- Feb 7, 2013
- 3,188
- 48
7YO, two months of 3x a week practices with weekly pitching lessons. Pitched one inning with 2 strikeouts and 1 hit batter. My DDs situation may have been unusual because during the prior 6 months she liked to pitch a tennis ball to me just for the pure fun of it. This activity help her get use to the pitching motion before pitching a softball.
The bottom line is don't wait until she is proficient at pitching before letting her get some circle time. Pitchers need to pitch in real games to get better. It's a necessary evil to pitch in games without being 100% comfortable. Plus after a few months of the same drills they want to pitch to live batters.
Lisa Fernandez tells the great story how she walked 18 girls her first outing. Her goal the next game was to only walk 17 girls, etc. The growth in six months is fast and most players have decent control if they take weekly lessons and practice regularly. Normally the pitchers that struggle have not put in the time to gain control and speed to be effective. You can't dabble in pitching, you either give it 100% or walk away from that position. It's just too difficult to be consistent without regular, focused, and dedicated pitching practices.
Good luck to you!
The bottom line is don't wait until she is proficient at pitching before letting her get some circle time. Pitchers need to pitch in real games to get better. It's a necessary evil to pitch in games without being 100% comfortable. Plus after a few months of the same drills they want to pitch to live batters.
Lisa Fernandez tells the great story how she walked 18 girls her first outing. Her goal the next game was to only walk 17 girls, etc. The growth in six months is fast and most players have decent control if they take weekly lessons and practice regularly. Normally the pitchers that struggle have not put in the time to gain control and speed to be effective. You can't dabble in pitching, you either give it 100% or walk away from that position. It's just too difficult to be consistent without regular, focused, and dedicated pitching practices.
Good luck to you!