Too much Pitching Practice

My 10u Daughter just wants to Practice pitching. How much should I allow her to pitch how much is too much? She would go for hours if I let her.

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Practice makes permanent....not perfect. Be certain her mechanics are in line with what is in all the sticky's.
also, go to paulygirlfastpitch.com and print off all the free literature Rick offers.... if shes doing all the details correctly, it'll boil down to legs and core fatigue....her arm should be fine

We do a weekly lesson, plus 3 to 4 days per week for half and hour (plus warm up time). We slow that down significantly for a couple of months over the winter.

You can't diminish the importance of practice, but you it's easy to do too much. Also, as they get tired physically or less focused mentally, mechanics will start to suffer and you begin to build in bad habits, which are very hard to correct. And bad mechanics increase the risk of injuries, especially with excessive practice. If she gets in some time pitching and still wants to keep going, work on other parts of the game like hitting, throwing and all that. At 10, I would suggest she keep a broad focus on softball skills. There's a lot to learn and it's too early to be "only" a pitcher at 10u.

There are other things in life, too, to maintain some balance, and it sounds like you'll need to help her find that. Unbridled enthusiasm now sometimes turns into burn-out down the road. We found Jennie Finch's book "Throw Like a Girl" helpful. We all read it at our house and found the perspective of someone who experienced such remarkable heights very useful. It's written in a way your DD should be able to enjoy.

It's a long, wonderful journey. You all have time to enjoy it without rushing it.

jacman provided some great advice. Mine is going into her last year of 10U and she has been at it for some time now so we keep methodically working on her different pitches and command of the strike zone with them.

We have a goal in mind for every time pitching. None of the sessions are really that long. Too much other stuff going on and other skills to learn. We/she have a pitching routine and we stick with it. Minimum of 4 times a week but it usually ends up being 5 times a week. Even if it's just in the hallway pitching with a foam ball working on posture, IR or change ups.

coach james said:

Practice makes permanent....not perfect. Be certain her mechanics are in line with what is in all the sticky's.
also, go to paulygirlfastpitch.com and print off all the free literature Rick offers.... if shes doing all the details correctly, it'll boil down to legs and core fatigue....her arm should be fine

Click to expand...

That was something we're going through right now, lol. DD just got back into pitching after a team switch and I guess they could use her even after a 1+ year of no pitching, not a single pitch. Something amazing happened to my DD, suddenly the other night at her first back pitching practice she's throwing very aggressively (10u) like I've never seen. She kept stepping over the power line a lot but was compensating by turning the hip and hand over more but all in all the balls were coming in very quick and hard.

My girl comes home the other night complaining her legs were blown out lol. After a shower she was just laid out on the couch, phased out.

We're working on the arm IR and staying on line but I was just so happy to see her finally find her legs and put them to more use so much so she deflated them haha.

I have two DDs who pitch. They do very well but pitch much, much less than I read about on this forum. If they have a secret it may be this:

(1) When they practice they are very focused on what they are trying to do. They don't just throw. They pitch with a purpose.
(2) Practice makes permanent is right. Ensure that that good form and mechanics is used.
(3) There is a point where additional pitching practice will do no good and may even harm. When they hit this point they stop.
(4) Their typical pitching session is 30-45 minutes.
(5) Even when they're not pitching, they are thinking about pitching: Form; Mechanics; Strategy.