74 Pitches in Three Innings

[SoCal_Dad]

My ten year old DD had her first game of the season last night... after three innings and 74 pitches the coaches decided to not play a four.

My question is this: What do you tell/do (with) your DD after an outing that she threw 26 strikes and 48 balls.

Her team lost six to three and those six runs were all unearned (not a single hit for the opposing team... the girls were either walked or K'd).

The pitching seemed to deteriorate as the game progressed - no circle visits from the coaches.

Sugestions ? ...

First and foremost, what does your DD think about the outing? Does she think she did okay or is she bothered by it? You need to be encouraging and reassuring without putting blame on anyone.

Pitching in a game with everyone watching is a lot different than practicing 1-on-1 with you. How do you think she did based on how she normally does practicing? If she pitched like she does in practice, than she needs to work on accuracy. If not, it may have been nerves and she just needs to relax so she pitches like she practices.

 

[sdsoftball]

As a first year 10U pitcher my daughter endured an outing in which she pitched 3 innings, struck out 8 and walked 16. The coach left her out there to figure it out. After innings he was very supportive of her and tried to help her with mechanics etc. but left her out there to keep pitching. It's really the only way to learn. Pitching during practice isn't the same thing as in a game. After the game we just focused on the 8 strikeouts and what she did well in those at bats. The younger they are the quicker they rebound. By the next game she had completely forgotten about it. I hadn't...but she had.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Guy that got us started told me that it would take 2000 practice pitches to have an idea of where she was aiming and another 1000 pitches to start to get good at hitting spots.

Either he's working with pitching prodigies or you forgot to add some 0's.

In can take a few thousand attempts for a lot of players to figure out simply how to throw hard underhanded.

 

[cmustangsfp]

My (normally stellar) Dd had a bad outing one night while pitching. We had the lead and she lost it and lost it bad. She would not listen to any of our advice about pitching (my DW and I were the coaches) so we let her struggle. We ended up losing badly and we finally pulled her. Later on we found out why she tanked so bad. She had overheard one of her teammates talking to a former teammate (who happened to be the base runner on 2B - right behind the P). The former teammate (who's team had gone undefeated the previous season) said "How do you like your team?" to which my DD's teammate (playing 2B) replied " I like our team, but we're not very good." BOOM! instant torpedo to my DD's confidence. I didn't find this out until later and then I felt like a complete donkey over my behavior and letting her struggle so long. What we thought was defiance in not listening to our advice, was actually her trying to play through extreme disappointment.

So point out the positives and know that she will get better. Focus on that and make sure there is nothing else going on. And go get some ice cream.

 

[cmustangsfp]

Either he's working with pitching prodigies or you forgot to add some 0's.

In can take a few thousand attempts for a lot of players to figure out simply how to throw hard underhanded.

I heard it was 10,000 before mastery could begin.....

 

[vcackerman]

I'm at the same basic level HC 10U first year travel players. A few weeks back my 4 got an inning in a lopsided game and proceeded to walk 4, hit a batter, make an error and give up 5 runs and generally be down on herself. I pulled her aside and told her that she shouldn't get down on herself. She will get out there again, compete hard and do a much better job.

She went home and worked 4x a week until her number was called again. She pitched for me Sunday and threw a one hit shutout. Sometimes, you have to make them believe they can do things that you see in them.

 

[coachjwb]

My DD pitched and played competitive slowpitch up through when she was 12. When she was 13, she switched over to fastpitch and wanted to be a pitcher, so we started her on lessons. Her pitching coach talked with her and me about how much work it was going to take, and that she had to focus on her mechanics regardless if she walked a lot of people.

A few months later, I was her coach and she was starting her first CYO game. She walked in the first 7 runs without a hit or an out. Being the coach, I was feeling the heat, praying she would start throwing more strikes. I stuck with her and we ended up winning that first game 24-7. 9 years later she completed a D3 college career that included the school career wins record. I wonder sometimes what would have happened if I had done anything but give her encouragement that first game and followed that advice of her pitching coach.

 

[Slappers]

Its a fine line here at this age... a see a lot of responses saying "just have fun" well... I don't see the fun in walking in 6 runs and getting beat.
Tell her that this is only a stepping stone to where she's headed. Make sure that every single time she steps off the field she's a better player than when she stepped onto the field. Life lessons are not always fun. Learn from it and make your adjustments to move forward.

It's not about you and what you find fun. It's about the 10 yo girl who just pitched her first game of the season. MY DD only gave up 3 hits in her year and half of pitching 10u rec and I didn't find that fun. Actually, it made her not want to pitch for this coach because he was only concerned with winning. On one hand I am proud of her for that, on the other, I wish I would have been more vocal on giving the other pitcher's a chance. Now she pitches to the level of the team she is playing instead of having the "killer" instinct that is required of athletes that want to go farther in their sport. It's fun to watch her pitch against really good teams and makes me want to strangle inanimate objects when she pitches against not so good teams.

There is no life lesson to be learned here. If she said she wanted to quit, that has the potential of being a life lesson, but not necessarily. People try lots of things we aren't good at and give them up. I guess we are all quitters.

 

[SoGASoftball]

I would tell an embellished story about a great college pitcher who threw a game just like this and say... look at her now! Then change the subject when she asks for her name.

 

[3'sDad]

SplitSoftall: Been there, done that. When DD began pitching, we would go down to practice at the local school. I would set up the plastic home plate and my bucket about 6' in front of a wall, since I got tired of having to go chase all the errant throws - kid actually threw a few up on the school roof - yep, it happens.

Her 1st two games was no different than yours - she got through the 1st inning ok, then imploded. Throwing strikes in practice is different than in a game when there are batters, an umpire and the other team singing cheers - pitchers need to be able to deal with all of that extra white noise and distraction.

At this level, you'll notice success at pitching when she's able to throw 50% strikes. Success has nothing to do with wins and losses but success and accomplishment at pitching. At 60% strikes, the wins can start to occur.

The advice offered about letting them talk about the game is spot on. The 1st question I ask my HS junior is "Are you hungry (thats almost always a YES) or do you just want a snack." I may or may not get a comment on her game, but after eating she has her nose buried in her school books either studying or doing homeowrk.

Enjoy the ride, its over before you know it.