How much is too much?

[cbullard]

Last weekend my DD's softball team won a tournament they were in. My DD pitched every game of the tournament for her team (including a 7-0 shut out in the title game....proud Dad moment). So, she has pitched over 4 games in a 24 hr period. My wife is really concerned that it's too much for her to pitch that much. The coach also used her in league play the Monday after as well.

What is too much?

 

[xygent1]

4 games could be too much but also could not be too much, were the games easy for her? how many actual pitches did she throw etc. in my DD's case she avg's about 17 pitches per inning and shes usually productive until she starts getting over 200 pitches thrown so in most cases 3 solid games worth. but as a coach I definitely wouldn't of thrown her in the league game on mon.

 

[cbullard]

Thanks everyone. My DD is 12 years old. I'd imagine she was close to or over 200 pitches.

 

[humpty]

5 games let's say avg 5 innings each. 25 innings 16 pitches an inning. 400 pitches plus another 125 pitches with 5 warmup pitches per inning. And I'm guessing she warmed at least 3 times pregame so another 150 pitches. I'm guessing she was closer to 700 pitches.

 

[cbullard]

Wow, Humpty never thought about it like that. I'm wondering if I should talk to the coach? She pitches her a ton because she doesn't trust the other pitchers.

 

[xygent1]

I agree with humpty it was probably closer to that #, as for my DDs pitch count was totally game pitches I wasn't counting warm-ups, my DD used to have to throw 50+ warm-ups to hit her spots consistently where as now shes 50% less to be consistent.

 

[JAD]

How many pitches did she throw? Game Changer and iScore do a great job of counting pitches (includes balls and strikes, first pitch strikes, ect). I would be more concerned with pitch count vs. innings or games played. Most tournament games are timed and you may only play 4 or 5 innings. I would also ask how hard your DD throws. It seems like pitchers who throw hard can throw fewer pitches than ones who rely on spin.

 

[cbullard]

Jad, according to the coach she threw around 200 pitches....she throws in the low 50's and she throws two pitches. Drop and change up. So, she either gets strike outs or ground ball outs.

 

[Jojo]

How many pitches did she throw? Game Changer and iScore do a great job of counting pitches (includes balls and strikes, first pitch strikes, ect). I would be more concerned with pitch count vs. innings or games played. Most tournament games are timed and you may only play 4 or 5 innings. I would also ask how hard your DD throws. It seems like pitchers who throw hard can throw fewer pitches than ones who rely on spin.

I know this has a lot to do with it, how many pitches actually throwing, time between innings/games, etc.

Back when my DD was pitching, no one was ever concerned with over-use then. A typical tournament consisted of a 5 game guarantee, so she would pitch between 5-7 games over a weekend.
It really was too much and did move her to a team with more pitchers the next year.
I think your coach needs to be developing more pitchers on the team.

 

[cbullard]

She had back to back games and a 1 hr break before the other last Saturda. Title game was last Sunday