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May 11, 2017
8
1
Hey guys my daughter is on her second year of pitching in 10u she throws pretty hard for her age. When it’s just me and her in the yard she pitches good there are a few that get away but not that big of deal. She is always the starting pitcher we don’t have to many girls that can pitch. As soon as the game starts she will throw a few strikes but she is all over the place more than anything. The other night we had a game and we had to pull her after the first inning she was all over the place so we put another girl in and she only lasted one inning but than my daughter comes up to us and says she wants to go out and pitch again so with not having to many pitchers we sent her back out and pitched 3 innings with striking out all 9 batters. Now why can’t she do this from the start is she that nervous.
 
Sep 18, 2016
54
8
We have a pitcher like that my DD plays with and the coach started have her warm up longer before game time. That seems to have helped quite a bit. Her dad and I also started have my DD (catcher) and pitcher practice together outside of practice to get more comfortable, build trust together.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
Hey guys my daughter is on her second year of pitching in 10u she throws pretty hard for her age. When it’s just me and her in the yard she pitches good there are a few that get away but not that big of deal. She is always the starting pitcher we don’t have to many girls that can pitch. As soon as the game starts she will throw a few strikes but she is all over the place more than anything. The other night we had a game and we had to pull her after the first inning she was all over the place so we put another girl in and she only lasted one inning but than my daughter comes up to us and says she wants to go out and pitch again so with not having to many pitchers we sent her back out and pitched 3 innings with striking out all 9 batters. Now why can’t she do this from the start is she that nervous.

First - she is in 10u. She is not going to be perfect. Her mechanics are not going to be consistent at this age even with good instruction. In addition the strike zone on a 9 or 10 year old is REALLY small even if the umpire is calling a good sized zone.

There is a LOT that can go wrong with a 10U pitcher pitch to pitch, inning to inning and game to game.

Now that said, there could be some obvious things wrong. This forum is REALLY good at taking a look and video and letting you know what we see. IMHO I would create a new account rather than using your real name and then post video of your daughter pitching and you will get some things to have a look at.
 
Jun 29, 2013
589
18
Just a guess: you are correct, it's nerves. She could be trying so hard to throw strikes that she doesn't follow her mechanics. Pitchers face a ton of pressure, and put a lot more on themselves trying to succeed and/or please their coaches. A lot of girls who look great in the back yard slow things down when they get in the circle on game day trying to be perfect. When they do that, they are not pitching like they trained and the mechanics suffer.
 
Apr 12, 2015
792
93
Lots of things. Video would rule out anything mechanical. In the absence of any mechanical problems it could be nerves, it could be the pitching rubber has the Grand Canyon in front of it, could be trying to hard....in other words, it could be a ton of things. She's 10U, any problems with the pitching circle such as really soft dirt, a huge drag trench, etc, could take her a little longer to adjust to than an older girl. Also, pitchers just have off days sometimes. They don't always have their best stuff.

My DD is 14U and just this weekend she was lights out in warm up. Got in the game and it took her 2 innings to find the corners with any consistency. It happens.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Hell, some of the pitchers on my DD's 14U TB team still struggle with control right out of the gate, and they've all been pitching since they were single-digit age.

The backyard is where you learn mechanics and build muscle memory. It takes a batter in the box, in live game, to learn how to pitch.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
My DD's 10U team probably gives up 1/2 (at least) of their runs in the first inning. Pitchers can't find the zone, fielders look they are stuck in neutral, etc. When the HC was lamenting about it to me I told him the cocky little
buggers just wanted to spot the other teams a few runs to make it a fair fight ;)
 
Aug 23, 2016
359
43
It's the age. I actually hate seeing DD look amazing when she's warming up because she gets in the circle and is almost too confident. The days she struggles in warmups are the days she goes in focused and concentrating on what she needs to do to throw strikes.
 
Apr 6, 2017
328
28
It’s hard to watch sometimes. Dd coach would let my
Girl throw bad pitch after bad pitch. She would always
Come out of it. As a parent I think we are more critical.
It’s the time spent in the circle during games that I feel
Helps most. Take her to different locations to throw. The
Field she hates the worst is the best place to practice.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Hey guys my daughter is on her second year of pitching in 10u she throws pretty hard for her age. When it’s just me and her in the yard she pitches good there are a few that get away but not that big of deal. She is always the starting pitcher we don’t have to many girls that can pitch. As soon as the game starts she will throw a few strikes but she is all over the place more than anything. The other night we had a game and we had to pull her after the first inning she was all over the place so we put another girl in and she only lasted one inning but than my daughter comes up to us and says she wants to go out and pitch again so with not having to many pitchers we sent her back out and pitched 3 innings with striking out all 9 batters. Now why can’t she do this from the start is she that nervous.

"Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical" ~ Yogi Berra. Repetition and experience build confidence so be patient and practice, practice, practice!

PS - try bringing a friend to practice and have them stand in the batters box while your DD throws a "simulated game". They do not need a bat, just stand there like a batter, occasionally switching sides. Make sure they are wearing a batting helmet and are on their toes in case your DD uncorks a wild pitch.
 
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