Pitching after short layoff

[MK37]

DD is 12 and this year she had her first chance to pitch regularly. DD has not picked up a ball in two weeks because of being on vacation. Last night we had a make up doubleheader and these would be the last games of the season. Coach has team arrive 45 minutes before game time and DD is scheduled to pitch the second game.

First game DD plays the full game in the outfield. Teams have 5 minute break between games. DD gets customary warmup pitches and game starts. She was a mess and gets pulled in the second inning.

I did not get to the games until they started but based on experience she had 15 minutes of warmup pitching before the start of game one. DD did express to me earlier in the day she was worried about having to pitch.


What could have been done to better prepare her to pitch after this short layoff?

 

[sluggers]

The real solution would be for her to have thrown during the vacation--perhaps 4 or 5 times.

On the other hand, I'm not sure anything would have worked. After two weeks of vacation, with or without practicing, she probably was mentally done with pitching.

 

[knightsb]

IMO she was not setup to succeed given the circumstances. By her expressing to you "she was worried about having to pitch", she knew she wasn't prepared given the time w/o practicing. Pitcher's have to trust their mechanics. With that layoff, she probably doubted her mechanics, tried to guide the ball instead of pitch/throw the ball... and well... the rest is history... and/or a good learning lesson.

 

[bucket pinata]

After a 2 week layoff 15 minutes does not cut it IMHO, the key would be who warmed her up.? Did she look confident and hit her spots or was she still looking for the zone. Did the head coach even take the time to notice. The feed back from the warm up catcher is very Important and preferably that catcher should have a idea how to get her in the groove. Mechanically and mentally. My guess is she had a hard time feelin it in warm ups ,the coaches just put her in anyway hoping for the best. That rarely works out. Sounds like she was aware she still hasn't found her stuff, If the HC doesn't know enough to ask her she needs to let him know and get more warm ups during the first game. Just a coaching error in my opinion. There are time when the pitcher learns to take charge and assure her own success. Important lesson learned.

 

[CoachKevin]

Part of the issue lies with the HC too. If he/she knew it was only a very short break between games they should have had your DD start warming up between innings, even though she warmed up at the start of the 1st game.

A 2 week break shouldn't mess a kid up too much. She should be able to find the zone pretty quick IMO

 

[humpty]

Why warmup before the first game if they know she's pitching the 2nd game? Poor planning. Obviously pitchers should warmup right before they pitch.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

First of all, two weeks off shouldn't do squat to a pitcher.
Second, she is going to need to get past the mental wall of not receiving a full warmup before entering a game. She's only 12 and has a bunch of games ahead of her that she will need to be 100% on a short notice.
Third, the coach's idea of proper warming up is less than ideal. You'll also run into a few more coaches who haven't a clue.

But most important is sometimes its just not our day on the mound. It happens to every pitcher and will continue to happen on occasion. Even though we pitchers try to find something to blame it on..........it's not the fault of warm ups, time off, lunar calendar, barometric pressure, humidity.

As an example, if she had come in and really done well.................this thread would be titled "Pitching great after lay off".

 

[obbay]

There's a lot going on here, but ultimately I've heard some key points mentioned: 2 weeks away, she mentioned she was concerned, no pitching before showing up to the field, 45 minute warmup and HC doesn't have any way to find out whether she will be ready or not?

If I have a kid of any age who's been away on vacation, I am not going to expect her to step in on her first day back and pickup where she left off. If I need her in a key role, I will make sure to check in with her and her parents before performing my own evaluation, which for a pitcher means I will catch her for a bit after she's been throwing. I also don't expect them to go 4 for 4 either.

They never want to say they can't do something for fear of disappointing or losing favor with the coach, so the parent and the coach have to be realistic and determine what she's equipped to do.

I have found with my DD that she thinks she can go all week without pitching and then cruise thru a tournament at 110%. It ain't gonna happen! She possesses a certain amount of luck that carries her thru those times with inadequate practice, but we can still see her performance suffers. Like everyone has a different metabolism, each kid is different and you, the parent, just need to get an idea of how much and what kind of practice she needs to get what kind of results.

My DD has had so many ups and downs, she now understands that after a long layoff her first time throwing she does amazingly well and gets all pumped up. The next time she usually does lousy and it takes quite awhile to rebuild her strength, stamina and control. In the case of a two week layoff, maybe one week or only a few days and shell be back.

We always bring softballs and gloves on vacation. Often bats too. There's always down time where you can throw a ball around.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Confidence - it's magic when they have it and gut-wrenching when they don't.

You state this is the first season pitching regularly. Does that mean she is the lone work-horse on the team or one of a squad of 2-3 other pitchers? Does she pitch 3-4 times a week? (no more than that! - see my thread on my DD's broken back to scare you away from overuse)

Point being that when my DD was 12U she still thought that pitching meant 1 practice a week and an hour warm-up before each game on the weekend. This profile actually kept going for quite some time after 12U..... This profile meant that DD was half the time "wild" or half the time a "wow" pitcher. Confidence was the only variable as muscle-memory was not sufficiently built up. (and confidence along with that)

These days coach could give DD the ball and point her to the circle without one warm-up pitch and she would go after it with accuracy.

What changed? 1. Yes she got older, 2. She learned how to respect the investment of dedication and repetition needed to establish the muscle memory which in turn grew her confidence huge. It snowballs at that point.

Morale of the story => Check your (& your coaches) expectations on your DD based on her level of investment into the pitching game and adjust her experiences accordingly. Meaning if she is a weathered veteran then you can throw her into battle, so to speak. But if she is fresh out of military school don't put a gun in her hand and throw her on the front line,...so to speak....

There are sooooooo many pitchers that have consistency expectation mismatches with their level of investment.

 

[MK37]

Thank you for all the responses. I can take parts of all opinions to help prepare her better. She was at a resort in Mexico for vacation. Her mom takes her and DD#1 every year after softball season, so throwing wasn't going to happen.