help me, help my 10u pitcher! its all mental

[gophert]

Been there many times. For starters, tell her to never EVER look at the batter's face, never look them in the eyes. That intimidating look the batters always give the pitcher, that is EXACTLY what it does to almosty every 8 year old.

The batters NEED her to look into thier eyes, the NEED to know they have been seen and noticed. It is a HUGE confidence builder for the batters. DONT DO IT. It is an advantage the pitcher needs to keep for themselves.

When you have the ball in that circle YOU control EVERYTHING. The batter doesnt swing the bat, the runner doesnt leave the bag, NOT UNTIL YOU SAY ITS TIME.

Have her focus on the catcher's mask and never look at the batters. Aftyer a few innings the batters will realize she couldnt care less about them and it will show in their ability.

Its part of THE PITCHER / BATTER 'THING'.

Get her back in control of her game and you will see a different pitcher.

Hal's advice here, to me, is key especially for a young pitcher. My daughter (age 10) knows she is not to address her "fans" in the stands or any other outside source while pitching. She only looks at the catcher. She has to know that the game goes at her speed and she is directing the game from the circle. The game definitely speeds up at 10U and she needs to be prepared mentally to handle that. Good luck!

 

[Westwind]

Hal and sluggers had great, great info. All pitchers need to work on focus whether they are 8 or 18.

Sluggers gave you the best advice you will ever get. Go read it again right now. Come back to this when you are done.

I'll add this: the craziest sports parents that exist are softball parents. The craziest of the softball parents are pitchers parents, and I'm one of them.

Get a book called "mind gym". It will help with the following advice.

Step one: this is only a temporary solution but start this immediately. You need to hide that crazy no matter how bad or how good she does. Smile and nod and don't yell "helpful" stuff. Pretend to not be crazy and hopefully with time, you and dd and the other parents on the team will start believing it.

Step two: calm down and work on not being crazy. Hiding the crazy is only going to help for so long. By the time my dd hits 16's I hope to have this mastered. (She starts 12's this fall.)

Next: if you have any other daughters don't let them pitch. If you don't have any more, adopt one and don't let her pitch so you can enjoy watching softball games.

Last: you might think this post was in jest. It wasn't.

 

[fpthrives]

Maybe pitching isn't her thing.

 

[carrotbun]

My DD just turned 10 a month ago throwing high 40's low 50's...plenty of movement...has a nasty change up and is now getting her drop down...she is still pretty mental...pitching about a year and a half now...it's gone from being upset because she walked people or didn't hit her spots getting upset...and all I can say with that is mound time.mound time.mound time! Her mental issues now are trying to control her emotions in the circle when teammates don't back up the play multiple times..it's such a learning experience...we forget how young they are sometimes To me it's all about balance...sometimes you pull them and sometimes you have to leave them out there...oh but lordy sometimes I think I want to to leave the park!

 

[Sftballdad1]

Hal and sluggers had great, great info. All pitchers need to work on focus whether they are 8 or 18.

Sluggers gave you the best advice you will ever get. Go read it again right now. Come back to this when you are done.

I'll add this: the craziest sports parents that exist are softball parents. The craziest of the softball parents are pitchers parents, and I'm one of them.

Get a book called "mind gym". It will help with the following advice.

Step one: this is only a temporary solution but start this immediately. You need to hide that crazy no matter how bad or how good she does. Smile and nod and don't yell "helpful" stuff. Pretend to not be crazy and hopefully with time, you and dd and the other parents on the team will start believing it.

Step two: calm down and work on not being crazy. Hiding the crazy is only going to help for so long. By the time my dd hits 16's I hope to have this mastered. (She starts 12's this fall.)

Next: if you have any other daughters don't let them pitch. If you don't have any more, adopt one and don't let her pitch so you can enjoy watching softball games.

Last: you might think this post was in jest. It wasn't.

Yep. That pretty much sums it up perfectly....hello...I'm am a bucket dad and I am crazy!

 

[sluggers]

Softball/baseball is one of the toughest sports.

In basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc., a kid can "hide" on the field. A child never has to face her limitations. Parents can always make excuses.

In tennis, track, and swimming, there is rarely anyone other than the parents watching the game. In singles tennis, there are usually only three or four people watching the match.

With softball/baseball, there are 60 or more people watching the game. The child has to bat once every 20 or 30 minutes. If your child pitches, she is out there all the time. There is no way to hide your child's deficiencies either from her, yourself or the rest of the parents.

Some parents go crazy...they make up ridiculous excuses for their child, blame the umpires and the team, etc.

 

[Westwind]

Sluggers, you hit the nail on the head again.

I think part of what attracts me and dd's to sb is what you are talking about. Its not easy, its hard. Its do or die so to speak and your hard work does eventually show. It just takes time. Your LACK of hard work will eventually show too.

Kind of an individual team sport if that makes sense.

There is nothing more satisfying than when that breaking pitch that is nasty in practice start to work in games. There is nothing better than seeing them start to achieve focus and poise in the circle. The slow progression from having a good inning to having a good game to putting together an entire weekend.

Despite my above post, I really do love it. It tests all involved. Don't know a better way to spend a weekend!