I give up.

Congrats and good luck! You are not the first to feel that way and won't be the last. It's hard and at some points along the way you will likely feel the need for another set of eyes (that's where good consistent video will be helpful) on her. I found it really difficult to not get distracted on one or two aspects of her entire motion and spend too much time working on those when in reality those issues were being cused by something else upstream. Keep in mind she doesn't need to be a cookie cutter, mirror image of someone else but as I suspect you know, there are certain fundamentals that need to happen. A personal relationship with a good PC can also be good for the mental side of her game in the circle but....and it's a big but, that PC needs to NOT try and change anything IF they do not understand the mechanics of what she's trying to do. Most will try and change this or that based on what they think is best (and as you learn more about the process you'll find that they don't). You will have PC's and other coaches along the way who may all mean well but just don't get it and try to change something which can cost you a lot of time, energy and tears. We had an Asst. Coach this year who tried to change my DD's Dropball mechanics from a beautiful Peel Drop (that we'd been working on for years) to a Rollover Drop during warmup 10 minutes before a game...and then asked the Org's PC about it and he agreed...never understanding the difference between the two pitches! It's NOT easy to do the right thing when everyone around you has been doing it and teaching it differently...you must persevere! ;-) I could go on & on as this issue is very real and has been very frustrating. This site is a great resource, use it wisely! Find opportunities for camps and clinics that you can attend...(FastPitch Foundations come on, let's get the show on the road!!...Hint, Hint)

Advice on 10 yr old (in a few days) DD's pitching (Which sticky topic?)

*Duplicate post from thread being merged*

OsDad said:

I'm trying to figure out which part of her mechanics I need to start with first...

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My answer... Just let her pitch THIS way for now. It's pretty darned good.

I think with students this age there is a tendency to have to have something to tweak, and it ends up being having to have a lot of things to tweak.

I'm going to say, "Do no harm." applies given she's off to such a good start here.

Doug Romrell said:

My answer... Just let her pitch THIS way for now. It's pretty darned good.

I think with students this age there is a tendency to have to have something to tweak, and it ends up being having to have a lot of things to tweak.

I'm going to say, "Do no harm." applies given she's off to such a good start here.

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I know you mentioned that in my last thread. My concern was if she was doing something specifically that would be a bad habit and difficult to break later. You don't see anything like that?

I do not see anything right now. Now that doesn't mean there aren't things to polish, but those things are things that would be worked on as she grows.

Is Ty letting her pitch at all in games?

I agree with Doug. At only 9 she is doing great and doesn't have anything glaring that would be a concern for the future. Of course I (and many others) could list two dozen things to tweak but I think it would do more harm than good. You see it more in hitting than pitching, but there is a point where you can coach the natural athleticism out of the kid.

There are some things you can do to keep up progress though.

First, make her throw striped/taped balls. Then just give her the goal of tightening up the spin and get her used to seeing the spin and learning how to read that feedback. Don't really coach her, just let her throw and figure things out. Doing this she will learn how to rip her fingers off the ball in a whipping action.

Second, incorporate some long toss into her practices. Again, don't really coach, just challenge her to get as much distance as she can on the throws. Let her figure out how her body works. This will do more to encourage her to develop a strong whip action as it will be the only way possible she can get good distance.

Then in a year or two, you can re-evaluate and start to tweak the things that need tweaking.

Doug Romrell said:

I do not see anything right now. Now that doesn't mean there aren't things to polish, but those things are things that would be worked on as she grows.

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DNeeld said:

I agree with Doug. At only 9 she is doing great and doesn't have anything glaring that would be a concern for the future. Of course I (and many others) could list two dozen things to tweak but I think it would do more harm than good. You see it more in hitting than pitching, but there is a point where you can coach the natural athleticism out of the kid.

There are some things you can do to keep up progress though.

First, make her throw striped/taped balls. Then just give her the goal of tightening up the spin and get her used to seeing the spin and learning how to read that feedback. Don't really coach her, just let her throw and figure things out. Doing this she will learn how to rip her fingers off the ball in a whipping action.

Second, incorporate some long toss into her practices. Again, don't really coach, just challenge her to get as much distance as she can on the throws. Let her figure out how her body works. This will do more to encourage her to develop a strong whip action as it will be the only way possible she can get good distance.

Then in a year or two, you can re-evaluate and start to tweak the things that need tweaking.

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Okay, I can do all of that. For both of you: what about warm-up drills? Every warm up she has been taught emphasized a wrist flick/snap or includes motions that aren't happening in a full pitch. What should I have her do to warm up, that at least isn't reinforcing bad habits?

pattar said:

Is Ty letting her pitch at all in games?

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She's pitched 3 or 4 innings all spring. I honestly haven't pushed him on it, because I make a point to try and not be THAT dad. I've told her that if she wants more time, she has to bring it up with him first. He can be, as you know, a tiny bit intimidating occasionally, so I know she has trouble speaking up. He's also got a bit of short leash, to put it mildly, so I suspect she may also just be avoiding the inevitable "If you walk one more batter, you're never pitching again" lol.

Honestly whatever you have been teaching her Is getting the job done. I too have a 9YO who Is turning 10 In September. She has been seeing a pitching coach 3-4 times a month (we try to get her out there once a week) for about 5-6 months now. While her mechanics aren't the exact same as my DDs, they are not far off at all. Im not a pitching guru by any means, but I think she Is using her legs really well to get off the rubber. One thing her pitching coach had her do when she first started was not to over exaggerate her follow through as to emphasize her wrist snap more. Your DD has what I consider the most important aspect right now, accuracy. My DDs league moved to 10U live pitch this past season, and I cant tell you how many girls had serious problems with getting the ball In the strike zone without throwing so slow It resembled slow pitch more than fast pitch. Your DD would have been a top level pitcher In my DDs league this past season. Its sad but her league has neglected live pitching In the 10U league for many many years, It was hard to watch at times. You should be very proud of your DD, as Im sure you are.

My girl has pretty good speed but her accuracy gets off the rails sometimes and Its hard for her to recover from. We asked her pitching coach If we should have her slow down her arm to gain the control and she said no, that she needs to tough It out and learn to control her arm moving that fast. Once again I am not a pitching guru but I believe It Is because of her arm plain. When she "winds up" (not sure what you would call the motion In FP Softball) she has a tendency to let her hand/arm go behind her back so far Its In line with her left but cheek (sorry no other way for me to describe It, and shes a righty) so when she comes through Its not coming through In a straight motion. Your DDs "wind up" comes straight off her front hip as to where my DDs goes straight back and then forward. I dont know If It would have been easier for my DD to learn the way yours Is, Its just the way her pitching coach taught her and she was a pretty good pitcher and has coached some kids In the area who are pretty good from what Ive seen, so I dont argue or debate with her, she has full control as I believe It should be.

Like an above poster said, use striped balls, Ive got to start taping our bucket of balls soon for the same reason. Use long toss to build arm strength and allow her to experiment with what she Is really capable of doing. Im not sure at what distance shes pitching at now, but have her pitch even further back sometimes for the same reason as the long toss. One thing that has really helped her wrist snap Is using a Spin Right Spinner. It has really helped her discover how she can add spin to the ball. Im against most "gadgets" but every person who has pitched that we have talked to has used one of these. It can be really frustrating at times (lord knows Ive wanted to pull my hair out a time or two lol) but congrats on having a DD that wants the ball In her hands!