Riseball and Sparky: How much did you practice with your DDs in HS?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,133
113
Dallas, Texas
Everyone wants to know, "What it takes to be a good college pitcher". I hope Sparky and Riseball will contribute their practice routines as well:

Here is what my DD and I did.

Back when my DD was pitching, there was no fall ball.

Our general schedule was:

a) Jan, Feb, March: Practiced 3 to 4 times a week, usually about 60 to 90 minutes.
b) April-August: Practiced on an "as needed" basis, depending upon how much she pitched at HS and TB practice and games. Also, if she developed a flaw.
c) August-September: Maybe once a week, maybe not.
d) October-November-December: Once or twice a week.

USUAL PRACTICE:

a) Overhand throwing
b) Underhand pitch and catch. (I would be standing, not sitting on a bucket.) After that, we went to full motion pitching.
c) Drills (walk throughs, stork, etc.)
d) Control work, speed work, or movement work, depending upon what she needed to work on.
e) End with game situation pitching.
f) Underhand pitch and catch cool down.


After her sophomore year in HS, I wore a catchers mask and shin guards. Yes, I looked ridiculous. But, I still have all of my teeth.
 
Last edited:
Feb 17, 2014
551
28
Any contribution to this thread of anyone with a high level DD would be greatly appreciated.

Sluggers, I assume your DD didn't play another sport?

My DD will be playing basketball & softball in HS. I am worried about getting pitching time in during basketball season, not likely to happen. So, what is she going to look like at the start of HS softball season? We get plenty of pitching time in the winter up to this point.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,133
113
Dallas, Texas
If I may ask, how much did she work out outside of SB?

DD#1 was the softball pitcher. DD#1 held a few part time jobs in HS, usually during the Christmas season. (Every teenager should be required to work retail during the Christmas holidays.)

DD#3 played HS tennis, basketball, and softball. She quit softball after her sophomore year, and ran track instead. It was difficult to get enough practice time for DD#3 and pitching. DD#3 was an excellent tennis player (she went to state twice in tennis). She could do two of three (tennis or basketball or softball pitching) well, but she couldn't do all three well.

If DD#3 had dropped tennis and played fall ball and practiced pitching during the fall, she could have developed into a good pitcher. I probably would have had her pitch on Saturday or Sunday just to keep her somewhat sharp.
 
Last edited:
May 16, 2016
1,024
113
Illinois
Very interested in this thread also. My daughter plays 10u travel ball, she is the #1 pitcher on her 10u team and when she is not pitching she plays shortstop. If it were up to me I would have her concentrate more on shortstop and hitting but she really loves to pitch. Practicing all three facets of the game is pretty time consuming for such a young age. It is hard to find time practice pitching, hitting and glove work. So far this has been an extremely fun season of softball.
 
Oct 19, 2009
1,827
0
DD just finished her senior year in college and she was a pitcher.

We started with over hand throwing to warm up and ended with long toss over hand,
Then we would work on fielding, she went through a pitching motion and I would throw ground balls, bunts, line drives and pop ups.
Then we began to practice pitching by worming up doing spins from about 10 feet, heavy ball, small ball, spinner, 14 inch ball and 12 inch ball.
T - drill again working on spins with 12 inch ball 20, feet, 30 feet and then 43 feet,
43 feet start with fastball, go through all the pitches,
4 corners or what I call it, fast ball in each corner and height of strike zone, the screwball for left corner, drop for low corner curve for right corner and rise for high corner of strike zone.
working on change up, and knuckle balls,
finish with walking throws and end with walk back throws or long toss,
then we go to the drive through for a cold drink. :D
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
Outside of softball DD played basketball and through 10th grade. At that point homework, pitching and expectations for basketball off season work didn’t leave time for much else. The prevalence of ACL injuries in bball were a factor too. She was active in Girl Scouts all through HS and worked at a couple camps a year. She worked at a softball training facility assisting with clinics and pitching lessons. Afterwards she was able to train and practice pitching. It was 10-20 hrs a week during school and for the most part she had summers off. She still works for them and coaches during the summer. I like sluggers idea about working retail over Christmas. Softball can get pretty high stress, but it’s still fun. Not so much with retail.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
The amount of practice time will change over time given the players age and goals. When my DD was younger (10-14) she played softball, basketball and volleyball. When she got to high school she decided to concentrate on softball only. We have maintained weekly 30-min private pitching lessons @ 10 months a year since she was 10. Once she reached HS we got into a 3-4 day/week workout routine. A workout is typically 100-130 pitches and takes 30-45 min depending on how things are going.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top