The point of diminishing return.

[Nocents96]

IMHO, you are barking up the wrong tree.

The benefits from working to optimize her motion aren't worth the time. From here on out, she should work on control, movement, increasing speed and changing speeds.

Her progress is going to depend more upon her pitching coach and her own interest and desire in becoming a better pitcher. About the only thing a dad can do at this point is catch her.

This strikes me as one of the most accurate statements I have read in my years of lurking on this forum. At what point is trying to change my DD's pitching "style" counter productive. It seems to me to see that the best pitchers in the Model Pitchers thread all hit the same basic absolutes ( IR, leap and drag etc.) but do not necessarily have the same style. For example half of the top level pitchers I have observed swim their glove arm. At what point would it be better to focus on the things suggested by Sluggers. I think at 15 my DD has hit that benchmark.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Ya,I agree. My DD swims and we are choosing not to "correct" because we believe there are more important things to accomplish. She's 15,throws 60 MPH and getting stronger all the time, and has new supporting pitches to get full ownership of. The more I peruse these sites the more I need to pick n choose recommendations.

Just my 2 cents I hope I made the right decision on.......

 

[starsnuffer]

It's a gamble, but it depends on what your goals are.

There are many more young ladies pitching and getting very good instruction and practice now then there were 10 years ago. Competition is tougher. There are plenty of "top tier" pitchers competing for spots on college teams with tremendous talent. "Good enough" 10 years ago is not "Good enough" today.

But, again, that depends on your daughters goals. She may just like to play the game and go to college for something other then philosophy or early childhood development, and could care less about top tier college ball.

College age women should, physically, be able to pitch 75-78mph. We haven't seen that yet, so there is still work to be done perfecting mechanics. If your daughter is 17 years old, then 65 is probably good enough. If she's 12, 65 will probably not be good enough by the time she's 17.

-W

 

[Nocents96]

Starsnuffer, that is certainly food for thought.

I completely agree that good 10 years ago is not good enough for today and can see that trend continuing into the future. Female athletes are definitely getting bigger and stronger every year.

At what point does perfecting mechanics become nit picking? It is rare these days to find two instructors who even agree as to what perfect mechanics consist of. Again I am concerned with spending time trying to change something that is more style than mechanics.

 

[Coach Ron]

College age women should, physically, be able to pitch 75-78mph. We haven't seen that yet,

With all due respect to a veteran forum member w/ over 1,400 posts, coming from a newbie here who hangs out almost exclusively in the hitting forum, to say that people are capable of doing things that have never been done before seems accurate, but misplaced when answering a parent whose daughter is 15 and throws 60 mph. 15-20 years from now things will change, and RubberBisquit's DD can tell her children about it. For now, how does peering into the future help?

 

[ArmWhip]

As an athlete I don't know if you ever entirely stop working on mechanics, even DIII teams have pitching and hitting coaches. Also keep in mind that technique changes or creeps without the player being aware of it. It comes down to evaluating what a pitcher's weakest areas are and working to improve them. I have seen a lot of variety in terms of mechanics at all college levels, there are a lot of ways to get it done. Pitching is more than just good technique so in that sense obsessing over mechanics doesn't make sense. If swimming the glove isn't causing a problem let it go and work on the change up. Pitching coaches typically address mechanics first and the art of pitching second, which is only natural, most of the time they cannot attend their student's games. The bottom line is deciding who's going to make the call as far as what needs work.

 

[sluggers]

At some point, the only person in the world who can make the DD better is her. Not Daddy, not the pitching coach, not the team coach, not the posters on this forum...but the DD.

Cat Osterman's dad did not make her a great pitcher. Jenny Finch's dad didn't make her a great pitcher. I didn't make my DD a good pitcher. They made themselves into pitchers.

College age women should, physically, be able to pitch 75-78mph.

I don't know where you get those numbers...The top end of the elite post-college female pitchers is probably 75. But, I think *COLLEGE* pitchers will max out around 70 MPH.

 

[PA SB Dad]

Jenny Finch's dad didn't make her a great pitcher.

LOL! Have you been to one of Doug Finches talks?!!

 

[bobbyb]

Definitely need to have your own individual priorities and game plan...for what to work on. Whether that's the psychology of pitching, technique or different pitches/speeds/location ect. But all the different pitchers, descriptions and suggestions here give me food for thought.