There is no way a 13 yr old is capable of discerning what a batters weakness should be , especially not while she is pitching to her. But a good coach can see what a batter is doing wrong, and call pitches that take advantage of that. He will also record /remember what worked, what didnt, what this batter did during previous at-bats, and draw on that every time a batter comes up in a game, or a tournament, or a season, or even several years of facing the same players.
How do I make this point to a 13 year old?
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Mud
I might have to disagree with you on this one. They can IF they are willing to learn and a pitching coach is willing to teach them. There used to be a chart out on the web that showed what pitch should be thrown based on the hitters position in the box. I have since lost track of it and would love to find it again. I had one on my old PC but it crashed and I lost it.
It is what I used with my daughter to give her an idea of what to look for with hitters. Worked pretty well for her. That way if she shook me off or a coach off she had a reasonable explanation as to why, and could tell the coach why she did it. The answer was never "I just didnt like the pitch you called". There had to be a reason behind it.
For example :Why did you shake off the screwball? Well coach I noticed the batter was deep in the box and that she was standing straight up. I knew if I threw her a drop on the outside corner she would never be able to adjust to it in time to hit it solid. If I throw the screw she turns on it and she gets a hit. DD did this a couple of times to her coaches and they had a funny look on their face when they realized she could think for herself and that she might be right.
How is a coach going to argue with that logic? I dont think coaches want pitchers that can think. They want robots that will take their commands. The only problem is softball isnt a video game. Its a team sport and that includes communication between coaches and pitchers.
At some point coaches have to learn to respect their pitchers and empower them to make decisions on their own. Its the same with letting a catcher call a game. That 13-14 U level IMO is where that learning process needs to start.
Dana.
I might have to disagree with you on this one. They can IF they are willing to learn and a pitching coach is willing to teach them. There used to be a chart out on the web that showed what pitch should be thrown based on the hitters position in the box. I have since lost track of it and would love to find it again. I had one on my old PC but it crashed and I lost it.
It is what I used with my daughter to give her an idea of what to look for with hitters. Worked pretty well for her. That way if she shook me off or a coach off she had a reasonable explanation as to why, and could tell the coach why she did it. The answer was never "I just didnt like the pitch you called". There had to be a reason behind it.
For example :Why did you shake off the screwball? Well coach I noticed the batter was deep in the box and that she was standing straight up. I knew if I threw her a drop on the outside corner she would never be able to adjust to it in time to hit it solid. If I throw the screw she turns on it and she gets a hit. DD did this a couple of times to her coaches and they had a funny look on their face when they realized she could think for herself and that she might be right.
How is a coach going to argue with that logic? I dont think coaches want pitchers that can think. They want robots that will take their commands. The only problem is softball isnt a video game. Its a team sport and that includes communication between coaches and pitchers.
At some point coaches have to learn to respect their pitchers and empower them to make decisions on their own. Its the same with letting a catcher call a game. That 13-14 U level IMO is where that learning process needs to start.
Dana.
Socal
See my response to Mud above in response to your question. It isnt a matter of advocating its a matter of trust IMO. Most coaches wont trust their battery to call and pitch a game.
If you dont- How will they learn the game?
Dana.
See my response to Mud above in response to your question. It isnt a matter of advocating its a matter of trust IMO. Most coaches wont trust their battery to call and pitch a game.
If you dont- How will they learn the game?
Dana.
I think your daughter needs to understand that she is being taught to pitch to locations as opposed to balls and strikes. My daughter is 13 also. She's been throwing a pretty good curve for 3 years and a drop that is good 60% of the time. I have not set up over the plate catching for her in years. She knows every pitch is for a purpose and we've discussed the concept of waste pitches and she understands it. For what it's worth, she got hit with a lone drive in the thigh two years ago and had a bruise the size of a volley ball. I think that reenforced it lol. Your daughter needs to know that at U14, a 50MPH fastball down the middle might put her in the emergency room. Seriously.
I was getting read to say what mrslug said.
I would not let her pitch w/o a mask on. She has not been pitching long enough to understand what she is doing. She is getting by on talent and that is thanks to her dad.
She needs to either sink or swim and I bet she decides to swim.
As far as her and her dad go, here is what I did. I am mom. DD started the rolling the eyes about age 12. So, I started teaching other girls. Much to my surprise, DD was in the car ready to go to every lesson. I used that opportunity to make sure that my message to the student was getting through to DD, too.
I would not let her pitch w/o a mask on. She has not been pitching long enough to understand what she is doing. She is getting by on talent and that is thanks to her dad.
She needs to either sink or swim and I bet she decides to swim.
As far as her and her dad go, here is what I did. I am mom. DD started the rolling the eyes about age 12. So, I started teaching other girls. Much to my surprise, DD was in the car ready to go to every lesson. I used that opportunity to make sure that my message to the student was getting through to DD, too.
3) having the batter just look at a pitch the umpire calls a strike
Throw strikes the batter perceives will be balls and balls the batter perceives will be strikes...or...find a batter's weak spot and pick on it till it bleeds or the batter shows you they can hit that location and or pitch.
- Oct 19, 2009
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I think that punishing a kid for throwing strikes is not the correct approach. Softball should be fun I don’t see being punished being fun. Throwers thrown the ball down the middle of the plate pitchers use all of the plate including the black part. The goal of the pitcher is to keep the batter off balance to do that you need to keep them guessing where the ball is going to come in next.
She needs to work on getting that killer instinct to finish off the batter once she gets the 2 strike count. When I pitched and I got 2 strikes my mind set was it was over for the batter.
When I catch my daughter I will sometimes set a hitting tee in the middle of the plate and have her throw left or right of the tee. Be careful if she hits the tee you can get hit. We also use a net made of rope tied between 2 tees. This has 9 squares 3 at the bottom, 3 in the middle and 3 at the top. She practices throwing pitches in each square for control all through the strike zone.
She needs to work on getting that killer instinct to finish off the batter once she gets the 2 strike count. When I pitched and I got 2 strikes my mind set was it was over for the batter.
When I catch my daughter I will sometimes set a hitting tee in the middle of the plate and have her throw left or right of the tee. Be careful if she hits the tee you can get hit. We also use a net made of rope tied between 2 tees. This has 9 squares 3 at the bottom, 3 in the middle and 3 at the top. She practices throwing pitches in each square for control all through the strike zone.
FJRGerry
Abby's Dad
My daughter is also 13 (1st year at 14U) and we regularly discuss the mental aspect of "tricking the batter" with movement pitches. Her favorite aspect of pitching is getting the batter out on a called strike with a ball that just catches the edge of the plate (based on her coaches instruction). Her second favorite is getting them to swing where they think the ball is - but it's not there - and seeing their look as they walk back to the dugout!
I'm sure your daughter will agree the above is fun as a pitcher, but the way to accomplish this is to hit the hard to hit spots and improve her movement pitches so she has great confidence in them.
I'm sure your daughter will agree the above is fun as a pitcher, but the way to accomplish this is to hit the hard to hit spots and improve her movement pitches so she has great confidence in them.
Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Pitch Call Chart
Mark H - agree that approach 3 is certainly valid, but was trying to keep things simple. Big picture is that you should never throw any pitch "fatter" than you absolutely have to in order to get a batter out - stay ahead in the count and you should dominate w/ pitcher's pitches all day. Also think that a strategic unintentional walk is appropriate at times.
Thread readers - just posted a new thread on the general forum w/ a link to the pitch calling chart that ifubuildit referenced earlier
Found it at Fastpitch Softball Pitching Instruction
Good starting point for endless discussion
GM
Mark H - agree that approach 3 is certainly valid, but was trying to keep things simple. Big picture is that you should never throw any pitch "fatter" than you absolutely have to in order to get a batter out - stay ahead in the count and you should dominate w/ pitcher's pitches all day. Also think that a strategic unintentional walk is appropriate at times.
Thread readers - just posted a new thread on the general forum w/ a link to the pitch calling chart that ifubuildit referenced earlier
Found it at Fastpitch Softball Pitching Instruction
Good starting point for endless discussion
GM
