Recently I have been having a discussion with a couple of friends (both former TB coaches, ones a pitchers dad and ones a catchers dad) and my wife about a very common trend I see in softball. My DD has played on high level A teams and what I would refer to as low A teams as well. Though it is not near as common on the high A level I did see it some, and I see a lot of it in the low A level. What I am talking about is pitchers who throw a lot of strikes, throw very few balls, give up a lot of hits and have high ERAs. It is almost like they are afraid to not have the entire ball over the white of the plate no matter what pitch is called. I have been off the field and behind the fence now for the last year so I don't feel like it is my place to say anything concerning our pitchers who do this. Though my kid may give up more walks (even more than I would like), she is either pitching to the black on the plate or the umpires zone. She works to just nick the strike zone. She has the lowest ERA, lowest number of hits, the most Ks on her team. She moves the ball through the zone and tries to throw the ball so that it is moving on 2 plains.
My question is are the other pitchers not doing this because no one is explaining the importance of doing this and teaching them how to accomplish this, is it that they are not skilled enough in their pitching to do this, or are they just not physically able to spin a ball correctly to get the movement so that it no staying flat?
Now I know that a lot of pitcher's parents do not take the time to learn all they can about pitching, and I also know that 85% of the pitching coaches are only teaching the basics of how to throw a pitch but not getting into the full understanding of how to be a pitcher. Do most coaches, especially the ones who don't have a DD who is a pitcher not know to discuss these things with their pitchers, are they expecting the pitching coaches to be teaching this stuff? I am sure the answer is a combination of all of this but it just makes no since to me. If I am a coach and my pitchers are getting beat up every time they pitch, and their strike % is super high with a low number of strikeouts, I am going to be working with that pitcher to make sure they are only pitching to a small section of the plate every time.
I am sure there are some people who are going to read this and may realize that I am talking about their kid in a round about way. Maybe through what is discussed here and peoples responses it can help others improve their DD pitching success.
My question is are the other pitchers not doing this because no one is explaining the importance of doing this and teaching them how to accomplish this, is it that they are not skilled enough in their pitching to do this, or are they just not physically able to spin a ball correctly to get the movement so that it no staying flat?
Now I know that a lot of pitcher's parents do not take the time to learn all they can about pitching, and I also know that 85% of the pitching coaches are only teaching the basics of how to throw a pitch but not getting into the full understanding of how to be a pitcher. Do most coaches, especially the ones who don't have a DD who is a pitcher not know to discuss these things with their pitchers, are they expecting the pitching coaches to be teaching this stuff? I am sure the answer is a combination of all of this but it just makes no since to me. If I am a coach and my pitchers are getting beat up every time they pitch, and their strike % is super high with a low number of strikeouts, I am going to be working with that pitcher to make sure they are only pitching to a small section of the plate every time.
I am sure there are some people who are going to read this and may realize that I am talking about their kid in a round about way. Maybe through what is discussed here and peoples responses it can help others improve their DD pitching success.