Hs coaches calling pitches that dont work

[Cannonball]

IMHO, your DD is the victim of the "TB coaches calling pitches". First, It sounds like she doesn't have a clue how to really pitch. Second, she has to take responsibility for the outcome of the game.

(1) The coach doesn't call location. So what? She can throw the ball to any location she wants...up, down, inside, outside.
(2) The coach doesn't call change ups. Again, so what? She can change speeds. My DD (she did quite well in D1) didn't throw a change up, but she changed speeds with all of her pitches. E.g., her drop ball varied from about 55MPH to 63MPH. In a pitch sequence, the batter might see a 62 MPH fastball, a 55 MPH curve drop, a 60 MPH straight drop, and a 58 MPH fastball.

Finally, she has to stop making excuses and find a way to "get the job done". She is the final decision maker as to what happens with the ball.

Sluggers can be pretty straight forward and is spot on here.

Screwball, so you have seen enough high school coaches to say that you don't expect them to know how to call pitches?

 

[Ken Krause]

I've had some very good pitching students suffer from the same thing. Coach is impressed with her speed and thinks that she can just blow the ball by everyone. And she can -- for a little while. But eventually the hitters figure it out if they're any good and start timing her. It gets very frustrating, because she knows she could be getting people out if she could throw movement or changes.

Agree with Screwball that certain pitches have locations that call themselves. Especially movement pitches.

What I often advise is throw what you know you should throw. From the sidelines it's hard to tell a fastball from a screwball from a riseball, especially for someone who doesn't know enough to call those pitches.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Pitches that should only be thrown to one location????

 

[bringtheheatmom]

Thanks appreciate your post.

I've had some very good pitching students suffer from the same thing. Coach is impressed with her speed and thinks that she can just blow the ball by everyone. And she can -- for a little while. But eventually the hitters figure it out if they're any good and start timing her. It gets very frustrating, because she knows she could be getting people out if she could throw movement or changes.

Agree with Screwball that certain pitches have locations that call themselves. Especially movement pitches.

What I often advise is throw what you know you should throw. From the sidelines it's hard to tell a fastball from a screwball from a riseball, especially for someone who doesn't know enough to call those pitches.

 

[shockcoach]

HS coaches love the FB. Here is an thread from last year.

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/kens-softball-tips/5513-pitch-calling-you-have-mix-up.html

 

[SnocatzDad]

Pitcher says " I can throw 6 different pitches to keep batters off balance "
Coach hears " I have 6 different ways to walk a batter "

Pitcher says " I can hit my spots "
Coach hears " I can hit my spots, as long as those spots are #1 the ground, #2 the batter, #3 the umpire and #4 the backstop "

Pitcher says " they will pound my fastball if I keep throwing it down the middle "
Coach thinks to himself " at least that way we have a chance to get an out, if you walk in a run there is nothing the team can do to help you. "

The coach may be incorrect in his evaluation of your daughters ability to throw certain pitches in certain situations, but chances are his assessment is less biased and closer to reality than yours and getting wound up after 4 innings is over the top parent craziness. Maybe he just wanted to see if she could throw strikes for 4 innings before handing her a start or a full game.

Throwing the defense behind your daughter under the bus after 4 innings of pitching should in retrospect give you pause. IMO you could cut and paste the OP here right to the Crazy Parent stories post.

 

[bringtheheatmom]

Thank you!! This thread from last year is exactly our situation!