Ok my 8y/o has been pitching this season and has a weekly lesson with a good pitching coach and I work with her a few days a week. She has moments of brilliance and throws harder than anyone in her league (also LHT). The problem is she is so inconsistent and it seems like every time we fix one bad habit, another one develops. For everyone that has been there, is it just the age? She is playing All Stars and they have been letting her pitch, but I think she is just too inconsistent. I'm kind of at a crossroads whether to keep up with the lessons and practice, or make her a position player. Does it get better?
8U pitching crossroads
- Thread starter Red504
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- Jul 26, 2010
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Give her 3 years and then decide. It should be her choice.
-W
-W
I agree with you on it being her choice....To a point. I feel like she doesn't pay attention to the technique her pitching coach teaches her. I spend countless hours coaching her rec team, All Star team and taking her to lessons. If she has good form and applies what she learns, I don't care if she pitches great every time. I just want some consistency. It's hard coaching your own daughter and was just wondering if inconsistency was normal at this age.
Be patient and give her time. Try to remember what it was like being 8. Went through this same process and I would have regretted giving up on her. 
She's 8. And a pitcher. She will be inconsistent, then things will improve, then a growth spurt, she will be inconsistent, then things will improve, then.....Did you happen to watch the COLLEGE World Series? Even then some inconsistencies showed up. Don't expect your dd to throw 90% strikes at any age. I think that as long as you support her efforts and minimize excessive critiques, she will decide on her own. I personally bought some shin guards and a comfortable bucket.
Someone on here uttered the most intelligent and wise words: "The three L's, Left field, Lounge Chair, and Lemonade", let her do her thing.
Someone on here uttered the most intelligent and wise words: "The three L's, Left field, Lounge Chair, and Lemonade", let her do her thing.
- Oct 3, 2009
- 372
- 18
I apologize but when I saw the title of this post I almost fell out of my chair. I am not sure where to even start. But how could any 8 year old be "at a crossroads"? She is 8!!! I hate to rain on your parade but pitching is a constant process of improvement. And while the definition of "bad habits" and "consistency" changes as they get older and the bar gets higher it is a constant process.
To me it sounds like she is doing just fine, she just needs a parent with realistic expectations. And part of those expectations is those lessons and sitting on a bucket are going to last her entire career. This time you have can either be the most frustrating time in your life or the most rewarding. It is your choice.
Speaking from experience.
- Oct 22, 2009
- 1,779
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I have this question asked to me by nearly every pitching parent I have. Everyone wants to know right away--"Does my kid have what it takes to be a pitcher?" It would be so wonderful to just have an easy straight answer so you know right away whether the time and the money are worth it or a waste.
Learning takes time and plenty of patience, my own kid threw the ball over the place for a couple of years--she literally was "wild thing", her control happened so slowly that one day we just realized, --"Hey? You notice you're not wild thing anymore?" She went from wild to the one you put on the mound when bases were loaded--but this took years.
As far as developing bad habits every time she fixes an old one, my DD did that as well, I joked with her when she was little that I was going to be a pitching coach when she got older because I've already had to fix every known problem a pitcher could ever have because she developed them all!
The number one thing a pitchers parent needs to have is "patience"--next is sturdy shins
Learning takes time and plenty of patience, my own kid threw the ball over the place for a couple of years--she literally was "wild thing", her control happened so slowly that one day we just realized, --"Hey? You notice you're not wild thing anymore?" She went from wild to the one you put on the mound when bases were loaded--but this took years.
As far as developing bad habits every time she fixes an old one, my DD did that as well, I joked with her when she was little that I was going to be a pitching coach when she got older because I've already had to fix every known problem a pitcher could ever have because she developed them all!
The number one thing a pitchers parent needs to have is "patience"--next is sturdy shins
- Jul 26, 2010
- 3,553
- 0
She may just be too mentally immature. Kids do not become better at something simply by starting early.
There have been numerous studies about how kids who are taught to read at 2 or do long division at 5 and how they compare to their peers at age 12. The findings show that there is no benefit at age 12, the kids who were simply doing it longer were not better in math and reading.
Kids minds mature in stages. Forcing them to learn something before they are mentally and emotionally ready for it only means they're loosing out on doing something else during that time (like being a kid). She's had pitching lessons, and that is great, so both you and her know the "proper" way to do things. I would stop with the lessons and let her pitch when she wants to pitch for a year or so. When she begs you to resume lessons and when she's dragging you outside to practice pitching every day, you'll know she's ready.
Right now you are frustrated. I can tell you that you have many years of frustration ahead of you once she starts becoming a teen. If you're frustrated now, you're just going to end up destroying your daughters love of the sport with your expectations that she will never live up to. Your daughter has to have a love affair with pitching in order to be successful at it. Right now it seems like you're trying to get her to date the kid she isn't all that in to.
-W
