Coaches... Do you communicate with pitcher?

[Doug Romrell]

A few months back Ken Krause posted a fantastic article by Cindy Bristow titled, "How to Avoid the 4 Biggest Pitch Calling Mistakes." How to Avoid the 4 Biggest Pitch Calling Mistakes – Softball Excellence - Softball Training Anywhere

Three of the four mistakes mentioned are of particular interest to me...

1. No REAL Knowledge of Your Pitcher
2. Calling YOUR Favorite Pitches
3. Calling For Batter....("....start with YOUR PITCHER as your first thought instead of the batter.")

All too often a coach's ego gets in the way, giving rise to a lack of communication with and/or respect for the pitcher.

Cindy Bristow ended by saying, "Turn your pitch-calling focus onto the pitcher and away from yourself and you’ll have gone a long way in helping your pitcher throw her best game!"

Why is this so damned difficult for some coaches?

 

[grcsftbll]

Is this a common problem? It was a big one w/ our fall coach. He didn't really get to know the girls' strengths much. Fastball outside, fastball outside, fastball outside.

 

[Phathead]

The pitch caller on teams I coach warms up the pitcher or gets behind catCher as they warm up to see what is and ain't working. What spots they are hitting wit which pitches etc. We approach calling matching pitcher strength to batter weakness and the situation of the game at that time. We have to do it like this due to our pitchers are solid but they are not D1 prospects either. I know some who call that think all the little Julie's are the next Abbott and have her talent. I have found that someone who understands batting mechanics make the best callers. This yr the coach and I have decided to let certain catcher/pitcher combos call their own games.

 

[coach james]

These are good points to keep in mind. However, as pitch callers we should be paying equal attention to the batter. Study previous at bats if possible, watch her when she's on deck, see if she's a wrapper, caster, dipper, wrist roller, dat dragged, early/late, no hips, bug squisher, or over rotated...etc..... All these flaws play into what pitch and location I call. I know that the pitcher may not have the best spin or control one day over another, but I at least want them to understand what to look for and exploit weaknesses in hitters.

 

[chinamigarden]

These are good points to keep in mind. However, as pitch callers we should be paying equal attention to the batter. Study previous at bats if possible, watch her when she's on deck, see if she's a wrapper, caster, dipper, wrist roller, dat dragged, early/late, no hips, bug squisher, or over rotated...etc..... All these flaws play into what pitch and location I call. I know that the pitcher may not have the best spin or control one day over another, but I at least want them to understand what to look for and exploit weaknesses in hitters.

All true. But the point is that if that batters weakness is exploited by a pitch your pitcher isn't good at, or doesn't have that day. It doesn't help to call for that pitch. Most pitchers will do best pitching to their strengths then they will pitching to the batters weakness.

 

[Phathead]

Most pitchers will do best pitching to their strengths then they will pitching to the batters weakness.

Had something very similar to this one weekend. Late night and the only pitch she had command of was a rise ball that didn't rise. The good thing was she was putting it where she wanted to. Lost game but it was close and she survived on locating RB and a CU. DB never reached the plate and the FB looked like a hell Mary to the endzone.

 

[marriard]

All too often a coach's ego gets in the way, giving rise to a lack of communication with and/or respect for the pitcher.

Cindy Bristow ended by saying, "Turn your pitch-calling focus onto the pitcher and away from yourself and you’ll have gone a long way in helping your pitcher throw her best game!"

Why is this so damned difficult for some coaches?

I believe our coaching staff do a reasonable job. We do a lot of things to try and get it as right as we can...

But sometimes my ESP and telepathic abilities just aren't working... and our pitchers (despite all efforts) sometimes don't shake us off as much as they should (or sometimes ever) or communicate overly well what is working today or what they have been working on with their PC's or on their own - even when asked. The teen age mind is a weird and strange place (I vaguely remember those times).

It took me 2 seasons to get my DD to talk to the head coaches about her pitch calling when she guest plays for other teams. Sometimes if she thinks that they don't know what they are doing she will just get with her catcher and 'throw what I know is best'. Some HC just let her and the catcher call it themselves - amazing that between her and a catcher she barely knows can work it out pretty easily.

Last week she was filling in with a pretty good team with a HC she gets along with well. He told me she gives him two chances to call a pitch she wants to throw - after that she figures time is up and throws what she wants and her and the catcher had some sign system so the catcher knew what was coming.

 

[CoachBroker]

Thanks for sharing Doug, I had not scene that article before but I think it is dead on.

 

[Cannonball]

First, my response is a lot more technical that I have time for. Let me say that practice and games should be about teaching a catcher to call a game and include the pitcher's input. While I do call a lot of pitches during a game, I want to see the catcher progress to the point that at the end of the year, I don't have to do much at all. I'd suggest to all that along this journey, the pitcher needs to have the ability to shake off a call. Both the catcher and pitcher need to have a signal to the coach asking the coach to call a pitch in critical game moments where neither is comfortable. For us, I just ask them to tap their heads two times. That tells me to call the pitch. Note, none of this can be done without communication coming from all three directions, pitcher, catcher and coach. JMHO!

 

[Doug Romrell]

The worst situation is when the pitcher feels she'll be judged as having an attitude problem if she were to try to stress to the coach calling the pitches what pitches she has and would like to throw. We have a problem Houston if 80 percent of the pitches they call are "fastballs" low inside, high inside, low outside, high outside. Throwing these locations with just a "fastball" isn't much of a strategy. I quite like what Rick Pauly has said, and I paraphrase here.... "Breaking pitches are great, but nothing gives batters more trouble than variations in speed."

The ideal situation is when a pitcher feels the coach calling the pitches is on her side and wants to work with HER pitches and makes her feel that it's a two-way communication. The worst situation is when the pitcher gets the feeling that the coach calling the pitches isn't interested in communicating with her regarding what she's confident in throwing.