My 10 year old DD seems to self destruct with walks everytime she has to play with a wet ball. Drying the ball doesn't seem to help much. I guess it isn't dry enough to suit her. Tried the gorilla grip towel as well and that does seem to work either. Other than praying for dry weather is there any other options?
Wet Balls
- Thread starter BrianTx01
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- Nov 29, 2009
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Go out and practice in the wet several times BEFORE she has to pitch in it. The reason she falls apart is she does not know how to handle a wet ball. Have her learn how to do it before the situation arises and there's no pressure on her to perform. Go out and pitch in the cold so you can work on what she needs to do to keep her pitching hand warm. Go out and practice on the worst pitching surfaces so she can learn how to deal with them. It's easy to learn how to pitch in idea conditions. Make sure she has the experience of learning how to pitch in the bad conditions as well. The glove side armpit is a great built-in hand warmer.
DD had the same issues, struggled throwing strikes. What she did was loosened her grip just a little, then she would throw at 90-95% while trying to be real smooth with her pitching motion. Slick balls also means pitch calling needs to be adjusted for the conditions. With a little experience she will figure out what pitches and exactly how hard she can go pretty quickly.
DD struggled with both cold and wet but has been working through it. Her first HS game this season was cold and rainy.. I was worried but she started to rub some dirt on her hand between pitches and asked for a dry ball as much as needed. This helped.. Also her coach decided to keep it simple and call just FB and CU. Trying to spin a screw or rise with a wet ball wont work no matter how experienced a kid is with a wet ball.
- Nov 18, 2013
- 2,258
- 113
This thread needs a new title. With my juvenile humor I can't stop chuckling whenever I see it!
Whew, glad I wasn't the only one...
- Nov 18, 2013
- 2,258
- 113
I'm going to get banned if I comment on your screen name!
18 yo DD's struggle with walks while throwing a wet ball. It is difficult. Have to expect some wildness. Especially given the hand size of a 10 yo. Think you're dealing more with physical limitations than experience in wet conditions here. My opinion.
