How common is it for a 12 year old to pitch well from her first time

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May 15, 2016
926
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My DD decided, after some encouragement from her coach, to try pitching again. She took lessons during a week long softball camp two years ago, and immediately gave it up. She had been pitching in LL before that. In the middle of this July she asked me to take her out to practice. She pitched to me for 45 minutes, and did the same the next day. I quickly got her a session with a pitching instructor. She has had 4 lessons since and practices with me almost everyday.

Now, three weeks later she has become the star pitcher on her town team. They have been playing in a summer league against Williamsport teams. In the first playoff game of the league she pitched two innings, struck out three, walked one, and gave up one single. She has more control than any other girl on her team. After the game her assistant coach told her to try for a travel team, she is better than everyone else on her team.

This post is not meant to brag, I already did that in the Shameless Parent Brag forum. I am hoping to get some perspective. Is something like this more common than I imagine? She has a very good arm, plays third and outfield. Is simply having a good arm, with a strong snap, an indication a player could pitch well?
 

ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
A good 12U rec pitcher is a very different thing than a good 14U+ TB pitcher. What I mean, is that a 12U and younger pitcher can have success throwing strikes but at the 14U TB level, you had better be able to do a few of the following: locate, throw with velocity, change speeds and spin the ball a little. In other words, as players gets older you'll see throwing strikes doesn't make a good pitcher it just makes for good batting practice. LOL Many of the very best 10U/12U that I have seen and worked with, never end up being in the circle at 14U and up.

Congrats on your daughter having success. It's fun to be part of the ride... understand that typically there will be work involved for her to continue to have success.
 
Last edited:
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
'They' had few pitchers and a player showed up best off them all.

Didn't know what to do with them, she was nothing to best in off session.

Wish I has these problems.
 

Top_Notch

Screwball
Dec 18, 2014
512
63
Is something like this more common than I imagine? She has a very good arm, plays third and outfield. Is simply having a good arm, with a strong snap, an indication a player could pitch well?

I see a lot of girls that can throw strikes. Fewer girls can throw wtih good velocity. Even fewer can spin it well enough to be effective with good velocity. Throw heat long enough any good team will be taking batting practice. A good pitcher will be able to change speeds, location, and have a good arm.

A good overthrow is sort of an indicator since pitching is the same just underhand. Surprisingly, my daughter has a better underhand throw than overhand. Must be too much pitching. The coaches joke she should throw across the diamond underhand when playing first base. I'd love to see that!
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
A good 12U rec pitcher is a very different thing than a good 14U+ TB pitcher. What I mean, is that a 12U and younger pitcher can have success throwing strikes but at the 14U TB level, you had better be able to do a few of the following: locate, throw with velocity, change speeds and spin the ball a little. In other words, as players gets older you'll see throwing strikes doesn't make a good pitcher it just makes for good batting practice. LOL Many of the very best 10U/12U that I have seen and worked with, never end up being in the circle at 14U and up.

Congrats on your daughter having success. It's fun to be part of the ride... understand that typically there will be work involved for her to continue to have success.

Thanks, she knows there will be plenty of work for her to do. Along with her two lessons a week, she drags me out of the house three or four other days of the week to practice. I do not ask her if she wants to practice, my belief is she has to be internally motivated for her to stick with it. BTW, her pitching instructor played on a nationally ranked TB team, and now is the starting pitcher for her college. Her instructor taught her inside and outside during her last lesson. My DD practiced that with me and was able to throw consistently outside, but was inconsistent with the inside pitches. The instructor says she will introduce a change up in a few weeks.

She tried out for a decent 14u team, local to us, yesterday. She told the coaches she has been pitching for three weeks. They had her pitch an inning during a tryout scrimmage. I thought she held her own, she did strike out one of their players. Lets see if she makes it.

Her twin sister, who dreams of playing D1 ball, has already played up this past season. My newly pitching DD has no specific dreams. Before this spring, softball was a fun activity to do with friends, which was fine with me. I have asked her if she dreams of playing college ball. She says she does not know. She says she is looking forward to being the star pitcher on her middle school team when she is in 8th grade.
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
A good overthrow is sort of an indicator since pitching is the same just underhand.

The coaches joke she should throw across the diamond underhand when playing first base. I'd love to see that!

This is all so new to me, so forgive me if this is an ignorant question, has your daughter ever tried throwing underhand from second to home? My daughter's instructor has her stand at second and throw underhand, very high, trying to reach home. She says it forces the pitcher to get under the ball, and work on their power. My daughter can do it, inconsistently.

You reminded me of a game where my twin daughters, who were on different teams, played against each other last fall. My other daughter is a catcher, and my newly pitching daughter often played left. During the sister vs. sister game a ground ball was hit quickly past the short stop and my left field daughter got the ball and threw it cleanly to first. Of course, she did not make the out. The head coach of the my other daughter's team turned to me and said my left fielder daughter (now pitcher) made a great throw. If she was on her team she would have yelled at her for trying such a throw, but it was a great throw.
 

Top_Notch

Screwball
Dec 18, 2014
512
63
This is all so new to me, so forgive me if this is an ignorant question, has your daughter ever tried throwing underhand from second to home? My daughter's instructor has her stand at second and throw underhand, very high, trying to reach home. She says it forces the pitcher to get under the ball, and work on their power. My daughter can do it, inconsistently.
My daughter is 12U. You are referring to "long toss". I've seen it done. I actually watched a profession pitcher long toss. My daughter does not do it. We follow what her pitching coach tells us to do, and long toss is not part of that. I could be b/c her age, not sure. Next lesson I will have to ask the coach about it. He has some (as in multiple) of the best kids in the country so I figure he knows what he is doing.
 

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