angry looks from pitcher. intimidation tactic?

[chucky]

this is 12u. my dd was guesting for a travel team this past weekend. the other team was winning 5-0. they had a pretty dominant pitcher. she threw hard for a 12yo. Whenever the pitcher had the ball she had a scowl and a mean look. if a runner got on base she would give them a dirty look. when my daughter was up she would give her mean looks from the mound. she struck her out. my dd told me later she was a little scared of her because she looked so mean so she didn't want to look at her anymore which caused her to probably not focus on the ball.

is this an intimidation tactic? is it legal? do coaches teach this?

 

[SoCalDad]

Yes it is an intimidation tactic, yes it is legal. Next time tell your DD to smile at her. Very effective counter technique.

 

[GI Tom]

Intimidation tactic? Perhaps, more likely tough competitive drive by the Pitcher
Legal? Absolutely
Do Coaches teach this? Some do, some don't need to as its part of that particular player.

My DD's 18U Gold team has a pitcher that will knock your socks off with her stares and glares. I love it. If the other team is/was coached properly, it will have zero effect on the game.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

It is hard to do, but have the batter concentrate on the ball and the hand - not the pitcher's scowl.

 

[chinamigarden]

We live in a some what rural area, there are several small towns around. Most of the girls who play SB also play other sports. So the girls on our team usually play against the girls on other teams in more then just softball. A girl on our team was watching the other team's pitcher warm up and she says to me,
that girl scares me.
Why?
We played her team in basketball and she bit me on the arm.
Get a hit and that will teach her to not get you mad.

Next at bat, she hits a triple. She was all smiles.

 

[quincy]

If you want an intimidating P, have them smile at the batters.

 

[halskinner]

The best intimidation a pitcher can do, is to NEVER make eye contact with the batters, never look thim in the face.

However, the BEST intimidation for a pitcher EWVER, look over at the batter in the on-deck circle with a blank stare. As soon as that batter sees you looking, put a grin on your cafe, then go back to the blank stare and then look at your catcher. But, whatever you do, do not hit her!

 

[stemcellsrock]

I like to see a confident pitcher... I think that is more intimidating than a mean faced one, in my own opinion. But I am the type that would just bust into laughter if a pitcher looked at me like that. (Ummm, do you forget, I am the one with the bat in my hands....)

I think it is better for a pitcher to appear to always be in control, even if they walked 10 batters in a row (they should be pulled by then...) but still, presence can affect the entire game and team. A pitcher should have a strong confident presence, and her team will follow her lead many times!

 

[Hollyrockartist]

We have a pitcher that shows no emotion - PERIOD. She doesn't smile, stare, scowl or anything. Walks one, nothing. Hits one, nothing. Has been taught this - doesn't let anything get to her. There are some pitchers my DD has played against who grunt - I mean a Stefie Graf grunt - from the mound when releasing the ball. One pitcher's daddy told her to grunt because when she did, she hit the corners. No grunts, no strikes. Some may say that grunting, too, is an intimidation thing.

My DD says if a pitcher grunts when they throw, she's going to grunt back (even though it would make her look crazy or something). If they're staring her down or have an evil look, she just shoots it right back at them. She says it really doesn't matter what the pitcher is doing, she is there to hit the ball. Also, if you are trained right, your eyes automatically go on the ball at the point of release, so it doesn't even matter. (my 14yo mastermind!) So I guess she DOES pay attention?!

 

[Lozza]

Yes it's intimidation and yes it's legal.

Whatever works best for the pitcher is brilliant. If the girls can't cope with the pitcher sending them 'mean looks' I don't know how they're going to handle being in the real world! Have them smile as other said, that can sometimes really throw someone off.

I only grunt when I'm in pain. As a typical pitcher I hate being taken out, so I generally won't say anything, but if I'm grunting, then it means I'm struggling to get the ball across the plate.

There's an Aussie pitcher who does this huge breath thing when she pitches. It puts a lot of the 'weaker' batters off.