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Freshman pitching varsity struggling with throws to first
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Grounder back to dd pitcher 12U, girl hitting had played against us several times. She is still standing in box when my dd throws the ball 10ft. over 1st baseman's head. Right fielder backs her up, throws girl out at first! Enough said, "it is a team game and $hit happens".... You win some & you lose some end of story.....
This may sound harsh, but it's meant to be constructive criticism.
She's a freshman, if a single bad throw rattles her or she's lost her confidence, youre in BIG trouble. Mine has played 1000's of games and made 100's of bad throws, especially to first being left handed.
What are you going to do when she gives up that first HR? Mine gave up her first ever walk off HR last night to a member of DFP. ( congrats Ade ) DD is ok with it, but a parent can't show their negative emotions or the kids pick up on that. That's why I was all smiles this morning until DD left for school. Then I called in sick to work, got a hold of myself about noon and quit crying, wife stopped by at lunch and brought me some warm soup ( think I had a fever ), and have an exorcism scheduled before DD gets home from practice.
Championship game, this time of year, pitching 4 games, weekend. I'm assuming a HS tourney? 4 games for a pitcher is not uncommon, especially for a team with little pitching.
My advice is NOTHING. I wouldn't even mention it, cause it is not worth mentioning. The best ball players in the world ( MLB ) make bad throws all the time.
She's a freshman, if a single bad throw rattles her or she's lost her confidence, youre in BIG trouble. Mine has played 1000's of games and made 100's of bad throws, especially to first being left handed.
What are you going to do when she gives up that first HR? Mine gave up her first ever walk off HR last night to a member of DFP. ( congrats Ade ) DD is ok with it, but a parent can't show their negative emotions or the kids pick up on that. That's why I was all smiles this morning until DD left for school. Then I called in sick to work, got a hold of myself about noon and quit crying, wife stopped by at lunch and brought me some warm soup ( think I had a fever ), and have an exorcism scheduled before DD gets home from practice.
Championship game, this time of year, pitching 4 games, weekend. I'm assuming a HS tourney? 4 games for a pitcher is not uncommon, especially for a team with little pitching.
My advice is NOTHING. I wouldn't even mention it, cause it is not worth mentioning. The best ball players in the world ( MLB ) make bad throws all the time.
- Feb 22, 2013
- 206
- 18
I remember a D-1 pitcher 3 or 4 years ago that used to make the throw to 1st base by using her underhand wind up. The plays were always close, but she was more comfortable throwing the ball to 1st base underhand than overhand.
There are times that my dd has struggled throwing the ball to 1st base from the pitching circle or after fielding a bunt. To be honest, we probably don't work enough on her footwork when throwing from awkward angles. Most of her overhand throwing is done where she is standing straight up and throwing towards a person who is directly in front of her.
Most of my daughters bad throws (Pitcher to 1st Base) happen because my 17 yr old dd holds on to the ball a little to long (trying to give it that extra oomph) or because she may get her shoulders squared to the 1st baseman when coming up to make the throw (poor footwork). What has helped my daughter to make that throw in the last couple of years is a drill that we do. I will drop a ball left or right of the plate and my daughter will have to come up and make a play on the ball. When she picks up the ball, she immediately puts her left shoulder towards first base. (I tell her to kiss her left shoulder) When she throws the ball hard to first base, she lets go when she kisses her right shoulder. KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. This seems to work for my dd. It keeps her from over analyzing every overhand throw from Pitcher to 1st base.
If she makes a bad throw, which she still does from time to time, I will tell her to KISS. I do this because I am a bucketdad and I can't keep my mouth shut at ball games or when we play catch. My dd knows what I am saying but usually no one else around me knows what I am saying (or cares).
I took my daughter to a D-1 softball game 3 or 4 years ago where the above-mentioned Pitcher threw the ball with a full underhand arm circle to 1st base. She asked me why she did that and I told her that the throw from Pitcher to 1st base isn't as easy of a throw as it appears and that it needs to be practiced like every other throw from the infield.
There are times that my dd has struggled throwing the ball to 1st base from the pitching circle or after fielding a bunt. To be honest, we probably don't work enough on her footwork when throwing from awkward angles. Most of her overhand throwing is done where she is standing straight up and throwing towards a person who is directly in front of her.
Most of my daughters bad throws (Pitcher to 1st Base) happen because my 17 yr old dd holds on to the ball a little to long (trying to give it that extra oomph) or because she may get her shoulders squared to the 1st baseman when coming up to make the throw (poor footwork). What has helped my daughter to make that throw in the last couple of years is a drill that we do. I will drop a ball left or right of the plate and my daughter will have to come up and make a play on the ball. When she picks up the ball, she immediately puts her left shoulder towards first base. (I tell her to kiss her left shoulder) When she throws the ball hard to first base, she lets go when she kisses her right shoulder. KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. This seems to work for my dd. It keeps her from over analyzing every overhand throw from Pitcher to 1st base.
If she makes a bad throw, which she still does from time to time, I will tell her to KISS. I do this because I am a bucketdad and I can't keep my mouth shut at ball games or when we play catch. My dd knows what I am saying but usually no one else around me knows what I am saying (or cares).
I took my daughter to a D-1 softball game 3 or 4 years ago where the above-mentioned Pitcher threw the ball with a full underhand arm circle to 1st base. She asked me why she did that and I told her that the throw from Pitcher to 1st base isn't as easy of a throw as it appears and that it needs to be practiced like every other throw from the infield.
- Nov 26, 2012
- 18
- 1
Thanks for all the replies. I think i was more bothered than her. It was high school tourney and if you win --4 games is common. We are undeafeted in conference. The coach is great and said nothing negative. I guess i was seeking info from others to help me feel better. We played 7 games last week and won 6. Pretty good week. Very proud of her.
- May 10, 2010
- 255
- 0
My dd is a lefty. She had a case of the shanks throwing to first. Funny thing is if she has to spin she was fine. She got out of it by just throwing under handed to first for a while. It will go away just dont make a big deal of it when it happens to where it becomes a mental thing.
It definitely happens. We went to a D1 pitcher for lessons last summer and she laughed when I asked her the same questions...she said it is a pretty common problem for pitchers.
My daughter struggles with it. We didn't get too serious about softball until she was at the end of 5th grade (10 yo about to turn 11-I think). Once we started pitching, most of our time and energy was spent learning to pitch. Not only did it hurt her throwing, I think it hurt her glove and bat as well. We are still working to get better in all phases of the game, and will always be playing catch-up I'm afraid. Pitching is a big trade off and a huge commitment for a kid.
That being said, we've been working on a few things that have really helped. I learned them from the Candrea fielding drills videos. Probably the big things to remember are to get into a good position to throw (sideways to target with shoulders and hips in line with target), have the glove or glove-hand elbow point at target, and to have the throwing arm work in a circular motion. There are lots of good drills on You Tube.
My daughter struggles with it. We didn't get too serious about softball until she was at the end of 5th grade (10 yo about to turn 11-I think). Once we started pitching, most of our time and energy was spent learning to pitch. Not only did it hurt her throwing, I think it hurt her glove and bat as well. We are still working to get better in all phases of the game, and will always be playing catch-up I'm afraid. Pitching is a big trade off and a huge commitment for a kid.
That being said, we've been working on a few things that have really helped. I learned them from the Candrea fielding drills videos. Probably the big things to remember are to get into a good position to throw (sideways to target with shoulders and hips in line with target), have the glove or glove-hand elbow point at target, and to have the throwing arm work in a circular motion. There are lots of good drills on You Tube.
