- Feb 22, 2013
- 206
- 18
I have been working with a 13 year old flame thrower for the past 3 years. Last summer she invited me to a softball tournament that was being played near the city where I live. I told her that I would try to sneak away from my wife on the weekend and watch her pitch. The 1st game that she pitched in, she came in as a reliever and over-powered every batter with her fastball. The 2nd game that she pitched in, she pitched to a 2nd year 14U team that had cherry picked the elite talent from a neighboring state. She got beat by 11 runs throwing the very same fastball as she did in the 1st game.
After exchanging pleasantries, she asked me what I thought about her pitching. I told her that I thought that she wanted to learn how to pitch a softball not just try to throw it by every hitter. That the only thing that I saw on that day was her throwing fastballs. I told her that when she practiced pitching that we moved the ball up and down and changed speeds, yet during 2 games she didn't do anything to try to keep the batters guessing, off balance or uncomfortable. I told her that she needed to read the batters, look at where they were standing around the plate and adjust her pitching to game situations(bunts, steals, sacrifices etc,). She told me that she had to throw the pitches that her coach called. To her credit, she understood that the coach calling pitches didn't understand what she could and couldn't throw. Yes, there are a lot of coaches calling pitches that have no clue about pitching, sequencing or kid's abilities.
The next day, she found herself pitching in the championship game against the same team that had put a whooping on her the day before. She had a new pitch caller and got beat 2-0 in 7 innings, She struck out 12 batters after striking out only 1 batter in the two teams previous meeting. She received an offer by the other team's coach to play for his team in upcoming tournaments, as he was smart enough to know that every time his kids hit a single, they were on 3rd base in two pitches.
I personally enjoy watching kids try to pitch. I think there is a game within the game. As a coach that liked to call pitches with the more advanced pitchers, I liked to see what they could throw during certain situations. I liked the immediate feedback that I also received during the game. I had a few pitchers that really surprised me on how accomplished that had become at early ages. If we aren't preparing pitchers for future successes during competitive games, I wonder why coaches recruit at tournament games instead of getting feedback coaches on how they practice.
After exchanging pleasantries, she asked me what I thought about her pitching. I told her that I thought that she wanted to learn how to pitch a softball not just try to throw it by every hitter. That the only thing that I saw on that day was her throwing fastballs. I told her that when she practiced pitching that we moved the ball up and down and changed speeds, yet during 2 games she didn't do anything to try to keep the batters guessing, off balance or uncomfortable. I told her that she needed to read the batters, look at where they were standing around the plate and adjust her pitching to game situations(bunts, steals, sacrifices etc,). She told me that she had to throw the pitches that her coach called. To her credit, she understood that the coach calling pitches didn't understand what she could and couldn't throw. Yes, there are a lot of coaches calling pitches that have no clue about pitching, sequencing or kid's abilities.
The next day, she found herself pitching in the championship game against the same team that had put a whooping on her the day before. She had a new pitch caller and got beat 2-0 in 7 innings, She struck out 12 batters after striking out only 1 batter in the two teams previous meeting. She received an offer by the other team's coach to play for his team in upcoming tournaments, as he was smart enough to know that every time his kids hit a single, they were on 3rd base in two pitches.
I personally enjoy watching kids try to pitch. I think there is a game within the game. As a coach that liked to call pitches with the more advanced pitchers, I liked to see what they could throw during certain situations. I liked the immediate feedback that I also received during the game. I had a few pitchers that really surprised me on how accomplished that had become at early ages. If we aren't preparing pitchers for future successes during competitive games, I wonder why coaches recruit at tournament games instead of getting feedback coaches on how they practice.