I have 5 pitches

JJsqueeze · May 7, 2015

I think it's interesting that by and large the DFP folks DDs have fewer claimed pitcher. My DD just claimed FB,Drop and CU. Then she mentions a RB that is work in progress. I think we are a little more discerning and only claim a pitch when it does what it is supposed to do. DD can throw a curveball spin, but it does not curve and she can't spot it, therefore she does not have it yet.

xygent1 · May 7, 2015

10u my DD in games just threw fastballs and worked on hitting her spots and threw a change (practice we worked on drops (correct spin) all the while concentrating on spots first and foremost with proper mechanics, 12u same as 10u but started implementing working on the proper spins for the screw and rise (just for practice) in games just threw change, fb's (hitting spots) and throwing drops now and then and curves.now in 14u in games she can throw drops,change,curve,fb and hits her spots 75-80% of the time with whatever pitch she throws and we still just practice the proper mechanics of the rise and screw rarely throwing them in games too unpredictable right now for her. I don't know if we are doing it right or not but I would rather have my DD throw correctly and only throw a few different pitches at first until they are consistent vs trying to throw a variety of different pitches without any consistency. jmo. one other thing I would like to add if a DD has good speed and consistently can hit her spots if she can master her change (we strive for that 20mph drop is speed) its frikin deadly)

JAD · May 7, 2015

JJsqueeze said:
Isn't a 10" pizza pan pretty small?

Yes, it is small and when every pitch hits it you might as well put some marinara sauce on it, because it is a MEATBALL!

xygent1 · May 7, 2015

Out in Left Field said:
We have been checking in on some of our students. Boy, the team coaches at younger ages--even the umpires--stopping the games and demanding that a kid throw only strikes down the middle (stop trying to throw fancy stuff with signals, one coach told the catcher who we taught to call pitches).

None will let the kid pitchers throw a CU and FB, even at 12u.Pulling 9 year old kids if they walk 2 batters in an inning, like it is the major leagues. Hey umpire, how about giving the kids a bigger zone during their first games EVER pitching. Hey coaches, have your batters swing at strikes sometimes instead of running up the score....

One coach said that a pitcher should not need more warm up than about 10 pitches (because he could not keep track of when relievers should warm up). Coaches saying that winning is the only thing for 10 year olds. They are hurting the learning process and then they wonder why no one is left to pitch by 14u. Yesterday, several SEC pitchers walked two batters and none were pulled immediately. When I played, no coach cared what happened, except that we loved the gamed and improved' not that we were perfect from the get go; so I guess today the kids are just wasting the adults precious time and embarrassing them.

Our next step will be to have more coaching clinics!

our first and last year of rec 8u my DD was playing in a game (which she threw pretty hard compared to the rest of the league at that time) a coach was telling his girls to crowd the plate and not to swing against my DD anyone knows how inconsistent they are at that age. #1 this coach was setting his girls up #1 to possibly get hurt,#2 by not swinging their team wasn't learning a thing, needless to say my DD struck out a bunch and hit a bunch first girl my DD hit the batter cried and so did my DD for hitting her but I left her in cause its all part of the game and going to happen but after the game I immediately told her coach that this would be her last year in rec. and haven't looked back.

mothgirl · May 7, 2015

My dd really only has her fastball, she works in her spots sometimes, but mostly when practicing she's working on not pushing the ball, and getting a better drive off the rubber. She's on a travel team and I told her fake it till you make it! She knows how she is supposed to spin the ball for the curve and she does practice the spin, she works on her drop and change up but she's not mastered anything yet! But when coach asks her if she has a pitch she has learned to answer yes, otherwise she gets passed up for playing time, and coach has complemented her curve and screwball!

Rocketech1 · May 7, 2015

mothgirl said:
My dd really only has her fastball, she works in her spots sometimes, but mostly when practicing she's working on not pushing the ball, and getting a better drive off the rubber. She's on a travel team and I told her fake it till you make it! She knows how she is supposed to spin the ball for the curve and she does practice the spin, she works on her drop and change up but she's not mastered anything yet! But when coach asks her if she has a pitch she has learned to answer yes, otherwise she gets passed up for playing time, and coach has complemented her curve and screwball!

FWIW, I would work on getting her a nice change-up to compliment her fastball before you start worrying about the other pitches. They are all thrown with different grips and slightly different mechanics which will confuse and frustrate her. There is only so much time in the week to practice pitching and I would use it wisely. Like I mentioned before, my DD only had fastball and change-up for 4 years before we entertained the idea of learning movement pitches. It's a marathon...pace yourself...and have a pitching plan in place.

Amy in AZ. · May 7, 2015

I try to explain to parents that during the Little League season, is not a good time to learn to pitch. They look at me, like I am crazy. I see the girl about 6 times, during the season and then, again, when the next season starts.

corlay · May 7, 2015

JJsqueeze said:
I think it's interesting that by and large the DFP folks DDs have fewer claimed pitcher. [...] I think we are a little more discerning and only claim a pitch when it does what it is supposed to do.

The more we become students of the game,
the more we understand that getting each pitch to *behave* differently,
on its way to the intended location, and not just the location itself;
is the mark of an accomplished pitcher.

This is accomplished with changes in spin rate, spin axis, and/or speed.
(most young pitchers are deficient in at least one of these, hence the sage "marathon, not a sprint" advice...)

Throwing the exact same pitch high/low, inside/outside (aka: "hitting your spots") is also very important,
but just because a pitch is low/outside does not necessarily make it a "drop curve", and a high inside pitch isn't necessarily a "rise" or a "screw", etc.

Because we study fastpitching ad nauseam in this forum, we all get that.
The rest of the population - not so much.

xygent1 · May 7, 2015

Rocketech1 said:
FWIW, I would work on getting her a nice change-up to compliment her fastball before you start worrying about the other pitches. They are all thrown with different grips and slightly different mechanics which will confuse and frustrate her. There is only so much time in the week to practice pitching and I would use it wisely. Like I mentioned before, my DD only had fastball and change-up for 4 years before we entertained the idea of learning movement pitches. It's a marathon...pace yourself...and have a pitching plan in place.

I agree totally with Rocket, getting the change up down if your DD has good speed is an awesome pitch we strive for that 20mph speed difference when throwing it she doesn't get it very often but she consistently gets that 14-17 speed difference from her fb and If she is way ahead in the count 90% of the time the batter gets sucked right into it and almost a guaranteed out.

JJsqueeze · May 7, 2015

xygent1 said:
I agree totally with Rocket, getting the change up down if your DD has good speed is an awesome pitch we strive for that 20mph speed difference when throwing it she doesn't get it very often but she consistently gets that 14-17 speed difference from her fb and If she is way ahead in the count 90% of the time the batter gets sucked right into it and almost a guaranteed out.

I find that there is a sweet spot on speed difference. To fast and it is just a pulled hit, too slow and it can be recognized and reset on. DDs throwing about 52-54 on her FB, when her change is 42-44 it is iffy, sometimes gets hit hard, when it is 38-40 it can't be touched. If she took 20MPH off of it and it came in 32-34 I think it would just be slow front toss BP.

I have 5 pitches

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JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend

xygent1

JAD

xygent1

mothgirl

Rocketech1

Amy in AZ.

corlay

xygent1

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend

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