desperately need help!

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May 6, 2015
2,397
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Setup - DD2 is 2007 birth year. I have been her HC in LL up till this year (2 yrs coach pitch, 2 yrs 10u), she is playing 10u LL again (minors), I am AC now for her LL team. she also joined a new TB team this fall, I am just a parent there. None of the TB coaches are really pitching coaches, or give the girls much feedback. they have had a pitching coach come to a few practices and as a volunteer worked with all the girls (indoor workouts) after normal practice (only Ps and Cs stayed). LL HC does not really know a lot about pitching either.

DD is struggling in the circle, and it is effecting other parts of her game as well. and when I try and give her correction (LL only so far) during games, she is resentful. I am not yelling at her, I am trying to give her feedback so she can get back on track. basically, if she throws a few wild, she starts trying to guide ball into the zone instead of throwing, leans forward, releases in front of her, slows the ball down, etc.. I had tried to give her feedback such as:

stay tall (to avoid the leaning forward)

throw hard

don't aim, throw/pitch.

and variations of these three basic themes. I want her to trust her mechanics, not try and guide the ball.

I have been told by DD and DW to back off, she does not need instruction during games, it is distracting, etc.. did this last 4 innings of last game, she pitched looking for zone entire game, slowing ball down, leaning over, guiding it in. I could see it, but forbidden to say anything. and she also dislikes when I give her feedback when she throws to me at home, but is a little more accepting.

I was going to talk to DW about pitching lessons after LL and TB tournament season is over (she is just too overscheduled right now). fat chance of that if she id pitching like she did the other night.

How do I get her the feedback she needs when I am not allowed to give feedback. I am 99% certain she is not going to get it from either LL or TB coaches (former does not know pitching well enough, latter are always focused on strategy/tactics/baserunning at this point).
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
DD is a little bit older then yours and I have made the mistake of showing the coach what to look for, turned out they yelled at her which was not my purpose.

During games she will very occasionally come see me between innings for advice, she is in circle she and C are on their own. I have mentioned something to certain catcher's that has worked out Ok.

Video is a lovely thing too.
 
Apr 6, 2017
328
28
Boy. I guess I'm not the only one. I just talked to my 10yr old. Did wrist excercise and played catch. I pretty much had the same
Talk as you with don't aim. Stay on the power line and throw hard. And have more fun. Stop being so serious.
She plays up today and I don't even think we are going to do our normal warm ups. They can warm up at the game. She almost
Seemed releaved when I talked to her. Told her she's doing great.
-good luck with yours.
 
Jun 19, 2013
753
28
If DD doesn't want you to say anything I'd say you don't say anything. She is the boss when she is in the circle. i think it's cool that she feels she can talk to you about this - some girls can't tell their crazy parents to zip it (I mean this in a supportive way as I'm also a crazy pitching parent who has been asked to zip it at times).

When it's not game day you might ask her what she thinks would help if you see she is struggling? she might want a special code word from you or she might want you to take a walk to the outfield fence at that point, instead of saying anything. Mine informed me that sitting behind the back stop and rolling my eyes (ok actually my entire head rolled) after she walked a gal with a full count and two on base already the other day was actually not helpful for her to see - imagine that!.

I like the idea of having her and her catcher work together to come up with some ideas between the two of them. I also like the idea of a little video - although realize on the ride home is not when she is going to want to watch this.

Are you really too busy for any pitching lessons?? because I think this would be very helpful. Pitching a whole season on two teams with not great mechanics is only going to ingrain those mechanics even more than they already are.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
I would video her during games and watch and work through them the day after.
I know it's tired but because she has good mechanics and the video is shot in super high speed have her watch Amanda Scarborough's mechanic versus hers and let her teach herself with you just validating what her eyes are telling her; if you can do side by side synced video that would be awesome. At 10U it's probably harder to get her to do this but maybe afterwords if you can just pick out one thing and work on that for a few weeks then move to the next thing. Getting a pitching coach is probably the right idea but you will want to make sure they know what they are doing and she has a solid base.

Plan C you can always post video here and we would be happy to give you a top three things to work on.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
You either need to make the commitment to training your DD to pitch and get her into pitching lessons and work with her 4-5 days/week OUTSIDE normal practice time or quit now before you drive yourself, your DW, and your DD crazy...
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
dj and jad are right on point...

Trying to correct a pitcher during a game is futile. You work on form at practice.

You can't half-**s pitching. If she doesn't have time to practice, then she should forget pitching.
 

Chris Delorit

Member
Apr 24, 2016
343
28
Green Bay, WI
Send your wife to TJMaxx. Take your daughter to a good pitching coach, then Dairy Queen!

Summer hasn't even started yet.

Highly recommend that you take advantage of the next 6 months, and not waste an entire softball season. 24 pitching lessons at 10U can offer a tremendous opportunity and advantage for your daughter to improve her skill level.

Chris
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
Thanks for all the feedback.

getting catchers to help her is not an option, they have less idea than the coaches what she is doing wrong when she is struggling. and same with HC, they do not see what she is doing. in the circle that she needs something to get her back on track. not really trying to work on things during games, just get her back to what she was doing in practice. once she starts leaning in and trying to place ball in catcher's glove, she has yet to ever revert without outside feedback.

and it is not me that is too busy at this point in time, it is DD. she is playing LL, TB, and guest playing for a soccer team she will be joining in the fall. then there is school, etc. she generally practices pitching 2-3 times a week (say anywhere from 50-125 balls at a pop), and pitches one LL game per week. DW and I are also very busy, but it is mainly running our two DDs around (between the two, there are 5-8 practices a week, FH tournaments every other or third saturday, soccer games every other sunday, 4 sofball games per week, and we have not even played our first softball tournament yet). LL is out the window (probably for both, definitly for DD2) next year. I know that the more she pitches/practice with bad mechanics, the more they get ingrained, but I do not want to tell her not to pitch or practice (bad precedent).

gonna try video, but so far only games I have been AC, so I cannot really take video while coaching (actually think it is against LL rules). she is always so adamant that she is not doing what I tell her I am seeing, it probably will take video to get her to accept it. she insists since it is her body, she knows what she is doing, even though it is quite normal for an athlete to not know exactly what they are doing wrong. first thought, I want to get video of her pitching well (ie good basica mechanics) as reference point so she can see the difference between two different versions of herself, think this will be clearer than comparing to high level pitchers.

will see if she will accept some sort of signal/code. it really all boils down to her just going through her mechanics and throwing hard, not aiming. trying to get her to do a "mantra" in her head before each pitch, with the elements she needs (get open, stay tall, fast circle, close hard, etc., but she wants to keep what she was taught when she started pitching by a coach several years ago, "up, down, circle, snap")
 
Jan 22, 2011
1,610
113
About 3 years ago Sluggers gave me advice to keep my shut during games. I mostly follow that and take some video to look at and talk to her some at home about what she needs to adjust.
 

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