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Jul 14, 2018
982
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DD first started pitching as a second-year 10U in Rec. She was HE all the way, but threw a ton of strikes. She had like 80 Ks in 40 innings, less than 10 walks. She decided that being a pitcher was her thing and thanks to DFP, I learned about the wonders of IR.

Her first fall of 12U, bigger ball, 40 feet, new pitching style — it was a disaster. She walked everyone. Couldn’t buy a strike. She saw almost no circle time the following year, but she kept working on her own.

Fast forward to spring of second-year 12U, and she found her groove. She’s been between 65-69% strike percentage since then (thanks GameChanger).

So the moral is, kids go through different patches where the strike zone comes and goes. DD is working on some mechanics right now that are meant to increase her velocity, but she’s lost some accuracy as a result. It’s a process, there’s no timetable.


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Sep 19, 2018
928
93
I don't know strike percent, but first year 10U my dd walked or hit just about 2 per inning. This past summer (2nd year 10U) she walked, just under .5 per inning. In her first game this summer, the guy doing GC came over to me and said something like "Your dd threw 76% strikes today. My dd is a 16u pitcher and only throws in 65% strikes"

She moved to 12U this fall. I've only been to 2 12U tournaments so far. With the extra distance and bigger ball, I am seeing a lot more strikes put in play. Defense is better. I don't know strike % but just due to those 2 points there really should be a large drop in walks from 10U to 12U.
 
Oct 14, 2019
897
93
By 12u, there is such a thing as too many strikes. The pitcher needs to work the corners and generally keep the ball low. If you look at Gamechanger, pitchers with too high a strike percentage are often giving up a lot of hits.
 
May 15, 2008
1,913
113
Cape Cod Mass.
DD first started pitching as a second-year 10U in Rec. She was HE all the way, but threw a ton of strikes. She had like 80 Ks in 40 innings, less than 10 walks. She decided that being a pitcher was her thing and thanks to DFP, I learned about the wonders of IR.

Her first fall of 12U, bigger ball, 40 feet, new pitching style — it was a disaster. She walked everyone. Couldn’t buy a strike. She saw almost no circle time the following year, but she kept working on her own.

Fast forward to spring of second-year 12U, and she found her groove. She’s been between 65-69% strike percentage since then (thanks GameChanger).

So the moral is, kids go through different patches where the strike zone comes and goes. DD is working on some mechanics right now that are meant to increase her velocity, but she’s lost some accuracy as a result. It’s a process, there’s no timetable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is spot on, there are a lot of 10U, 12U stars who threw HE and got all the innings while the girls who were working on IR played in the field. Mechanics matter, "just throw strikes" is not a long term strategy. Eventually a pitcher will need a spin pitch if she keeps moving up the ladder.
 
Oct 26, 2019
1,375
113
Above 60% strikes is what I always targeted. At some point above that, you are throwing “too many strikes”. I also never stressed first pitch strikes much - Instead We wanted 2 strikes in the first 3 pitches since the difference in a 2-1 count and a 1-2 count is the biggest 1 pitch swing in softball/baseball. That way if the kid throws a first pitch ball they don’t just give up in the at bat and they know they can battle back.
 
Jan 28, 2017
1,662
83
I remember our PC telling me that if she walks less than 15 a game it’s a good game. I thought he was joking. Fortunately my DD has always been very accurate. His 2nd lesson he moved her to 43 feet and said let’s see how many strikes you can throw 8-10. Now if we can get more speed. 14 and 56 on a good day
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
By 12u, there is such a thing as too many strikes. The pitcher needs to work the corners and generally keep the ball low. If you look at Gamechanger, pitchers with too high a strike percentage are often giving up a lot of hits.

I've heard 67% is about right. Yes, nibble the corners. Some called, some not. We have a pitcher that throws 80% strikes. It's an impressive feat, but she gets lit up most games.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I've heard 67% is about right. Yes, nibble the corners. Some called, some not. We have a pitcher that throws 80% strikes. It's an impressive feat, but she gets lit up most games.
Depends on who you are facing. Nibbling makes no sense if the kid you are facing is overmatched. Of course as you advance in age/skill level, that occurs less often
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
Depends on who you are facing. Nibbling makes no sense if the kid you are facing is overmatched. Of course as you advance in age/skill level, that occurs less often

Agreed. Sorry, was assuming above average competition.
 

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