Got 4 pitchers on 12u team.#1 fast, curve, cu, and screw. Fastball and cu she can hit coke cans with ease. Breaking pitchs are on verge of becoming excellant pitchs. I use all of them inside,outside,up,down. #4 fastball middle and hope for the best with a lucky change up working on occansions. If they truly have the pitches use em.
14u only calling fastballs
- Thread starter doublesteal
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They are playing in a tournament this weekend and the girl asks me tonight what she should do. I told her throw the drop whenever he calls fastball, and mix in the others. If he yells just tell him you didn't throw it intentially must have missed the grip. Hopefully she can keep the batters off balance and he can see what his is missing.
Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
You obviously know the head coach and the team and org's politics and idiosyncracies, but IMO, your recommendation will lead to a no-win situation - no one will be happy and the fundamental problem will remain. Gotta face the issue and resolve the situation one way or the other or else the pitcher's development will be retarded.
Doublesteel: I would use this as an opportunity for your DD to call her own pitches. Encourage her to try her other pitches, and help her understand the process of pitch selection.
Green, I understand your point and I wish that that approach would work. But, I doubt the coach will listen to reason. The coach will only care if she starts struggling. As long as she pitches well, it doesn't matter.
Green, I understand your point and I wish that that approach would work. But, I doubt the coach will listen to reason. The coach will only care if she starts struggling. As long as she pitches well, it doesn't matter.
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OP here is a coach working with a kid, not the parent of a kid. When a parent says that their kid has a screw and a drop, no one believes it. It isn't that no one cares. When a coach working with a kid says that the kid has a drop and a screw, it's more believable. Please don't take this realization the wrong way. No one is assuming that you, in particular, are sharing anything less then a full factual disclosure. It's just the nature of parents and how they refer to their kids. I honestly wouldn't expect anyone to believe anything I said about my own kid either
I've coached kids that, as told to me by their parents, had a curve, screw, drop, and rise, but in the context of actual pitching, they had one pitch that they threw high, low, left, and right. . . . and usually that direction was random (she has natural movement!) rather then by design. For these cases, I'd expect that coach to simply call fastballs, because in reality that is the only pitch the kid has.
The way the OP phrased his post, however, leads me to believe that he's being honest and doesn't really have a horse in this race insofar as proving a point with what the kid is capable of. Instead, he's questioning the coach differing from how he coaches himself.
-W
It's just interesting to me that at 12U your daughter couldn't possibly have those pitches and then at 14U she's supposedly supposed to have them? Doesn't make any sense.
I do know one thing. Many softball coaches (even the ones that know quite a bit about softball) don't know anything about pitching.
- Oct 22, 2009
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Unfortunately I have heard of these coaches.
By 14U I like mine to limit the fastballs, if they have other pitches. I think coaches feel the fastball is a "safe" pitch. She's going to throw it for a strike and it's going to be hit right away and my defense is going to take care if of it.
That way they don't have to worry about what to throw, when to throw, game situation, runner situation, batter, etc. Just makes the game easier for them.
By 14U I like mine to limit the fastballs, if they have other pitches. I think coaches feel the fastball is a "safe" pitch. She's going to throw it for a strike and it's going to be hit right away and my defense is going to take care if of it.
That way they don't have to worry about what to throw, when to throw, game situation, runner situation, batter, etc. Just makes the game easier for them.
My 11U DD joined a well-known organization for 2012-13. Their 16's and 18's are tops in my area. I was talking with one of the Dad's who has a DD on the 14U team and her coaches told her fastball and change up only, all you need to do is hit your spots.
I don't agree with it, but they win a lot of games.
I don't agree with it, but they win a lot of games.
- Apr 25, 2010
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Speed kills, but movement rules.
So, basically he's biased on speed. Cause the only way that works is if the girl can throw hard. Meanwhile the kid who can spin, locate, and move the ball has no shot of playing on his team.
Seems pretty shortsighted to me.
I coached at 14u last year. I called the pitches (i tried many times to get my 2 catchers to do it but they had no interest in doing it). My pitchers would throw maybe 5-10 fastballs a game, thats it. Hopefully it takes a tournament or 2 of his pitchers getting rocked for him to learn this isn't 12u anymore.
As for just fastballs and changeups, any good hitter will learn quickly to stay back and hit it hard if all that is being thrown is fastballs and changeups.
As for just fastballs and changeups, any good hitter will learn quickly to stay back and hit it hard if all that is being thrown is fastballs and changeups.
