At what point do you, or you DD decide that she's not going to make it as a pitcher?

[gator5]

She tops out at about 43mph, but she tends to slow down during real at bats, so more like 39 to 40 in game.
She is about 4 foot 9 and may weigh around 65lbs.

40 mph in games is considered slow at 10u?

Thinking back, we went to travel ball second year of 12u. My daughter was clocked at tryouts at 41 mph. She played C ball that year. Fast forward to second year 18u now, she cruises at 59-61 mph in games. Granted she was/is a tall girl, but I would not give up at 10u.

Speed is great, but it is worthless at the older levels without location. Work on location. Then if the speed does come, she will be so much further ahead of the other girls.

 

[_MIA_]

At some point the game will decide for her if she doesn't decide on her own..10 YO is not that point I was pitcher/SS until HS but my arm couldn't handle doing both (I know not necessarily an issue in softball..) and I was a better SS so by the time I was starting on Varsity as a Soph I was primarily a SS (I think I mopped up a few times that year). By the time I was a Senior I didn't pitch anymore at all.

 

[Tango]

DD is was average size at 12U level and threw hard for our area and great control. Now 2nd year 14U and hasn't grown at all 5.3 and 125 pounds. She is very strong but only throws 56 on a good day. Has great control and movement. One of the girls that pitches local was probably the worse 12U pitcher that played every weekend. She has grown like crazy. 5.10 and not heavy but big girl. She throws the heck out of it now.

Our rule is that you must throw 4x a week or no TB).. If she doesn't like pitching that much she can still play MS or HS ball but she has to put in the work for us to travel.

 

[DrRiello]

At 10u with passion, accuracy and composure she has a long way to go. Giving up now is too early with her assets. Throwing 43 at 10u. Let it play out.
Spin and spot. Speed will come.
Girls can hit fast they can’t hit butterfly’s.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CoachJD]

Around here, if you get a high school pitcher accurately throwing 40-43 she's going to win most of her games, assuming the defense is competent.

Softball sure is different in other parts of the country.

 

[sluggers]

Of course she wants to pitch. lol.. what 10 year old who plays softball doesn't want to pitch.

Very few. Most kids hate pitching.

They all want to try it, but very few of them want to do it a second time. When I was coaching that age level, I let everyone who wanted to pitch try. By the third game, I never had more than two kid who wanted to pitch. For the rest of the season, I usually had to force a third to pitch.

Pitching is quite different than the other positions. Either (1) they don't like being the center of the entire game or (2) they don't want to practice throwing the ball underhanded.

DD#1 pitched D1. DD#3 quit pitching as a HS sophomore.

What was it that made them decide to stop pitching and go onto another position?

DD#3 didn't like it enough. DD#1 would walk through walls in order to pitch. DD#3 could take it or leave it.

Was it that they realized they didn't have it? Or was it because they realized they didn't like it?

"I don't enjoy it enough to do this amount of work." To be clear, DD#3 had no problem working on basketball. She would shoot all day and all night...we had to drag her from the hoop.

Do you wish you had made the decision for her sooner than later knowing what you know now

No.

 

[shaunw09]

My daughter decided. Did she tell me "hey i don't want to pitch anymore"? nope. I simply told her if you don't work on pitching at home then the lessons go bye bye. I am not going to pay for lessons if you are not willing to put the work in at home. She was 12 at this point. I cancelled the lessons and she was fine with it. She told me by her actions. At 12 when playing higher level travel ball you can tell who is putting the work in and who isn't. In my opinion at 12 that is when you start to see girls that used to get away with not working that hard still dominate because of physical assets NOT get away with it anymore. Working at home especially on pitching is mandatory in my opinion at 12 or they will get left behind. That is how our situation went. Let them pitch as long as they want as long as they are practicing consistently. Some girls have it click a little later, but the consistent practice is mandatory.

I would say at 10 if she still wants to pitch let her pitch. Over the next couple years if she is not successful most likely she will decide it is not for her. If she is successful then she will most likely want to stick with it. I think 95% of the time it works itself out.

 

[BT3100]

At 11 years old my DD was the worst pitcher on her team with 5. Coach never let her pitch as the other 4 were so much better. She had no velocity was small and couldn't hit spots. Me and DW tried to talk her out of pitching but she wanted to hear none of that. Just went out and worked. One year from now she will be attending her dream school D1 as a pitcher and the other 4 girls who were so much better don't play the game anymore. There is no crystal ball... anyone can pitch and throw 60. It just takes dirty hard work.

 

[joe720]

I would say as long as your DD wants to pitch let her go at it, especially being that young. My DD is a fairly decent pitcher, but on the team she plays for she doesn't pitch at all, ever. We still do pitching lessons every week and she throws on her own pretty much every day. I don't mind paying for it and sitting on a bucket, she'll be a real good pitcher in a couple more years.

And to further that pretty much none of the kids i saw at 10U that were "good" pitchers even pitch once they get to 14U and up.

 

[eagle6]

DD started travel ball at 10 years old. Was an alternate that made the team only because of others deciding to play somewhere else. Took a bunch of bad hops and missed balls off of her arms and body and got scared of the ball. Got hit by pitches by the bigger girls that were throwing hard for their age and became scared in the box. We decided that until she could work through that, she would have to pitch her way onto the field. 2 years of being the #2 pitcher. Kept working. New team at 12 years old. #2 or 3 to start the year. #1 to finish. first year 14u, started as 1a or 1b. Ended as #1. 2nd year 14, started with 4 pitchers and ended year as the #1. Freshman starter on a good high school team. Not a flame thrower, but a competitor that helps keep them in games. As long as SHE wants to pitch, catch her. You can't get the time back that you are spending with your daughter. I stress out while mine plays, but I love every minute of it and know it will end sooner rather than later. She has worked her way past a lot of the other girls that she played with when they were younger.