Advice about jv pitching.

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Jun 14, 2016
270
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My DD is pitching jv for high school and has been struggling with control. She has been averaging around 4 walks a game and that is not like her. I think a big problem is the catcher is young and very raw. She can't seem to handle my dd's movement pitches and is dropping strikes. She also has had a lot of 3rd drop strikes when they strike out swinging. After the game last night, my DD asked me if it would be better to pitch more fastballs to help the catcher out which would result in more hits. I'm not sure about this because her defense is also not great. Poor kid is so ready for travel ball, lol!


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JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
My first piece of advice would be to not get too bunged up about what happens during JV softball games. Use it as a learning experience and an opportunity to work on pitches and control. That said, if your DD gets to a 3-ball count I would not have a problem throwing a fastball to avoid walking a batter. How many big corn fed home run hitters are you going to see in a JV game?
 
Jun 14, 2016
270
0
Did not mean for this post to sound like she is being condescending to her catcher. She loves her catcher and never criticizes her during a game. She is just wanting to help her out but I'm not sure if throwing fastballs is the answer.


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Jun 14, 2016
270
0
Maybe not but control is not something she normally has a problem with. It looks like she is hitting corners but not getting the calls so I can only assume that the catcher dropping them is influencing the calls. I'm not trying to put all the blame on the Catcher just trying to figure out this sudden lack of control for my DD. Maybe it's just having a new catcher back there, I don't know. It's just frustrating for her.


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Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Does she work with catcher on the side....hopefully if not maybe 10-15 minutes after practice do a little side work.

I really would not sweat it...let the catcher learn and grow, she just need to keep managing her pitches like she normally would.

If she does get down in the count and its not 1-5 you are probably safe throwing a nice hard get it over strike, she should not be walking 6-9 in JV softball if they find the ball and get a hit fine.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
As they get into older ages you’ll see more experienced umpires and generally tighter strike zones. Not always of course, but it could explain some of the increase in walks.
 
Feb 20, 2015
643
0
illinois
Some catchers, and I assume that she is young if she is catching JV, have a hard time catching good movement pitches. It may take a while for her to get used to it. Last year, my DD shared catching time with another catcher, who honestly was a better overall catcher. Stronger arm, better at blocking balls in the dirt. This girl absolutely could not catch our "junk ball" pitcher. It got so bad, that the girl basically refused to catch when that girl pitched. DD had no problem with it, and loved it. This girl made some batters look foolish with her movement pitches. The problems of course came when her movement pitches that happened to be very slow also, did not move enough. They tended to get turned around and launched lol.

I got off track there a little. I would just tell your daughter to throw her pitches. It is the catchers job to catch them. She can't worry about that. Now if she gets to two strikes and has a few pitches to work with, sure throw fast ball so it maybe doesn't get dropped.
 

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