, tehn it is no longer a game.) The way for her to get better at pitching is to understand "why" she failed, and then find a way to correct the failure.

If you want to see someone do this, watch a pro QB after an interception. He might get angry for 2 seconds, but he will immediately go over to the bench and look at photos showing the coverage and trying to understand the screw up.

This is extremely tough for a 30 YOA adult to do...let alone a 16U child. This requires moving through the emotional trauma of "failure" very quickly.

So, at her age, you need to explaining to her what IR said...the most important pitch is her next pitch. The past is history, and the future is a mystery, so focus on "now".

When she gets the emotional ability to throw the next pitch well, then she can start working on analysis.

 

[bucket pinata]

My Older DD has never had the greatest Ds Backing her up so she is very accomplished at what to do. She will shout out to the player words of encouragement and smile saying you got this. If we are talking a few crackered plays in a row she will call Time and bring the whole infield in and she has a speech memorized and she uses phrases like there is no other SS I would rather have then You and I believe in you. Be Amazing ect.ect. I think she also does this to change her mind set and flush it. Last weekend at Triple crown she did this a few times and in the after game Meeting (they won) The coaches brought up that those words from a player mean way more than when a coach says it. Her short stop started tearing up coach asked the SS why the tears, she replied it really did mean allot to her, She bounced back great that game.

 

[WillyT812]

This year my number one pitcher was frustrated on the mound due to the easy outs being missed in the field. She was critical of her teammates. I asked her, how good do you think they'd be if I put in the time with them that I put in to you? The only thing you have control over is how many chances the defense get to succeed or fail; we need to cut down on hit balls. We can't control the defense, only ourselves. Like it or not, you're going to have to put this team on your back and carry them. That is the theme going into this offseason, learn to dominate hitters. She easily had one K per inning last season, the goal this year is two per inning. That should fix the defense.

 

[FastPitchCat]

This year my number one pitcher was frustrated on the mound due to the easy outs being missed in the field. She was critical of her teammates. I asked her, how good do you think they'd be if I put in the time with them that I put in to you? The only thing you have control over is how many chances the defense get to succeed or fail; we need to cut down on hit balls. We can't control the defense, only ourselves. Like it or not, you're going to have to put this team on your back and carry them. That is the theme going into this offseason, learn to dominate hitters. She easily had one K per inning last season, the goal this year is two per inning. That should fix the defense.

very well said. my DD's team is the same and we tell her that you can't control your teammate's efforts or skill. so we tell DD - learn to be a strikeout pitcher. yes, that leads to more pitches, but at least that's something YOU can control.