Well...DD has hit the mental monster side of pitching...(high school antics)

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Aug 26, 2011
1,285
0
Houston, Texas
DD had the go ahead as starting varsity pitcher...but the under classmen pitchers (3 of them) are showing their fight for the mound...in a good way (good showing on the mound). First 3 games, DD did great...last 3 games, OMG...the wheels fell off. As in...who in the heck is this kid and why is she throwing varsity. She is overthrowing and her mechanics...who-in-the-heck-knows-where-they-went. Spoke with both her PC and HC, and they all agree it's mental. So very like the mental side of hitting. WTH? She is a junior?! She doesn't have any real distractions right now (nothing different than before)...with the exception of the inner softball crew is accepting her into their fold (recall she was a quiet outcast). Surely that cannot throw her off??? I dunno. And the hs coaches pick on her endlessly, but I do think they do this to the other top players on team. I think her mental side just got so convoluted. Last night, she came home so upset with her performance, she went straight up to her room, laid down on the floor (in the dark with door closed) and meditated. This after bawling her eyes out on the way home from the game (she drove home by herself-it was an away game). I have not spoken to her about her performance. She is okay today...quiet, tired, etc. She did bring home her bat and glove which she normally does not do on weekends during HS season...so I know she will be asking to workout tomorrow.

Absolutely no need to respond...this last week has just been really painful to watch...but it can only go up from here, right? She puts in the work, but I think she realizes now that she needs to work on the focus and mental strength too.

Bleah. I can't wait to see my confident girl back. :) Edited to add...this sheds a lot of light on what schools she should be considering/looking at. Guess we will see where the cards fall in the next year...
 
Last edited:
Mar 23, 2014
621
18
SoCal
You sound extremely supportive and also willing to let her work through it. She's fortunate.
Best to her (and you) as she works this out and learns from this experience.
 
Mar 19, 2009
946
93
Southern California
Believe me I DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS but I feel the pull to comment on this. I see more and more young athletes stressing out at a higher rate then what I remember when my daughter played. My daughter graduated high school in 1998 and played ball at Oklahoma State as a walk on. So many athletes today seem to have this fear of failure that can paralyze them at any given moment. I asked her if she ever had a fear of failure and her answer was quite surprising, she said, no, I guess I really never though of failing. Trust me she experienced a lot of setbacks along the way. She loved the game and she loved to compete. I see less athletes that are pure competitors . They seem to have other reasons for playing and the love of the game and joy of competing is further down the list. I've adopted a motto in a way of helping today's athlete handle setbacks at the high school I coach at. We as coaches expect failure. We tell them, we are going to push you to failure. The reason being is failure - learn - and grow. Failure is part of the process and if you believe that as a coach, your not flipping out when a player makes an error. By coaching this way, we've noticed less errors overall and the ones that make an error take ownership in of it. I'm sorry if my comment is a little off base pertaining to your daughter and I wish you much success with her. Hopefully , something here will help. By no means am I insulating that your daughter doesn't love the game or is not a competitor as being the reason for her tough outing.
 
Last edited:
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
Is her fear of failure greater than her desire to win?
Is she getting conflicting information about mechanics from HS coaches that differ from her regular PC.
Is she a social player, or is she a competitor?

I think these are the questions that need asked first. Secondly, I'd look at her rhythm and timing on the rubber. Make sure she relaxes and remembers to have some fun. There's a reason it's called a "game". :D
 
Jan 27, 2014
84
0
DD had the go ahead as starting varsity pitcher...but the under classmen pitchers (3 of them) are showing their fight for the mound...in a good way (good showing on the mound). First 3 games, DD did great...last 3 games, OMG...the wheels fell off. As in...who in the heck is this kid and why is she throwing varsity. She is overthrowing and her mechanics...who-in-the-heck-knows-where-they-went. Spoke with both her PC and HC, and they all agree it's mental. So very like the mental side of hitting. WTH? She is a junior?! She doesn't have any real distractions right now (nothing different than before)...with the exception of the inner softball crew is accepting her into their fold (recall she was a quiet outcast). Surely that cannot throw her off??? I dunno. And the hs coaches pick on her endlessly, but I do think they do this to the other top players on team. I think her mental side just got so convoluted. Last night, she came home so upset with her performance, she went straight up to her room, laid down on the floor (in the dark with door closed) and meditated. This after bawling her eyes out on the way home from the game (she drove home by herself-it was an away game). I have not spoken to her about her performance. She is okay today...quiet, tired, etc. She did bring home her bat and glove which she normally does not do on weekends during HS season...so I know she will be asking to workout tomorrow.

Absolutely no need to respond...this last week has just been really painful to watch...but it can only go up from here, right? She puts in the work, but I think she realizes now that she needs to work on the focus and mental strength too.

Bleah. I can't wait to see my confident girl back. :) Edited to add...this sheds a lot of light on what schools she should be considering/looking at. Guess we will see where the cards fall in the next year...


She will pull it together. Hope she is feeling better about it very soon!
 
Aug 8, 2010
352
18
Is she trying to do it all herself? SOmetimes overthrowing comes from a pitcher thinking her job is to strike out every batter. They forget that they have 8 other players on the field to help her toward her goals. Not every pitch is meant to be swung on and missed. Some are meant to induce ground balls, pop ups, etc. She should just concentrate on throwing the pitch called to the correct spot and whatever happens happens. I had a pitcher (2nd year 12U TB) throw a perfect game with ZERO strikeouts. She kept the ball down, hit her spots and changed speeds. She did her job and let her teammates do theirs.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
Is she trying to do it all herself? SOmetimes overthrowing comes from a pitcher thinking her job is to strike out every batter. They forget that they have 8 other players on the field to help her toward her goals. Not every pitch is meant to be swung on and missed. Some are meant to induce ground balls, pop ups, etc. She should just concentrate on throwing the pitch called to the correct spot and whatever happens happens. I had a pitcher (2nd year 12U TB) throw a perfect game with ZERO strikeouts. She kept the ball down, hit her spots and changed speeds. She did her job and let her teammates do theirs.

This is pretty much what I tell all of my pitchers. They can not strike everyone out. They need to throw "OUT" pitches like CD51 alluded to. Once they trust their teammates will get the outs they relax and actually throw better.
 
Feb 17, 2011
201
16
This is pretty much what I tell all of my pitchers. They can not strike everyone out. They need to throw "OUT" pitches like CD51 alluded to. Once they trust their teammates will get the outs they relax and actually throw better.

Pitching is a lot more on the mental side than we acknowledge. DD obtained 58-60 MPH by 15 and cruised through HS relying on double digits K's. As she transitioned to college we spoke about how everyone on the other team was probably the star shortstop on their HS team and had a good bat and that in all likelihood the K's would be far and few btwn. In her first fallball season it unfolded exactly as expected and she grew to love the groundout. She has and excellent infield behind her and now has a goal of a 3 pitch inning instead of a 3K inning. As she progressed through her freshman year and assumed #1 in the rotation the pitching coach would smile as she went about her three pitch innings throwing her cropball.
Trying to overthrow is a common response to some type of pressure the OP DD perceives. Whether it be competing with other pitchers on her own team or encountering better batters as they all get older/more skilled. Encourage her to do what she does best and realize that a pitcher is ultimately responsible for walks and homeruns and if ground out and pop-ups are required to get through a game then that is what she needs to deliver.
Very few pitchers go their whole career blowing the ball by everyone and the majority of successful pitchers manage outs into wins.
 
Aug 26, 2011
1,285
0
Houston, Texas
Update...sort of. I am pretty proud of how DD has handled herself. We didn't talk about it at all...tension was there and so was the reluctance to tread the topic (my end too). Next game (last night)...the inevitable happened. She was omitted from the pitching rotation...however, she played 1B and was still in the lineup. She refused to talk about it after the game...was a little emotional. I let her be and let her know that I loved her, that I was proud of her, and that no matter what, I believe she will come out on top. Tonight, she was chatty cathy. My girl was back. She had lessons, and they worked harder on pitching schematics, etc. Her spirit was back, and she communicated to me that she didn't need a pity party, and that she had to work through it on her own and wash her hands of it...leave it in past. She let me know that her coach talked to her before the game last night...coach said that she knows what she is capable of and she has complete faith that she will work through it and come back. Tomorrow is their first HS tournament and she is ready for it. I am just glad that her spirit is back. In my mind, I was calculating costs of college without softball. Not because I don't have faith in her, I do...but because mama bear hated seeing her DD hurt/frustrated like that. LOL. But my girl is strong and she will persevere. I think this is her very first pitching slump. And let me tell you...this is way more painful than the hitting slump!!
 
Aug 26, 2011
1,285
0
Houston, Texas
Update: she pitched first game of HS tournament. Did well. 5 innings, no walks, no runs, 4 hits (2 reached on error), 4 strikeouts (I'll take it). Against good team with D1 committed pitcher. We won 3-0. :) She's back.
 

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