Thought I'd contribute a tip on how we practice pitching at the end of our sessions; might be of help to those trying to get control.
We have a general grading system on every pitch as we simulate game situations towards the end of practice. Each pitch has four targets or goals: speed, location (inside/outside corner of the plate), movement and finally, keep it low. Nothing in the wheelhouse. Also, we have good misses and bad misses. A bad miss is catching too much of the plate and a good miss is anywhere else. So, after she's warmed up we'll start full on pitching calling inside, outside, CUs and now curve balls. After each pitch I'll call out....2 out of 4, 3 of 4, 4 of 4, etc. She can see where she missed. The speed is almost always there so it's a matter of movement (spin), location and keeping it low across the knees. A bad miss is a hit. What's nice is she might throw an outside drop ball but miss high. No problem...3 out of 4 will probably be a win against a typical batter we face. But bite that high drop ball in the fat part of the plate and it could be curtains. That's a hit even though she hit 2 of the 4 targets. Her control improved dramatically once we implemented this grading system. Her focus and understanding of the ART of pitching really took off.
One final tip for those starting out. I teach my girls to pitch from the far right side of the rubber (as seen from a pitchers view point looking at a batter). Our goal is to predominately pitch the low outside corner of the plate when facing a RH batter. At one point in the trajectory the ball gives the appearance of coming down the middle when in fact it's heading for the outside corner. If they hit it odds are its a grounder to first or second. Also, when pitching inside, to the batter, it looks as though it's going to hit them but just catches the inside corner.
There is an art and strategy to pitching besides the technical mechanics of pitching. Both my pitcher and catcher are seniors this year, I've been working with them both on how to call a game, they've earned the right. If fun to see them think and strategize on each batter, each pitch. Focus is way way up.
We have a general grading system on every pitch as we simulate game situations towards the end of practice. Each pitch has four targets or goals: speed, location (inside/outside corner of the plate), movement and finally, keep it low. Nothing in the wheelhouse. Also, we have good misses and bad misses. A bad miss is catching too much of the plate and a good miss is anywhere else. So, after she's warmed up we'll start full on pitching calling inside, outside, CUs and now curve balls. After each pitch I'll call out....2 out of 4, 3 of 4, 4 of 4, etc. She can see where she missed. The speed is almost always there so it's a matter of movement (spin), location and keeping it low across the knees. A bad miss is a hit. What's nice is she might throw an outside drop ball but miss high. No problem...3 out of 4 will probably be a win against a typical batter we face. But bite that high drop ball in the fat part of the plate and it could be curtains. That's a hit even though she hit 2 of the 4 targets. Her control improved dramatically once we implemented this grading system. Her focus and understanding of the ART of pitching really took off.
One final tip for those starting out. I teach my girls to pitch from the far right side of the rubber (as seen from a pitchers view point looking at a batter). Our goal is to predominately pitch the low outside corner of the plate when facing a RH batter. At one point in the trajectory the ball gives the appearance of coming down the middle when in fact it's heading for the outside corner. If they hit it odds are its a grounder to first or second. Also, when pitching inside, to the batter, it looks as though it's going to hit them but just catches the inside corner.
There is an art and strategy to pitching besides the technical mechanics of pitching. Both my pitcher and catcher are seniors this year, I've been working with them both on how to call a game, they've earned the right. If fun to see them think and strategize on each batter, each pitch. Focus is way way up.
