View attachment 9170
Based on the photo above, I will go out on a limb and say that there was more to the story than too many pitches. A pitch count is not a solution for bad mechanics.
Similar to this kid? View attachment 9172
View attachment 9170
Based on the photo above, I will go out on a limb and say that there was more to the story than too many pitches. A pitch count is not a solution for bad mechanics.
So true. My DD started lessons shortly after she turned 8. We practice about 5 days a week. Every team practice we go early or stay late, as do the other pitchers on the team. Because I'm 40 with 40 year old reflexes and was never all that athletic to begin with, I'm constantly covered in bruises from catching for her. The investment of time and money in developing a pitcher is significant compared to most other positions. In travel ball at least, there is no way you could have a girl pitch who was anything other than devoted to pitching. There's too much work that goes on behind the scenes.Scorekeeper....forgive my bluntness please....but your ignorance of travel softball and the rarity of effective pitching is really showing. Coaches are not involved in pitcher development at all. All they do is recruit the best pitching they can get their hands on. Good pitchers are so rare that often fees are waived, practice schedules become optional, it is truly crazy. All because there is a real shortage of quality pitchers. You cannot take a kid and teach them how to pitch within the context of a team practice. You need a family to fully support a pitcher's development and sign up to finding a way to train them outside of practice. Then you would need a coach patient enough to let her get crushed for about a year before you see dividends.
The first year of the 12U/14U level is a feeding frenzy of hitting where all but the best pitchers get absolutely crushed by great hitting teams. If your kid is lucky enough to be able to neutralize lineups then she has to deal with the constant sales pitches to join different teams. It is crazy SH*T. All because the game is so tilted offensively that good pitchers are simply hunted to extinction and gobbled up by better teams and once they are 13 or 14 they are so far ahead of a girl that might want to pick up and try it that it makes the idea of "starting" pitching at 13 or 14 really daunting to a non pitcher. Realistically by 12 years old, almost every girl that is going to wind up a pitcher is already pitching from there on out it is just a weeding out process to see how many will improve enough to be the lucky ones standing in college. A big part of this is that the lions share of circle time goes to 2 pitchers on every team sometimes one pitcher. I think the game would benefit greatly from changes that would make it realistic for a kid to pick up pitching at 15 or 16 and still have a shot.
What you are hearing from all us pitching dads is that it is out of whack and we would like to see it evened out a little so that more pitchers could succeed in the game. Think about that....we are saying that we want MORE competition for our daughters by having the pitching pool expanded via some method. That speaks volumes to how out of whack it is.