Not throwing as hard in game as in practice.

[ktm rider]

11yr old DD busted her tail the gym with our PC 2-3 times a week this past winter and was throwing great at the beginning of the year. Then she started thinking about it i guess.. Now she seems to aim the ball and once she starts that she gets into trouble.
PC and HC have both told her to just throw hard and don't aim but it just seems that she doesn't throw as hard during games. We started making her throw as soon as she toes the rubber. By that I mean she is no longer allowed to stand on the rubber and think about it. This seems to work at times. She still throws very well and is our #1 pitcher in TB but she just doesn't seem to be throwing as hard as we know she can.

When she just throws , she throws strikes, when she aims and slows the pitch down to try and be sure she throws a strike she tends to get into trouble.
Just wondering if throwing harder in practice is a normal thing.

 

[MK37]

I think this is normal mainly because of pressure they put on themselves. They now have someone in the batters box, people in the stands and teammates encouraging (or so they think ) from the field. I base my opinion on watching my 12 yr old pitch and comments she has made. Telling my DD to throw hard didn't work because she thinks she is. She can throw an awesome change but has a tendency to slow down, but doesnt think she does. I'm lucky that she has a great coach who I can talk to. What I asked him to try was replace throw hard with same effort as practice. Using effort as a trigger has helped but what helps most is innings in the circle because this builds confidence and a confident pitcher is a relaxed pitcher.

 

[ktm rider]

Thanks MK37. I guess it is just a confidence thing. Our PC is awesome. He has the patience of a saint. It drives me nuts knowing she has the abillity to blow the ball by these batters but doesn't do it.. Well, I shouldn't say she doesn't do it. She does occassionally, usually when something on the field makes her mad. \
You may be right though, she may not know she isn't throwing as hard as she is capable of throwing it.

 

[PEPPERS]

IMO she maybe not staying loose tight muscles are slow muscles and loose muscles are fast muscles, my DD has to remind herself when she tries to throw hard it usually results in a slower speed because of her not being relaxed.

Sometimes a kid has to learn to be relaxed a deep breath just before the pitch, make sure she does not grip the ball too tight and being smooth and relaxed in the delivery.

 

[splinterpicker]

We all want our kids to be on at all times practice and games. I got wound up at a game that my dd was not throwing hard only to have someone come over with the radar gun and she was throwing hard. WE get used to our own kid and sometimes it is perception on our part. Growth spurts will mess things up also and even small ones will cause problems in mechanicd.

 

[halskinner]

The red flag words are "Practicing in the gym". Way different pitching surface than in the circle on a pitchers rubber. No toe hole in the gym. Perfectly flat surfaces to push off and land, not so in the game.

If she is starting with the pivot foot heel barely touching the rubber, then she is pushing off from dirt, a very unstable surface, not like a gym floor. Her stride foot will be coming down on dirt also, probably loose dirt. Not like the gym floor.

Many do not ever take these things into consideration. She is going from one world to another.

Teaching them strong, fast and aggressive mechanics that CANNOT be contained by slow, weak step style pitching is a start.ERYTHING can be affected by the conditions in the circle, speed, accuracy, confidence, EVERYTHING.

 

[James Smith]

11YO DD does the same thing.

My current thery is the pressure she is put under pitching. Sometimes she pitches differently when the game is on the line then when it is not. It is not coming for her coaches, she just seems to have a mind of her own.

What is frustrating is when she warms up before the inning she is throwing the ball hard, speed drops as soon as a batter is in the box and it matters.

It might be fixxed now by talking to her a little bit a day after the game but probably not. She knows she is not doing it right but says she can not stop it sometimes. It has been a while since someone has blamed her for losing a game, it is all mental for my DD.

 

[sluggers]

Here are some thoughts...

Sometimes it is because the DD (a child of 11YOA) will not have the tools. Other times, it is mental.

First, a Daddy should make sure that he enforces a real strike zone during practice. There is "control" work, "speed" work and "movement" work. If you are working on control, you should enforce a very specific area that the child has to throw the ball to...i.e., wherever you place the glove. If you have to move your glove to catch the ball, she "missed".

Second, some kids don't know how to move the ball around the zone. You have to use the quadrant drill religiously with a pitcher in practice. She absolutely must know how to change the location of the pitch to compensate for different size batters and different umpire strike zones.

For the mental part:

You have to put pressure on your DD during practice.

My DD's pitching coach used to stand next to her for part of the practice and say, "You suck. You are going to throw the next pitch over the back stop. You are weak and soft." He would say this during her windup. It sounds bad, but she learned how to tune him out. She enjoyed proving him wrong. I realize now that she also learned how to tune *HERSELF* out...to shut out the little voice in her head that says, "You are in over your head. You suck. You can't do this."

A Daddy can do the same thing in practice. Tell her you don't think she can do it. Tell her she is going to throw the next pitch over your head. Have some fun with it. Tease her to death about her lack of ability.

You want her to take that stubborn girl mentality ("Yes, I am too going to wear this!") and put it into her pitching, ("Oh, yes I am going to throw this for a strike!")

 

[Ken B]

+1 to sluggers advice.

Occasionally during team pitcher/catcher practice, we have four corner competions. When they're all on, we add the Circle of Fire game where each girl takes her set while the others (or girl who's next,) stands on the side of the circle and can do anything she wants (keeping it more-or-less appropriate) to distract the one pitching. At first it's a silly mess, but it doesn't take long for the game faces and tunnel vision to kick in. It also helps to talk about what each kid used to help her focus.

 

[halskinner]

I have been referred to as the Master of Tactical pitching and the Mental Game. I just shake my head and say "I have alot of experience in both but I think they just politely called me old!".

At any rate if you think this IS a mental issue of any kind, here is my advice for her

Dont think about the game, let your coach do that
Dont think about the score, let the scorekeeper do that.
Dont think about any runner/s on base, the other 8 players can worry about them.
Dont pay any attention to voices you hear from the dugout or the stands, and I dont care who THEY are. Only hear your catcher's voice.
Dont worry about the last batter or the call the umpire made.

Your job, your #1 priority, your part of this battle is to focus on your catcher and THE NEXT PITCH , throw strikes and strike out batters.

Nothng else matters and nobody else does either, nobody else can pitch that ball for you.

The first clue I had that a runner was trying to steal 2nd was when my catcher popped up, about took my head off and left me sittin in the dirt. His job was to throw down at the runner, my job was to get out of the way.

That is the kind of focus you have to have if you want to be a champion pitcher.