how do you know when it's enough innings pitched

[pitchmom]

Not sure I can explain how I'm feeling, but here goes.....

My daughter is a pitcher for a tournament team. There are a couple others....some stronger them others. But, this isn't what the thread is about.

She does get a fair amount of time on the mound, but we (including her) always go away from tournaments feeling like she didn't get enough pitching time. I understand about her not being able to pitch every inning and there are other pitchers that need mound time.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is what is the average amount of innings that your DD's pitch over a weekend? If there is an average. When should we be happy or know that we truely aren't getting enough time.

 

[Sparky Guy]

It doesn't matter about how you or your daughter feels. It's what the coach thinks and his feelings towards pitching and innings. Some coaches will ride a girl till her arm falls off. Others limit innings if they have enough pitching on the team. Is your DD out-pitching the other girls? Does she just do OK compared to the other girls and has not given the coach the motivation to use her more? Does she tire quickly? How many games is your team playing over a weekend? Are you playing the pool games and being eliminated early? Does the team make it to late in the day on Sunday regularly? All of these things come into play when it comes to pitching time. It's a delicate balance the coach needs to try and work out. There is no "average" amount of innings a pitcher will pitch in a weekend. A Tournament team is not rec ball. Usually, there are no guaranteed innings during games.

If you have questions ask the coach. Better yet.... Ask the coach what your DD needs to work on to get more innings.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

To me there is not a one size fits all. How many pitchers do you have? If you have 2 pitchers close in talent they should be sharing the load. The 3rd is usually used some in pools, as long as she can hold her own. 4th even less.

Just from my DD's years I'll answer your question.

The #1/#2 = 15 innings a weekend average, I "tried" not to let mine go over 20 innings. At 75 min games, usually 4-5 innings, that's about 4.5 games. Say 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

And you still have to factor coming in to relieve and take them out to rest with a large lead. Also how large is the tourney? What's the format, round robin, single or double elimination? Heat?

That's why it's hard to say "one size fits all ".

 

[David Carter]

Obviously this is all about the many different variables. How many pool games, do they count for seeding, how deep do you go, how much drop off is there between #1, #2 and #3 and on and on. Is she the #1 pitcher if so I would think you would expect her to get the innings that matter when the tournament is on the line, but maybe she is struggling that game. Usually not much action in pool games (unless seeding is at stake) then more play as the bracket games come, but also depends if you are getting big leads and there is no need to keep pitching her. Ultimately there are just waaaaaaaaaay too many variables from day to day and tournament to tournament, it is going to come down to a feeling on your part but also honest assessment of her ability, if she is #2 or #3 you can't expect her to pitch more than probably a quarter of the innings available but again it is very situation dependent.

 

[chinamigarden]

My dd is a pitcher on her TEAM. And if her TEAM did well, then we are all happy.

Softball isn't an individual sport, pitchers and their parents need to remember that.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Pitching is the game. You can't cut the head off a snake and expect the body to survive.

 

[all]

I agree with others here. It depends on many different things. It's not a general rule. If your daughter isn't getting the playing time you would like then my first 2 ideas are for her to either work to get better and earn more playing time, or find a team that she is the only pitcher or one other pitcher that your daughter can compete to be better than.

 

[PEPPERS]

I total agree one size does not fit all, the better mechanics the more innings a young pitcher can throw safely. I like to error on the side of caution, you want these kids to be able to play and have fun for a long healthy career in SB. A win is not worth taking a chance on a kid’s health IMO.

We have an 8YO in our area, who after being over pitched in rec-ball is having arm surgery.

 

[pitchmom]

I guess there isn't a one size fits all answer...I should have known before I posted this. course,....I didn't need the few snarky comments I got. I'm learning about all this as I go.

But, this isn't a thread about ....so and so gets more mound time then my daughter. My daughter is the #1 pitcher on her team. But, the innings are usually split between the #1 and #2....with #3 getting some innings too.

Unfortunately, ours is a 1st year startup team and we have been struggling to win....so we have been only getting our guaranteed games.

This thread is more about what do I need to tell myself....and her....after the weekend to make us feel satisfied. I guess maybe part of the problem is that in high school ball...she pitched 90% of the innings. So, going from that to having to share that many innings makes us feel like we are losing something.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

This thread is more about what do I need to tell myself....and her....after the weekend to make us feel satisfied. I guess maybe part of the problem is that in high school ball...she pitched 90% of the innings. So, going from that to having to share that many innings makes us feel like we are losing something.

Sometimes you have to ask, what "makes" YOU satisfied. Is it purely winning? Is it functioning as a team? Is it sharing the mound time? If she is #1, is she bragging about it or is she mentoring #2-3?

HS and TB are two different worlds. ( not using your dd, just a general description ) Most HS only have one pitcher, that doesn't mean she's awesome, she's just better than the other choices. TB recruits multiple "good" pitchers for a team, they have to. So you gotta learn to share the time or you will go nuts. Also HS plays one game a day, unless a double header. TB plays 4-8 games in 2 days, that's a lot of wear and tear on pitchers.

You say she is sharing time with #2, then thats normal and you should be satisfied. IMO