Pitching faster

My frustration with this comes from me reading these forums 3 years ago and believing we did not need to work on increasing speed at all. I read that we should work on spins and location which is correct but my daughter never got the pitching experience she needed because she was always the slowest pitcher. She was always on the bench while these pitchers throwing 3-6 mph faster than her was out there getting their work in. Regardless if they were getting hit or walking batters. My daughter didn't start getting pitching time until we started doing the softball performance network strength training recommended by our tincher softball instructor. Once she did this she picked up some speed and then the coaches started throwing her more. I'd like to think that is just ignorant coaches, but you see these college coaches at these showcases and everyone of them has a pocket radar in their hand. If they are checking it, it is important to them and you should be working to improve it. Don't neglect speed.

Djubs said:

My frustration with this comes from me reading these forums 3 years ago and believing we did not need to work on increasing speed at all. I read that we should work on spins and location which is correct but my daughter never got the pitching experience she needed because she was always the slowest pitcher. She was always on the bench while these pitchers throwing 3-6 mph faster than her was out there getting their work in. Regardless if they were getting hit or walking batters. My daughter didn't start getting pitching time until we started doing the softball performance network strength training recommended by our tincher softball instructor. Once she did this she picked up some speed and then the coaches started throwing her more. I'd like to think that is just ignorant coaches, but you see these college coaches at these showcases and everyone of them has a pocket radar in their hand. If they are checking it, it is important to them and you should be working to improve it. Don't neglect speed.

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we had the opposite situation. My dd was throwing harder than the #1 but tried to work the plate more. She got lots of 3-2 counts because batters just werent swinging (10u) due to speed. The #1 threw slower but down the middle. The coach consistently told the girls throw strikes and let the infield help you. The number 1 got hit a lot but walked less. My dd walked a few more but got way more K's. DD also didnt give up as many runs per at bats. 2 walks in an inning was an auto visit 3rd was an auto pull. That applied for everyone except #1 (i'll let you fill in the blanks why that didnt apply to her).

We started Tincher this April and have seen Denny 2x and it's been an outstanding improvement.

(d) the ability to change speeds.

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The absolute key when facing good hitters. Being able to vary the pitch speed is what really gives hitters fits. It's messing with their timing. Cat Osterman was not an overpowering pitcher. But she moved the ball, changed speeds and hit her spots. She was able to sneak the ball past the good hitters. If a pitcher can fool a hitter by half the diameter of the ball they will be successful.

One of the teams in DD's conference in college had a lineup of very aggressive hitters. She and her catcher attacked them with slow and slower inside riseballs. They would pull them foul and end up with 2 strikes on them. Then they attacked them with other pitches. The other team never caught on because they kept pounding hard foul balls.

I think I agree with the statements that at D1 SEC level if your 60 + then things other than speed factor in more. My question was more towards how do you build to get to 60 +. So in that regard speed does matter or your not on the field.

To give a little background she is only average height but she has a muscular build and weighs 120 lbs. She was lucky to have learned to throw using IR arm whip from day one so I feel this has given her a competitive advantage and possibly has provided her some protection from injury. She has always been very good at hitting her spots and has a drop/change up. She has been lucky to have good coaches that pitched her number one even with other slightly faster pitchers on the team. Going into those 2 weeks at a 10U open tournament she was cruising at 45 and came out at 49. Then in the fall the 12 inch ball slowed her back down to 45 but this year she is now back to cruising at about 49 and can break 50 on occasion. I would think by next year in second year 12U she will be in low 50s.

As I mentioned in the original post I have seen a correlation to pitching more and her speed gradually increasing so this got me thinking about ramping things. From most of the responses I gather that increasing throwing time now might not be the best idea until her body matures. I like the analogy of the race car. We might be able to squeeze out a couple of miles per hour more out of her go-cart but then you could also break a wheel on a tight turn. I think we will stay the course with 2 pitching practices a week plus tournaments for the next year and then increase practice time as she get stronger.

I think we will stay the course with 2 pitching practices a week plus tournaments for the next year and then increase practice time as she get stronger.

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That makes sense...

As a reference point, my DD threw 3 to 4 times a week, 40 weeks out of the year, from age 12 to 18. Practices were about 60 minutes long. Pitching in a game counted as practice.

To pitch consistently with your DD, get very organized so you can just "do it" quickly. I kept a bucket of balls in the garage. I had another bucket with her cleats and glove, my catcher's mitt, mask and shin guards were in the bucket. I got home from worked, changed my pants and then we did the pitches. We just went to work.

If your regular practice regimen does not include a healthy dose of long toss, do not expect to see much in the way of increased velocity. Even on days when you really don't do much, you need to do long toss. Put your cleats on, warm your core, long toss, and then and only then work on the other stuff. Like [MENTION=332]sluggers[/MENTION] said you need to be organized. A quality workout can be done in a short amount of time if you are focused and have a plan. Be methodical and have a purpose for everything that you do. Quality reps at a game tempo unless you are working on endurance.

Is there a Taryne Mowatt alert anywhere on this site?

" Quality reps at a game tempo unless you are working on endurance. "

This is a big part of it. She is 1000 times more focused in games and game warm ups and picks up speed when we play in a lot of consecutive tournaments. I always have a game plan for our practice but her personality is that she is a bit of goof off in practice and likes to have fun and fool around and is not really pushing herself. Fall ball hasn't started yet so practice is focused on some mechanical improvements but I think we will switch to a long toss routine at every practice once the season starts. It seems to be a proven method to increase speed and I like the way it forces the involvement of the legs. Sometimes however I feel she gets less IR whip at the bottom when doing long toss.

Cannonball said:

Is there a Taryne Mowatt alert anywhere on this site?

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Or even Kaitlin Lee.

Djubs said:

Maybe, speed was never a concern for your daughter that is throwing 70mph, I think someone throwing in the mid 50s would argue with you on that one. My daughter plays for a showcase team and let me tell you about all the D1 colleges looking at our pitchers throwing under 60.......that answer would be 0. so even if they do have great spin and command how come no one is coming to look at them? How come they are only watching the girl that is throwing 65-70mph? I see coaches lined up watching these flame throwers (even if they are getting hit like crazy) they are the ones getting the attention. I agree with you on the parents and coaches put too much stock into it but to say your daughter didn't benefit from throwing 70mph is just silly.

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That is because a college coach has to see into the future. They have to see how good this girl CAN be, not how good she is now. Yes, the now factor is part of it. But, it's about potential. Is she going to throw even harder than she is now or is she peaked? My guess is, someone throwing mid 50's has some room to grow in the speed department and if she's already got the movement pitches down, then I'd say she's ahead in the game (pardon the pun). Yes, of course, maybe the girl in the mid 50's has peaked too. There's where a college pitching coach needs to be wise and see the difference. And if the girl is being recruited, said coach has to funnel instruction on what to work on and how to do it to get out of that 50's MPH.

One question I have is, if your daughter is really serious about pitching, then worrying about high school should be the least of her troubles. So what if she doesn't play high school, I know of no college coaches who care about HS stats. HS stats, in my area, are kept by a dad on the team who has NO CLUE what is a hit or an error, a pitcher can have 21 strike outs against a school that can barely field a team, and there can be a lot of daddy ball favoritism. So, please don't stress about high school ball. I understand it's a part of growing up and girls like to play for the school, play with their friends, etc. But don't believe it will help her with college recruitment, IF THAT is her main goal.

What everyone has said is true, it's ideal to have sound mechanics when trying to get maximum speed. Sure, there are some that can use brute strength but that doesn't mean they are using good mechanics, their balls probably don't spin correctly, and they are more susceptible to injury. Plus, they will only throw as hard as their muscles will take them, get sore more often, and run out of energy faster. At the end of the day, the Good Lord created everyone differently. Someone (male or female) can throw extremely fast with seemingly very little effort. While others struggle to get anything. Why is that? I don't know. Sometimes it comes down to someone having a gift from heaven. If you have sound mechanics, good body structure, healthy, and can only break 55, then that's what you got. Personally, I had the ability to throw it (almost) as hard as most, but not consistently. I used movement, change of speeds, location, smarts, and a very good catcher for much of my own success.

Like Tommy Lasorda said in Orel Hersheiser's book, "You can stand on pitchers mound and fire a gun into a target, eventually the hitters will time the bullet." His point was well taken by me personally!

Bill