Pitcher Parents - If you could do it all over again...?

[jacman]

I would not trade my "bucket time" with my DD for anything, but I will have to admit that when I am still working at 75 I will look back and think that it would have been nice to retire at 65 if we had invested all the money we spent on TB into a Roth IRA....

I heard that!

 

[jacman]

My daughter is almost 12 now and the main regret that I have is her 1st 10u travel team's HC's daughter was a pitcher. Never again will I pick a travel team where the HC has a kid that pitches. We learned that lesson the hard way.

Certainly a red flag, but a good coach is a good coach. Where we ran into trouble was with a head coach who was also a pitching coach... And DD was the only pitcher who wasn't her student.

 

[jacman]

The biggest mistake I see parents making with their DD's is the length of pitching workouts. Most lessons are 30 minutes. When the girls go out and practice they will go out for 30 minutes. What I'm seeing is girls who run out of gas in the last couple of innings because they lack the pitching stamina to complete a game at or near 100% of their capabilities.

Interesting thought. I would say one of the things we did correctly was limiting practice sessions to 30 minutes. I'm generally more cautious about over-practicing, and over use in a tournamenR.E.M.

Our practice sessions are 30 minutes, but warm-up time does not count. We do 2 to 4 times per week, depending on her work load through tournaments, etc.

I think there are other ways to augment stamina-building through conditioning. I also think proper breathing while pitching is underappreciated when it comes to pitchers staying fresh longer.

 

[Sparky Guy]

I think there are other ways to augment stamina-building through conditioning. I also think proper breathing while pitching is underappreciated when it comes to pitchers staying fresh longer.

There is general conditioning for overall stamina. There is also pitching conditioning. The two are different. There were many girls my DD played with who were overall better athletes than her. But she could pitch and still have her velocity and movement for multiple games in a day. One time when she was 14 she pitched 27 innings in one day. The last game was 14 innings. She was tired at the end of the day but not sore.

 

[jacman]

There is general conditioning for overall stamina. There is also pitching conditioning. The two are different. There were many girls my DD played with who were overall better athletes than her. But she could pitch and still have her velocity and movement for multiple games in a day. One time when she was 14 she pitched 27 innings in one day. The last game was 14 innings. She was tired at the end of the day but not sore.

Probably need a new thread if this discussion continues, but for me 27 in a day is too much. Way too much. You're risking injury, especially if this becomes a normal workload. No matter how good and effortless the mechanics are, no matter how well conditioned. If a coach put my DD through 27 innings in a single day, I'd politely hand him his head in a bag and leave the team. I would forfeit a game before risking a pitcher like that.

I agree you can distinguish between general conditioning and pitching conditioning, but they are intertwined. General conditioning is of great benefit to pitchers in a variety of ways, some of which I consider directly related to stamina.

 

[cuzmail]

Power pitchers are characterized by higher than average velocity in college working in the upper 60' to low 70's. May or may not mix speeds very well, and some are what has been termed "effectively wild". These are usually your strikeout pitchers. - In baseball terms think of Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson

Spinners typically will work in high 50's to mid 60's, usually have a high spin rate, and very good command, and mix speeds very well. They are quite adept at making hitters look like total fools. In baseball terms think of Greg Maddux who dominated MLB with mid 80's heat.

Probably the best explanation I've heard in a while, well actually ever!

 

[Sparky Guy]

Probably need a new thread if this discussion continues, but for me 27 in a day is too much. Way too much. You're risking injury, especially if this becomes a normal workload. No matter how good and effortless the mechanics are, no matter how well conditioned. If a coach put my DD through 27 innings in a single day, I'd politely hand him his head in a bag and leave the team. I would forfeit a game before risking a pitcher like that.

I agree you can distinguish between general conditioning and pitching conditioning, but they are intertwined. General conditioning is of great benefit to pitchers in a variety of ways, some of which I consider directly related to stamina.

It was not a normal day. One pitcher sick. The other one hurt. DD did what she had to do. Most times she was splitting innings with the other pitchers on the team.

 

[jacman]

It was not a normal day. One pitcher sick. The other one hurt. DD did what she had to do. Most times she was splitting innings with the other pitchers on the team.

I get that, and appreciate the circumstances (and I feel better about you. I've seen coaches that push a pitcher that hard, and thought that's where you were coming from. Sorry to jump to a conclusion.) But I don't think you condition a pitcher for that. And though I know your DD was stuck in an unfortunate spot, it still might have been worth leaning a bit more to the side of caution. Sounds like she got through it okay, and has recovered, but it's scary. If I was an HC there, I probably would have let that last game go at some point during the marathon, especially when my other two pitchers are on the shelf. I love the competition and winning and all that about TB, but believe our real purpose is to help girls improve and move on (probably toward college). I usually try to let the long term outweigh the short term. All this aside, it's clear your DD has some mental toughness, and I truly commend that.

 

[NVfishing]

Finding a pitching coach sooner would be number one. DD is first year 12u and throws FB, CU, and working on RB and DB. CU is her top pitch makes girls come out of their shoes. We started drop ball tonight. I think this is going to be her top used pitch. She was having the ball cut hard down at the end tonight.

 

[MNDad]

Finding a pitching coach sooner would be number one. DD is first year 12u and throws FB, CU, and working on RB and DB. CU is her top pitch makes girls come out of their shoes. We started drop ball tonight. I think this is going to be her top used pitch. She was having the ball cut hard down at the end tonight.

I'm curious how long she's been with a pitching coach and when you wish you would have started? It sounds like she's doing great. First year 12's is a perfectly reasonable time to start seeing a PC. DD went to a few clinics, but didn't start regular lessons with a PC until second year 12's.

If she's already got a good FB and CU and starting a drop she's well ahead of the average pitcher. Let her master those three before taking on a RB.