Coaches, for you: Why or why not let the pitcher throw her movement pitches?

[shockcoach]

At 10U, if they have a CU, I call it often (at least once per at bat) to get them used to throwing it. It is developmental at this age after all. Next pitch should be a drop ball. This is a great pitch and I also like to call it a lot during game situations if they can throw it. If they struggle with the drop, I'll call it a couple of times early to see if it's working or not. Then try it later in the game.

 

[RayR]

I wish it were true....call pitches for my HS team and had 4 pitchers last year....needed an index card for each one....not that I called them all (pitches), but each one gave at least 4 pitches and 2 of them gave me 6 pitches....

I think this 5-6 pitches thing is becoming an urban (or ballfield) myth, too. Yes, some exaggerate, but many pitchers tell the truth...geez.

Are these ladies all liars? I think not. They also recognize their weaknesses and mistakes more than you think.

Maybe it is their parents, but don't hold the players accountable for that!

 

[3'sDad]

DD (14U) has a 4 seam and just learned the 2 seam fastball (it does move), CU, drop, screwball & is just learning the rise. The rise is sometimes a screwball or a screw/rise, which is tough on bucket dad. Every pitch doesn't work every week, so as long as she has the CU the 2 seam fastball and either the screw or the drop working she is set to go.

 

[shockcoach]

3'sDad,

Why a 2-seam? Less seams = less movement. Less movement = more hits. The two seam fastball in fastpitch has always had me wondering....why?

 

[Steve Huff]

I agree about the pitchers with all the breaking stuff. My record was 7. Every one of her 7 pitches had the same corkscrew spin. I talked to her dad about it, and he went berzerk!

I had 2 18U pitchers on my TB team that threw FB,DP,CH and FB,CV,CH and we never finished worse than 9th in any tournament, and normally in the top 5. We faced a Batbusters team from So. Cal. that finished 5th in 16U Nationals the year before, and my challenged girls beat them 4-1. Most of my girls were Juniors but I had 4 seniors.

What I am trying to say without trying to sound too Yogi Berra I guess is that what works, works! I don't care what you have on paper. I don't care what your claims are. If you can't throw strikes, then don't talk to me. If your pitches don't have unique spins that work with the laws of physics, then don't talk to me. If you don't get a lot of swings and misses, or weak pop-ups and ground-balls, then don't talk to me. Because having control of what you throw, is more important than your two page practice resume!

I had a HS pitcher that threw 4mph faster than either one of these girls I mentioned. She was wild in and out of the zone. She got bombed! Some of her pitches may have looked like BBs, but plenty of them looked like beach balls. When they faced each other in HS (different HS), the harder thrower got beat 9-0. My pitcher threw her second straight shutout and gave up 3 hits total in both games. The thrower had the speed, but she hit her corners by accident!

 

[3'sDad]

ShockCoach: DD holds the "2 seam" across the short section of seams, not the long way with the regular FB. Her PC showed her this a few weeks ago. The pitch must get some additional rotation by holding it this way, thus it acts like a 2 seam FB in baseball, running in and down a bit on a RH batter.

DD is 14U. Movement pitches (any real horizontal or vertical movement) and a change-up at this age baffle most hitters and minimizes solid bat/ball contact.

 

[SoCalDad]

...And after age 15, you don't get to count the fastball as a pitch (its days are over)....

My DD recently pitched her first game without throwing a single fastball (she will be 16 in a few weeks). She lost the game but the win/loss does not tell the entire story. We were playing a Premier League championship team that mercy ruled every team prior to ours in the tournament. Throwing a fastball was not an option against this team. She kept them to 5 runs total over 6 innings and that was two fewer than any other team in the tournament. Her movement pitches, rise, curve and drop kept them from getting solid hits all game (I don't recommend the screwball against this team as they got solid contact off that pitch a couple of times). At the end of the day the team was just too good and beat her on a small ball game that was beautifully executed. This was the first team that I have ever faced where all the batters on the team could hit or slap from either side. The best part of that loss was when my DD told her coach, "I am going to beat them next time".

 

[Steve Huff]

My DD recently pitched her first game without throwing a single fastball (she will be 16 in a few weeks). She lost the game but the win/loss does not tell the entire story. We were playing a Premier League championship team that mercy ruled every team prior to ours in the tournament. Throwing a fastball was not an option against this team. She kept them to 5 runs total over 6 innings and that was two fewer than any other team in the tournament. Her movement pitches, rise, curve and drop kept them from getting solid hits all game (I don't recommend the screwball against this team as they got solid contact off that pitch a couple of times). At the end of the day the team was just too good and beat her on a small ball game that was beautifully executed. This was the first team that I have ever faced where all the batters on the team could hit or slap from either side. The best part of that loss was when my DD told her coach, "I am going to beat them next time".

I am curious how your daughter approaches pitching to slappers?

 

[SoCalDad]

I am curious how your daughter approaches pitching to slappers?

Against this team it really didn't matter what pitch she threw against the slappers. Typically she will throw a curve or drop curve to a left handed slapper. The regular curve is high and tight and the drop curve breaks below the knees. Against the majority of teams the curve will generate a higher percentage of pop ups or floating hits. The drop curve generates a softer ground ball. Very few if any high bounce slaps. She will use a fastball periodically but that pitch is getting slapped hard consistently so it is of little use now in the slap situation.

Against the team we played it was the base speed that killed us. They were getting on base off of poorly hit slaps. My DDs team defense was just not good enough or quick enough to counter their speed. Sometimes the opponent is just better than you and no matter how good or error free you play they are going to beat you. This was one of those times.

 

[Steve Huff]

Against this team it really didn't matter what pitch she threw against the slappers. Typically she will throw a curve or drop curve to a left handed slapper. The regular curve is high and tight and the drop curve breaks below the knees. Against the majority of teams the curve will generate a higher percentage of pop ups or floating hits. The drop curve generates a softer ground ball. Very few if any high bounce slaps. She will use a fastball periodically but that pitch is getting slapped hard consistently so it is of little use now in the slap situation.

Against the team we played it was the base speed that killed us. They were getting on base off of poorly hit slaps. My DDs team defense was just not good enough or quick enough to counter their speed. Sometimes the opponent is just better than you and no matter how good or error free you play they are going to beat you. This was one of those times.

She will use a fastball periodically but that pitch is getting slapped hard consistently so it is of little use now in the slap situation.

A fastball inside at the knees works best against slappers with good mechanics. If that left foot isn't pointed at the SS, then their shoulders are turned and they can reach some of those low fastballs. Why not mix in change-ups? I bet you probably do!