How many pitches should a fastpitch pitcher have?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
I know the title sounds like a tongue twister (how much wood can a woodchuck chuck), but the question of how many pitches a fastpitch pitcher should have is an important one. Mostly because it determines how pitchers will be spending their valuable practice time. The “old school” approach is that a pitcher only needs […]
b.gif


More...
 

Cannonball

Ex "Expert"
Feb 25, 2009
4,854
113
Seven? Maybe Rick will weigh in and mention age appropriate numbers. Ken, do you find that in HS if a pitcher has 4 pitches, they are predictable? I know I might be out of touch but if a pitcher has command of a couple of pitches and a good change, they are going to do just fine. The change, imo, is the great equalizer. My dd had 4 pitches she threw in HS and lost one game in her career in the circle in HS.
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
I know we've been looking unsuccessfully here for quite awhile of video evidence of a screwball that breaks rather than the commonplace step left, throw right variety. Not questining the effectiveness, but curious to know which category Sarah's falls under.

FWIW - Under the YMMV (your math may vary) category, if you only count curve ball once, it would be 5 pitches not 7!
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
When do you add them? Can it be broken down by age level? Like, at 10U, 12U, etc? Curious your opinion on that. My DD technically knows how to pitch (as in, knows the grip, the motion, and can get the proper spin if not the movement) a fastball, change up (flip & horseshoe), screw ball, curve, drop, and rise. But if we were to talk to a prospective coach, I'd feel confident saying she can throw a fastball, change up, and drop. The others are just kinda playing around (we don't let her throw the screw ball at all). Those 3 are the ones we practice most, where she's consistent for location and movement, though her change up has on and off days still. Oddly enough, when we pick up with teams the coaches love to call the rise ball. I don't get it because to me it just looks like a high fast ball, it doesn't really MOVE at 35 feet. So mostly the disciplined hitters don't swing, and it's too high to be a strike. But whatever floats their boat I guess and she likes getting to try different pitches.
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
I think that the # of pitches needed would be dependent of how well you throw each pitch. If you throw your main pitch in the top 10% you don't need other pitches.

This really comes down to how many pitches the batter gets to see during the course of a game. We know that each time through the lineup the batters gain a slight advantage. This is related to the number of times they see each pitch type from the same pitcher.
 
Jun 15, 2013
42
0
Drop, change, riseball. Something up. Something down. Mix speeds. If you can master all 3 that is all you need to be an All American.
 
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
When Rick made mention of additional pitches (over 3 or 4), he was referring to Sarah or others who are at a very, very high level. He did go on to reiterate that one must master the current pitch before moving into the next. The key here is unpredictability. If you're successful with 3, then 4 is better, and so on.
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
When do you add them? Can it be broken down by age level? Like, at 10U, 12U, etc? Curious your opinion on that. My DD technically knows how to pitch (as in, knows the grip, the motion, and can get the proper spin if not the movement) a fastball, change up (flip & horseshoe), screw ball, curve, drop, and rise. But if we were to talk to a prospective coach, I'd feel confident saying she can throw a fastball, change up, and drop. The others are just kinda playing around (we don't let her throw the screw ball at all). Those 3 are the ones we practice most, where she's consistent for location and movement, though her change up has on and off days still. Oddly enough, when we pick up with teams the coaches love to call the rise ball. I don't get it because to me it just looks like a high fast ball, it doesn't really MOVE at 35 feet. So mostly the disciplined hitters don't swing, and it's too high to be a strike. But whatever floats their boat I guess and she likes getting to try different pitches.

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules as far as what pitches you should be throwing at what age. It really depends on how well you can throw the pitches you're using. The first pitch after a fastball for me is a change. You can be pretty effective with just those two at 10U and even 12U if you can throw them well. In my mind, you should be able to throw the change in the 7th inning with a 3-2 count on the hitter and bases loaded in a one-run game if that is the correct pitch call.

When you can do that, I'll add a drop. Which is basically a fastball with attitude. If you make a mistake with it and it doesn't drop it should still be a good low fastball. Ideally throwing a drop in 12U, but if you just started pitching at age 11 or 12 you may not get to it until 14U.

From there you add other pitches the same way - when you have good command of the first three you can add another. I'll usually go with a curve or screw. Curve is the default for me, but some kids are more inclined toward the screw so if that's the case I'll go there instead. A true rise will be the last pitch in the gameday arsenal for me. Tough pitch to throw and do it right. You can and should be working on the spin early, but as far as getting it game-ready that probably won't happen until 16U, or whenever the strength is there to throw it properly.

That's how I approach it. I know others feel differently.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
We're hitting her change up hard this spring, because it's so important she can be consistent with it, and because it's now the only pitch of hers I'm capable of catching. Her dad will have to catch the rest, but I practice with her more. I was never much of an athlete so once she started breaking about 45 mph I was out. Don't even get me started on the drop ball. I just get out of the way on that one.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top