I find it hard to believe this is true about learning movement pitches.

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May 15, 2016
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If your DD is just starting out, then she should work first on learning how to throw the ball. Working on different pitches for a beginner is a waste of time.

If your DD has good command of the fastball, then it would be time to work on movement pitches.

To be quite frank, most parents have the attention span of a gnat. Most start pushing movement pitches before the kid is ready.

She has been throwing fastballs and changeups exclusively for more than 6 months. I let her pitching coach decide when she should start learning movement. The one thing I know about fastpitch pitching, I know nothing about it.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
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DD and I were talking today after watching PC of the daughter of the "helpful" dad. I wonder if the player and her dad were sold a bill of goods.

Could be. Maybe point them to here and tell them to read the sticky notes in the pitching section.
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
Could be. Maybe point them to here and tell them to read the sticky notes in the pitching section.

That would be the wise thing to do, unfortunately the dad is not open to suggestions. The many conversations he has had with me, not on my initiating, tells me he does not want to hear my opinion.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
That would be the wise thing to do, unfortunately the dad is not open to suggestions. The many conversations he has had with me, not on my initiating, tells me he does not want to hear my opinion.

Comes a time that you realize you cannot save them all. Talk to the one that will listen, teach the ones that want to learn, and let the others find their own way.
 
I’d ask her to clarify before finding a new coach. What I saw with DD learning new pitches is initially she’d struggle alternating between the new and old. Throwing nothing but the new movement pitch or nothing but fastballs and she was fine. Start alternating and things would get interesting until she got accustomed to it.

Speed can definitely decline if there is not a cognitive focus on maintaining the hand/finger and IR action of her dropball or fastball. The bodies nervous system (muscle memory) is a powerful thing. Once you begin altering a movement, the new movement (nervous system circuitry) begins to strengthen......this can cause havoc with previous ingrained movements. So, as stated earlier, make sure to keep some speed specific work in your practice routine.
Out of the other side of my mouth.......if gaining some decent ball movement variations causes a slight drop in speed, that may not be a bad thing.

IMO, speed variation is more important than top end speed......very, very few have it all.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
One of the things I tell my students to do is to only work on 2 pitches when they practice. The day they are working on a curve they need to throw fastballs along with the curve balls. Get the curve ball working. Then throw fastballs for a short while making sure the speed is where it should be. Then go back to the curve ball. Then throw 2 CB, FB, CB and 2 fastballs making sure to mix it up till she can change between both pitches with control and the desired velocity. The next session work on drop, change with some fastballs thrown in. One of the hardest things about pitching when the girls are younger is changing pitches in a game.

There are only so many pitches a girl can throw in practice session. If you try to work on too many things, none of them get the time they need.

>> IMO, speed variation is more important than top end speed......very, very few have it all. <<

Heard this a long time ago. "Hitting is about timing. Pitching is about messing that timing up."
 
Aug 21, 2008
2,359
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Softball scholar:


No, it isn't.


No, you don't. And, no it doesn't.

A *real* drop is 3 to 4 MPH slower than the fastball. Energy is used to get high RPS rather than speed.



I'm not sure what this means. All pitches have some arc to them. I guess the "flattest" pitch is the riseball.

It seems that few college pitchers have any movement. Most of them throw hard and have excellent control. As far as movement...not so much.



Yep...but add "control".

I'm not sure I could disagree more with Slugger's statements here. Why a dropball would be slower seems to escape me.

Bill
 

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