Type of Pitch % breakdown in games

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Jul 22, 2015
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I follow you more now. What i meant is she is learning to throw it at the lefty and break on the inside or at least force the batter to bail on it. Nice set up for away fast ball depending on situation. Similar to how you use an inside breaking ball/slider against a righty to catch them flinching. She currently uses it against lefty's to appear to head into the zone but break low and way outside.
I understand what you're trying to accomplish, but that's a dangerous pitch if you miss even a little bit, and extremely hard to throw. She will need to step so far to the left to get that pitch to the correct part of the plate that good hitters will spot the change easily. Watch some high level softball and I don't think you will see a single RH pitcher throw a screwball to that side of the plate. I know you said you trust her pitching coach, but this combined with the idea that she has to drop one pitch to add another one would cause me to question if I was in the right place.
 
Mar 6, 2018
150
28
I understand what you're trying to accomplish, but that's a dangerous pitch if you miss even a little bit, and extremely hard to throw. She will need to step so far to the left to get that pitch to the correct part of the plate that good hitters will spot the change easily. Watch some high level softball and I don't think you will see a single RH pitcher throw a screwball to that side of the plate. I know you said you trust her pitching coach, but this combined with the idea that she has to drop one pitch to add another one would cause me to question if I was in the right place.
He's one of the best out there and highly recommended here. He wants her to master 3 plus the fastball. Dropping a pitch was his comment to her to think about mastering hers first
 
Jul 22, 2015
851
93
Dropping a pitch was his comment to her to think about mastering hers first
Just another thought and I'll leave it alone. What if one or more of the pitches she is currently working on are ones that she will never master? What if one of the ones she hasn't yet tried would ultimately be her best pitch? For example, the first coach dd went to taught pitches in a certain order and didn't move on until she "had" them. She simply couldn't get a good grasp of the curve the way he taught it, but he wouldn't move on. Had we not moved on to a new coach I don't know how long it would have been before she learned 2 of the pitches she ultimately used the most. Most girls will naturally have more ability for one pitch over another, and most girls will have one or 2 pitches they simply can't throw well.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Just another thought and I'll leave it alone. What if one or more of the pitches she is currently working on are ones that she will never master? What if one of the ones she hasn't yet tried would ultimately be her best pitch? For example, the first coach dd went to taught pitches in a certain order and didn't move on until she "had" them. She simply couldn't get a good grasp of the curve the way he taught it, but he wouldn't move on. Had we not moved on to a new coach I don't know how long it would have been before she learned 2 of the pitches she ultimately used the most. Most girls will naturally have more ability for one pitch over another, and most girls will have one or 2 pitches they simply can't throw well.
Great point in that story! 👍
 
Mar 6, 2018
150
28
Just another thought and I'll leave it alone. What if one or more of the pitches she is currently working on are ones that she will never master? What if one of the ones she hasn't yet tried would ultimately be her best pitch? For example, the first coach dd went to taught pitches in a certain order and didn't move on until she "had" them. She simply couldn't get a good grasp of the curve the way he taught it, but he wouldn't move on. Had we not moved on to a new coach I don't know how long it would have been before she learned 2 of the pitches she ultimately used the most. Most girls will naturally have more ability for one pitch over another, and most girls will have one or 2 pitches they simply can't throw well.
That's a good point. It's hard to relay everything an instructor is teaching and explain on this site. The background on that philosophy is that he's taught many D1 girls and dealt with and works with and learns from D1 coaches. He doesn't want my daughter to get in her head that she needs to learn 5 secondary pitches yet not mastering 1. I can't agree more. That doesn't mean she can't learn another pitch. For her at 12 and learning the rise is her primary focus. Another thing he told her is having 4 or so pitches at this level she can probably get away with it at times but the older she gets the more refined her top 3 need to be. That colleges coaches and the feed back he gets is that coaches typically aren't looking at girls throwing 5 different pitches.

He's not forbidding her to learn new pitches. That's not what I'm trying to relay nor is he. He also treats each girl different in assessing things. Good discussion on the matter though.

Edit: regarding never mastering one- i trust his judgement on her progression in learning each. I have no choice but to do so. He isn't one to sugar coat.
 
Jul 27, 2015
235
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I was curious if any former or current pitchers (or coaches) know what is their average pitch breakdown in games was/is, especially college level or high-end travel (HS age).
100% off topic.

During our first year at 14u B, the coach called outside fastball 95-98% of the time and inside fastball the other 2-5% of the time. My daughter asked him to call change ups. He would pretend like he would consider it but never would.

While my daughter was very successful with only throwing fastballs, I knew she was being done a great disservice long term with that terrible strategy.

When we declined to sign up for the team that next fall, I mention how lack of pitching calling diversity was one of the reasons. The coach said "she left her change up high, so I never called it" So for an entire year, he never thought once to let her know that.
 
Mar 6, 2018
150
28
100% off topic.

During our first year at 14u B, the coach called outside fastball 95-98% of the time and inside fastball the other 2-5% of the time. My daughter asked him to call change ups. He would pretend like he would consider it but never would.

While my daughter was very successful with only throwing fastballs, I knew she was being done a great disservice long term with that terrible strategy.

When we declined to sign up for the team that next fall, I mention how lack of pitching calling diversity was one of the reasons. The coach said "she left her change up high, so I never called it" So for an entire year, he never thought once to let her know that.
Omg my daughter played for that coach! Well sounds like him anyway. Lol we just went through that last year
 
Mar 6, 2018
150
28
Can you explain what that means? Are you saying she is throwing with 3-9 spin (viewed from pitcher)?
I was replying to the question asking if she was throwing screw ball to the outside for a right handed hitter. (She's not) It's just a regular screw ball breaking inside to righty.
 
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radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Can you explain what that means? Are you saying she is throwing with 3-9 spin (viewed from pitcher)?
Acknowledging the positive about spin angles~
To the point of pitch trajectory/location~
Not all usable/good/great pitches have to be at
12-6
6-12
3-9
9-3

Even spin angles at
1-7
2-8
4-10
5-11
The pitch can bend/curve/drift/move/tail
To the direction of spin.

Actually controlling the spin inbetween can create more diversity and can broaden deception.

Pitches can move more than one direction!
Down and in/out
Up and in/out
Good Stuff!

Control it!
Use it!
Enjoy it!
 
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