DD has expressed a desire to pitch

[Tinker08]

My 12 year old DD has expressed a desire to start pitching. I talked it over with her private coach that works weekly with her and DD # 2 on hitting and fielding and he would be happy to start working with her on pitching as she has convinced him with the amount of work she has put in on her own since last fall on hitting and fielding that she may be willing to put in the work required to become a pitcher. Since their TB season is starting in another week I definately want to wait til about June to have him start with her on pitching, after their spring season is over. My question is he has invited us to come watch some of his other pitchers work out, he currently coaches 8-10 HS pitchers in our area and about the same # of youth pitchers. He does have a very good reputation for pitcher developement at the HS level in our area, but my problem is I have NO idea what I'm even looking at when it comes to knowing if he would be a good Pitching coach. I do know that I want her learning IR not HE but that is about the extent of what I know about SB pitching aside from what I have read on this forum.

Im not totally for or against the idea of her pitching, and her mother and I are willing to give it a shot (we do know that letting her pitch will require as much of our time as it does hers and we are willing to commit the time to it.)I do know that since they started going to their current coach their progress on hitting and fielding has improved exponentially and the hour they spend with him is one of the most enjoyable hours they have each week. Even though everything he tells them is the exact same thing I have told them for years!

Any suggestions on what we should be looking for would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[riseball]

Back in the day I too was hesitant to support DD#4's desire to pitch. Came up with all kinds of reasons and rationalizations. Who knows I may have even been close to talking her out of it, as I thought she was a catcher. It was the middle of TB season when I finally gave in and started to work with her. After only a few pitches I realized how foolish I had been. I would strongly urge you to fuel and support her desire now. It is a very long journey and absolutely nothing is gained by delaying the start, but their could be much to lose.

 

[BobInMadison]

Pitching is mostly in the head.

If your DD has the desire to pitch, and has a pitcher's brain, she will do fine.
A lot of the most talented pitchers DD 1 played with or against wound up quitting. Some completely quit the game, others quit pitching.

She is starting older than a lot of other girls, but, if she keeps up with it, at some point she could be a really good pitcher.

 

[sluggers]

You asked about what to look for with the pitching coach.

Attached is an animation of one of the best softball pitchers, Sarah Pauly. Look carefully at her hand and wrist.

Two things to note:

1) When the ball is directly behind her, the ball is on top her hand, not below her hand.
2) At release, her forearm rotates so her palm is down.

We call this "internal rotation" (IR). All the best pitchers use IR.

If his pitchers don't do this, then the guy is 10 years behind the times.

<iframe src="//giphy.com/embed/3osxYcWcBestNvonGE" width="480" height="732" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://giphy.com/gifs/pitching-softball-3osxYcWcBestNvonGE">via GIPHY</a></p>

 

[jdavitsky]

Having her dad Rick teach her how to pitch probably didn't hurt

 

[spleen1015]

If I had more than one DD, they would all pitch. It's awesome. So much fun.

Do it if you're insane!

 

[FastPitchCat]

the journey as mentioned by RB is long and is filled with twists and turns, ups and downs. i still don't know where my DD is headed but it is all worth while.
as an added bonus, i've learned to pitch as well!

 

[wave_twister]

For me the hardest part is to stay mentally focused and emotionally stable through this whole process. When people say you have to be insane, crazy, stupid, etc. to put your DD into pitching it's very true. The ups and downs are enormous. If you have a short fuse like I do, good luck - to your DD.

Stay as close to Internal Rotation as you can if your DD's PC starts the Hello Elbow routine with her...you'll thank yourself and your DD will love you for teaching her how to "mow em' down".

I personally wouldn't wait 3 more months to start working on pitching. There are a lot of drills your DD can do to get the basic release and arm circle positions while you "wait". Boardmembers I/R thread with the lock it in, unlock it, liberty are all good starters. I got my DD started with those when she was 8. We took a break for about 2.5years from pitching and we restarted 2 months ago, DD pitched her first full game this past Sunday.

The IR work we did at 8yo still stuck after these years, I'm surprised. If it were me I'd not let these 3 months pass you by when you could be doing basic drills, don't have to pitch at distance from the mound. Just get in the habit of the positions and IR release.