Hey guys, I wanted to get your thoughts on this. I am admittedly not a very good pitching coach. Hitting and catching is more my thing. I have an 04 12u pitcher who struggles when transitioning from different pitches. For example, if I call a fastball outside the first pitch is a little rough and as long as I keep calling the fastball outside she does well. The second I try and change to a different pitch it's like she resets and I have to keep calling that pitch in order to get her to hit it. This makes it very difficult to mix up your pitches. She sees a very well-known pitching instructor once a week and I have no doubt the instructor knows what they are doing. When my daughter has caught for her during her lessons I have noticed that's how she practices. She may throw 20 or more of the same pitch in a row before transitioning and working on a different pitch. What are your thoughts?
Trouble changing pitches
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This is common especially for young pitchers, not to mention an 04 playing at 12u. One of the things to do to get her to have better transitions in games is simply to practice like she would throw in a game. Have her warm up all of her pitches then have her throw the different pitches to the different spots while alternating the sequence of the pitches called. For example FB low and away...DB inside....CU outside corner...then change the sequence starting with a different pitch other then the FB. A few sessions of doing this and you will start to see a big difference in her transitions. You cannot just throw the same pitch over and over again all the time. Maybe when working on specific things with that one pitch then its fine but otherwise there needs to be some alternating done during the practice.
Agree with what Twenty20ticker said. The pattern you describe is very common in pitchers who only practice one pitch at a time.
Once you've done the above, here's a way to add a little more game pressure to it. I call it the 3 pitch challenge (although you can use higher numbers as kids get better). The challenge comes at the end of a lesson or practice session. All they have to do is throw three pitches in a row that work properly and the lesson or session is done. You can adjust the challenge to the pitcher's skill level and needs.
So say your pitcher needs to work on locating her fastball. You call low and out, low and in, up and in. Each of those pitches must be thrown to the right location for a strike. If she misses, the count starts over. So if she throws the first two to the right spot, but then the third is low and in again, or up but down the middle, the count goes to zero and she starts again. It sounds easy but it's actually tougher than you might think, especially if the pitcher has missed a couple of times already. Doubts get in her head, and she tries to "fix" that third pitch before she throws it, which causes her to miss. The key is to relax and do your thing.
For more advanced pitchers you can call different pitches as well as locations, for example outside curve, rise and change. I always try to save the pitcher's weakest pitch, or the one she worries about most, for the last rep. This is done to add pressure and keep it challenging. Another variation is to let the pitcher call the first or last pitch. It's amazing, once they've gotten into the challenge of the game, how many pitchers will call their weakest pitch themselves at the end rather than their strongest.
I will warn you I've had some pretty frustrated pitchers with this game, and more than one has been brought to tears. But it's made every single one of them better. In fact, one of the girls who used to get the most frustrated because she was waaaay to hard on herself, now laughs when I tell her that's what we're doing and she has fun trying to beat the challenge as quickly as possible. She's also up to a 5 pitch challenge, incidentally, and I'm about ready to up it 7 because 5 is getting too easy to win.
One other thing I will suggest for this particular instance, however, is that maybe this pitcher has too many pitches for her abilities. Parents often like to say their daughters have 9 pitches when in fact they don't really have any because they can't throw any reliably. I was out doing a catching clinic last week for a 10U team when the coach was giving me a rundown on the pitchers who would be pitching to them in the second half. (I don't coach any of those pitchers.) He told me one girl's dad had told him the girl had a fastball, drop, change and was working on a curve. After watching her pitch to my catcher, and my catcher not getting much practice on framing (but plenty on blocking), I pulled the coach aside and told him this girl doesn't need a curve. She needs to learn to throw strikes. So that could be an issue as well.
Once you've done the above, here's a way to add a little more game pressure to it. I call it the 3 pitch challenge (although you can use higher numbers as kids get better). The challenge comes at the end of a lesson or practice session. All they have to do is throw three pitches in a row that work properly and the lesson or session is done. You can adjust the challenge to the pitcher's skill level and needs.
So say your pitcher needs to work on locating her fastball. You call low and out, low and in, up and in. Each of those pitches must be thrown to the right location for a strike. If she misses, the count starts over. So if she throws the first two to the right spot, but then the third is low and in again, or up but down the middle, the count goes to zero and she starts again. It sounds easy but it's actually tougher than you might think, especially if the pitcher has missed a couple of times already. Doubts get in her head, and she tries to "fix" that third pitch before she throws it, which causes her to miss. The key is to relax and do your thing.
For more advanced pitchers you can call different pitches as well as locations, for example outside curve, rise and change. I always try to save the pitcher's weakest pitch, or the one she worries about most, for the last rep. This is done to add pressure and keep it challenging. Another variation is to let the pitcher call the first or last pitch. It's amazing, once they've gotten into the challenge of the game, how many pitchers will call their weakest pitch themselves at the end rather than their strongest.
I will warn you I've had some pretty frustrated pitchers with this game, and more than one has been brought to tears. But it's made every single one of them better. In fact, one of the girls who used to get the most frustrated because she was waaaay to hard on herself, now laughs when I tell her that's what we're doing and she has fun trying to beat the challenge as quickly as possible. She's also up to a 5 pitch challenge, incidentally, and I'm about ready to up it 7 because 5 is getting too easy to win.
One other thing I will suggest for this particular instance, however, is that maybe this pitcher has too many pitches for her abilities. Parents often like to say their daughters have 9 pitches when in fact they don't really have any because they can't throw any reliably. I was out doing a catching clinic last week for a 10U team when the coach was giving me a rundown on the pitchers who would be pitching to them in the second half. (I don't coach any of those pitchers.) He told me one girl's dad had told him the girl had a fastball, drop, change and was working on a curve. After watching her pitch to my catcher, and my catcher not getting much practice on framing (but plenty on blocking), I pulled the coach aside and told him this girl doesn't need a curve. She needs to learn to throw strikes. So that could be an issue as well.
Ken is 100% correct with that drill/game. We have done a similar drill since the first year at 10u, DD is now a second year 12U, and that with the above practice tips I gave have worked wonders for her as she pretty much has pin point control when she's got it going and switching between pitches is not usually an issue. That being said you are right when you say practices will start being a little longer now as I know how much time and effort went in to this from my own experiences. Ken is also right about the number of pitches she throws, although I don't think you said a number just make sure she can actually throw them well and that they do what they are suppose to.
We do something similar to Ken's drill and have since my DD started pitching.
We started off calling it the 5/2 drill. Her goal was simply to throw 5 strikes (any location as she was a beginner) before she threw 3 balls. We called it 5/2 because that was the highest the winning count could be. When she became proficient at a 5/2 we moved up to 10/3 and finally 20/4. When she was completing a 20/4 challenge with regularity we started over with 5/2, but this time location counted.
There were more than a few thrown gloves, stomped feet and dirty looks with the challenges but Ken is right: It made her better.
We started off calling it the 5/2 drill. Her goal was simply to throw 5 strikes (any location as she was a beginner) before she threw 3 balls. We called it 5/2 because that was the highest the winning count could be. When she became proficient at a 5/2 we moved up to 10/3 and finally 20/4. When she was completing a 20/4 challenge with regularity we started over with 5/2, but this time location counted.
There were more than a few thrown gloves, stomped feet and dirty looks with the challenges but Ken is right: It made her better.
Love it. As she gets older you should take Ken's advance and make them hit the spot. A pitch right down the middle is a strike... but not the outcome you are looking for.
Absolutely! I always say "I'm going to teach you to throw it down the middle. As soon as you can do that, I am going to teach you to not throw it down the middle."
Just a small suggestion - because I know the above have way more knowledge than me.......
The 12" ball may be too big for her 04 hands. Suggest that she practice with an 11" and then work into the 12".
My 05 throws the 11" very well. She can hit her spots and change her movements. The 12" she struggles with. When I put her on a lighter 5.5oz 12" she has no problems. So we are gradually building up her strength to throw the standard 12".
The 12" ball may be too big for her 04 hands. Suggest that she practice with an 11" and then work into the 12".
My 05 throws the 11" very well. She can hit her spots and change her movements. The 12" she struggles with. When I put her on a lighter 5.5oz 12" she has no problems. So we are gradually building up her strength to throw the standard 12".
- Jul 17, 2012
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An '04 should be far removed from an 11" ball. I've heard of using a small ball to work on spins, but not location or general pitching mechanics. Am I missing something here?
