9 year old struggling with accuracy

[nicelag]

For starters my daughter just turned 9, has been pitching for about 18 months (with an instructor) and plays 8U rec ball. I am a bit frustrated with her accuracy and consistency. I know a lot of it is probably me, but I have no past history to base things on and just don't know what the expectations should be. That is where I need the help!

Just some basics, she is 9 years old, about 55" tall and left handed. Her fastball is consistent at 41-42mph. I am not at all complaining about her velocity as she throws harder than most her age, but it's the consistency. For example our leagues 8U division has a standard modified coach pitch format whereas there are strikeouts on kid pitch but no walks. She has been going to coach pitch on 5 of the nine batters faced, and averages 1-2 hit batters per game. She is pretty much unhittable at this age group when she throws strikes. Problem is most kids can't hit her so just stand there and hope for coach pitch so she is being forced to throw real strikes and is struggling with that. This has been the pattern for some time now.

She is a very good athlete, and I think this may be the cause of some of my expectation that she shouldn't be struggling like this? She has also been growing a lot of late (if that matters?). Hopefully some of you who have been there and done that can "enlighten" me as to the ways of the fastpitch softball pitching world. I am learning that it is a special group! Truth be told if she told me tomorrow that she didn't want to pitch any more I would be more than happy. I am finding that pitcher families tend to suffer and struggle more than the pitcher themselves, but she loves it! So, here we are.

As stated she has been pitching and taking lessons for the past 18 months, and I guess I just need confirmation that I am or am not in the right place i.e. with the right teacher, mechanically etc.. If there are major issues I would like to get the corrected. I keep thinking maybe she needs a change, but I also think I may be in search of the magic pill. Which, from my many years playing competitive golf, I know doesn't exist. Other pitcher parents tell me the best solution is the "Red Solo Cup in the outfield" method lol. Maybe it's just age and something that will iron itself out over time?

Any help, guidance and comments is greatly appreciated. I have attached a video for evaluation. 8U girls fastpitch softball pitcher LNB - YouTube

Thank you greatly for your comments and suggestions.

 

[spleen1015]

I've been where you are with my DD. It just takes lots of patience and practice. I'm not an expert like many folks around here but I think she looks good for an 8u player.

I can assure you that she'll get better and when she does, it will be awesome.

 

[John Michael Kelly]

I feel your pain brother! When my daughter started pitching at 8 I thought she would never "get there." Now, 10 years and 1,200 games later as a coach I can assure you that your daughter is likely exactly where she needs to be at this stage of her development.

My strongest recommendation would be to do all you can to keep your expectations for her "results" in check. Allow the "process" of her growth as a pitcher, a softball player and young woman to blossom.

As long as she still enjoys pitching and is willing to put in the time to get better you're golden! I would refrain from judging her velocity and pitch command at this age. I've seen many pitchers peak at 10 or 12, and others who did not fully develop and dominate in the circle until they were 14-15.

Enjoy the journey my friend and continue to make the game fun for her. By the time she is 14 you will laugh at how seriously you took her performance at age 9!

 

[CLM265]

By the looks of it she isn't struggling, she is learning how to pitch. Give her some space, have her keep practicing, be positive and patient. 8U is for learning.

 

[James Smith]

One of my many mistakes I have made was worrying too much about DD throwing strikes in 8U and 10U. If I had to do over again she would be throwing the ball hard and not worrying too much about the walks. Especially since you have the coach backup.

Have your DD keep throwing it hard, do not let her slow down and guide the ball. She will get more consistent with time.

Is there any particular place she misses?

 

[JJsqueeze]

She looks good. Don't stress her out with game accuracy. Work on eliminating specific misses one at a time in practice and it will all come together in games soon enough. If you want to ruin her then repeat this phrase as much as you can "just throw strikes".

But seriously....try to identify her miss patterns, for instance my little DD is low inside and high outside. We are working on the high outside now. So during practice she is encouraged to throw low, in the dirt, in the RH batters box etc as long as it is not above my head. She has gone from 50-50 to about 80-20 with the majority low and inside. When that high miss is basically eradicated then we will tackle the low miss. But for now, in games when she throws in the dirt or hits a batter I say great pitch.

There are two things we are talking about here, accuracy and repeatability. I go for repeatability first and then adjust for accuracy. If it were a dart board I am looking for a good grouping somewhere on the board. Then you know that her mechanics and release are consistent. Then you can make the adjustment to take that grouping and center it in the strike zone. The beauty of this is that the minute she is pitching consistent strikes you get to really mess with her and tell her to learn how to throw balls again, but this time make them look like strikes.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I agree very much, with what everyone has said.

I teach Internal Rotation, though, and your DD is being taught Hello Elbow. By age 10, you may be writing in asking how to change her. Good luck to her. She is doing well for her age.

 

[JJsqueeze]

I disagree Amy....she's got some good looking I/R mechanics, a good fluid motion, elbow leading, ball up. She's got the whole package going. I don't know what the coaches are teaching her but her motion is NICE.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I see pushing and straight arming it, but someone can slow it down and we can tell better. I think she is attempting to aim the ball. It is really hard to critique a 9 yo, because it always sounds critical on a message board. But someone is either telling her to push and pull or she is imitating another girl.

 

[JJsqueeze]

as you wish....(Princess Bride reference #213 in my posts)

[video=youtube_share;AlSxfnYYWzU]http://youtu.be/AlSxfnYYWzU[/video]