10u Rec. Pitching - How Much Suffering Is Too Much?

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Oct 19, 2009
1,023
38
I'm right here.
be ready to hear from the opposing coach and parents.

You might be surprised not to hear anything as you will find that most teams will be in the same boat with limited pitching depth; but yeah be prepared too (lol). Again, common sense says if the pitcher is throwing rollers and no where near the plate where the catcher has to get up to retrieve after every single pitch, then it's doing no one any good.

As mentioned earlier, Rec is about development and you will find out the importance of good pitching and catching very quickly. At every practice I recommend you always have someone practicing pitching with a catcher. Find out who wants to be your pitchers & catcher and have each pitcher do some pitching to your catchers at every practice. I advise you have a parent back-up the catcher to help with the balls that get away (for efficiency) and to also instruct/support both the pitcher & catcher.

When I coached minors, I contacted one of the local pitching instructors. He came to one of my practices (for free) and took (4 at a time) girls aside and introduced them to pitching and the motion for about 30 minutes; they threw against a back-stop. This was a good way for the kids to get a qucik lesson and give them an opprotunity to try it and see if it's something they might like to try (or learn hey have no desire or interest in pitching). It went pretty well.
 
Oct 2, 2012
242
18
on the Field
I too am a 10U Rec Head coach. Our league has a 6 run rule per inning and I think that is a good number. At this level I think it's best to have a game plan on how you will handle a situation before it ever goes down. I can tell you that during the game when emotions are high it is difficult to decide what the best thing to do, so the game plan will help. Here is my game plan. I do not put girls in the circle that "want" to pitch until they have had some formal pitchhing lessons or have been practicing for a good amount of time. If a girl just wants to "try it out", I will stay all day after practice and let her do it. Then it is up to her to earn a spot in the circle. Come game time, I will not pull a pitcher for not throwing strikes. My daughter pitched in this league last year for the first time with a 50% strike to ball ratio. My guess is on average that is about is good as you can hope for at this level. The only reason a pitcher would be pulled mid inning would be due to attitude on the mound. By this I mean crying, showing frustration, etc. All these things lead to bad technique and should not be continued. I hope this helps and get ready to laugh a lot!
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
but I expect there will be times when the girls struggle to throw strikes!!

:)

I know Rec. Leagues vary but I would think if you have the 3 pitchers, which you know about, working on pitching already you are going to be in good shape. Let them, and any other player that is actively working on pitching, take their lumps and switch pitchers between innings.

2nd half of the season, start replacing pitchers in the middle of innings if they are struggling. It is a learning experience for both pitchers.

Use the inning run limit to your advantage to get circle time for the other “less experience” pitchers. If the game is over going into the last inning tell player, before she goes into the circle, she is going to be replaced in the middle of the inning. That way you can get 2 Ps some circle time without hurting anyones feelings to much.

We won and lost games by 15 or 20 runs so you should be able to get all the players working on pitching some circle time.
 
Last edited:
Jul 17, 2012
175
28
Kenmore, WA
10U are quite capable of pitching. Get Bill Hillhouse's DVD and teach them. Does your own daughter have a pitching coach?

Also, there is nothing wrong with pulling a pitcher, mid inning. Do it often enough and they will get used to it. Always have a 2nd girl warmed up and ready to go, though. As a pitcher's mom, If she didn't deserve to be in the circle, I didn't want her out there.

I have been watching everything Hillhouse that I can find and throwing in some Michele Smith and UW pitching coach Lance Glasoe. My daughter and two other teammates workout once a week with a pitching coach and they are making progress. They are nine and the progress is sometimes halting.

My concern about pulling them mid-inning is more about their confidence than anything else.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
Robert, You are fine. I would just explain the situation to the girls and the parents. Have a team meeting, prior to practice starting and tell them upfront that pitching takes a lot of work and once the girl gets tired, she will be coming out.
 
Jul 17, 2012
175
28
Kenmore, WA
The problem in 10u is everyone wants to pitch, but 99% of them will not practice at home. The parents think that their kids should be able to pitch great with one hr practice per week. This is reason why most of the time the coache's DD would be the pitcher, because the coach would work with her everyday.

I expect that I will have many who say they want to pitch. My plan is to have some sort of test where by if they demonstrate that they can throw some strikes they can pitch in games. If they can't throw strikes they can continue to work on it in practice and at home and earn the chance as the season progresses. I did something similar last season and eventually nine of our twelve girls got to pitch in games. The other three either had no interest at all or just didn't put in any effort. There wasn't any issue with those girls or their parents. I think my threshold this year will be a bit higher, but not so high that girls who work at it can't get into the games.
 
Jul 17, 2012
175
28
Kenmore, WA
I know Rec. Leagues vary but I would think if you have the 3 pitchers, which you know about, working on pitching already you are going to be in good shape. Let them, and any other player that is actively working on pitching, take their lumps and switch pitchers between innings.

2nd half of the season, start replacing pitchers in the middle of innings if they are struggling. It is a learning experience for both pitchers.

Use the inning run limit to your advantage to get circle time for the other “less experience” pitchers. If the game is over going into the last inning tell player, before she goes into the circle, she is going to be replaced in the middle of the inning. That way you can get 2 Ps some circle time without hurting anyones feelings to much.

I like the idea of raising expectations as the season progresses. We have a year end tournament, so my plan is to build our development towards that. I am perfectly willing to take the blowouts (both wins and losses) in stride as we develop our players with a goal of playing well in the tournament at the end of the season.
 
Apr 1, 2010
1,675
0
I expect that I will have many who say they want to pitch. My plan is to have some sort of test where by if they demonstrate that they can throw some strikes they can pitch in games. If they can't throw strikes they can continue to work on it in practice and at home and earn the chance as the season progresses. I did something similar last season and eventually nine of our twelve girls got to pitch in games. The other three either had no interest at all or just didn't put in any effort. There wasn't any issue with those girls or their parents. I think my threshold this year will be a bit higher, but not so high that girls who work at it can't get into the games.

Back in DD's first year in 10U, her coach set up a "fun competition" for all the pitchers. One girl pitched to a catcher, with balls and strikes called. One girl pitched to a catcher, no balls and strikes called, but a parent stood in each batter's box and the pitches needed to go between them without hitting them. One girl pitched to an old camp chair and got a point each time the ball hit within the seat portion. I think each girl got to rotate through everything twice. Parents and catchers were assisting with the stations and by the end of the competition, it was pretty clear to everyone where the three girls ranked in regard to accuracy and IMO it forstalled some of the griping and sniping that might have otherwise occurred.
 
Feb 3, 2011
1,880
48
My concern about pulling them mid-inning is more about their confidence than anything else.

There are a number of factors to consider. A few of them include:

1) What do you have in terms of general pitching aptitude?
2) What are the goals of your team and league?
3) What methods and strategies are best for overall player development?
4) How am I am - as Coach - defining success for my players and team?

Every player is different, but even if all were the same, there's no single decision - leave her in or take her out - that would be right every single time. One will be crushed if you pull her, while another will be crushed if you leave her in when she's struggling. How is the psyche of the rest of the team affected by what you do or don't do, because you know that there are parents who will be undermining you on the basis of your decision-making when they speak to their children.

With 3 capable pitchers who can get the ball across the plate, you're way ahead of the game. For those who are just starting out, you can afford to give them a few batters or even an inning here and there without having to worry about all your games being walkfests.

One thing you said really stands out, which is that you got 9 girls into the circle last year. When I read something like that, it strikes a chord with me personally because it tells me that you get it. The coaches who truly understand and appreciate the purpose of rec softball are few and far between and the ones who actually stand by it are rarer still. I have no doubt that you and your team are going to be just fine. Keep us posted.
 
Jul 17, 2012
175
28
Kenmore, WA
There are a number of factors to consider. A few of them include:

1) What do you have in terms of general pitching aptitude?
2) What are the goals of your team and league?
3) What methods and strategies are best for overall player development?
4) How am I am - as Coach - defining success for my players and team?

Every player is different, but even if all were the same, there's no single decision - leave her in or take her out - that would be right every single time. One will be crushed if you pull her, while another will be crushed if you leave her in when she's struggling. How is the psyche of the rest of the team affected by what you do or don't do, because you know that there are parents who will be undermining you on the basis of your decision-making when they speak to their children.

I think what I have realized today is that while I know these girls, I don't know how they would want to be managed. I think the answer to that question is pretty obvious. I need to ask them!

Thank you to everyone for the advice.
 

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