How much practice is enough?

[fastpitch]

Is it average that 10 YOA pitchers throw at 45 with better than average control, or is this DD special? If specail I would be very careful which PC you choose and how much she practices to avoid "overuse". I find it amazing though that someone that just turned 10 and has been pitching for 6 months is throwing 45 mph. To put into perspective, the girls in the Big East Conference final were throwing low (very low) 60's. In my opinion, you may have someone special there. Do you have any video?

Girls mature at different ages and rates and some girls throw harder than others more quickly. 45 at 10 is pretty good but IMHO still too early to think about D1. In our area the better 10u club teams have pitchers who throw at that speed or higher regularly. We faced more than few pitchers at 10U in the upper 40s. They were all softball age 9. The really good 10u eligible pitchers who are 11 usually move up to 12u.

 

[BBRB]

How often should my daughter practice pitching each week??? My daughter just turned 10. She is an athletic girl at around 5 feet tall and 95 pounds. This is her first year of travel softball and first year of pitching. She began pitching about 6 months ago. At present, she is throwing about 45 mph and has very good control - averages about 2 walks per game. Currently, she works with a pitching coach once/week, throws an average of 2 games/week, and throws for about an hour at each of two team practices per week. She is upset when I tell her that she needs to take a day off and rest - she just lives to pitch. I don't want her to a) get burnt out, b) injure herself, or c) get worn out. I don't want to discourage the drive to improve either. How much is too much?

I think the schedule you described is PLENTY...I would suggest to let her get her pitching fix by working on pitching related items that could be done while resting the arm...ei: Practive using fingers to create and control spin just tossing a ball up....or fielding bunts....reviewing video of her games or lessons.

 

[Coach Stan]

I tell all my students this. If you are pitching in travel/ high school/allstars and pitch atleast 2 full games during the week or on the weekend and see me once a week 2 other 1/2 hour workout is important. If you are pitching in rec league and getting in less than 14 inning then add an additional day for work out. Yes the pitching motion is easy on the body. But fatigue sets in and injuries do start after over use. A pitcher's body needs to regenerate and heal. I have used this method for almost 35 years and thank god most parents listen to me and most if not all of my pitchers have gone thru their pitching career injury free. When they get into college is another story.

 

[FJRGerry]

Personally I think every day is too much, unless only 50 or so pitches are being thrown each day. My goal for my daughter (who is 14 now) is four days a week throwing 100 - 150 pitches each practice. With school and travel ball she was pitching 2 entire games for school per week and 3 - 10 innings per weekend for tournaments, so we did no separate practicing. The body needs to recuperate and rest.

 

[Illini Rick]

All, Just wanted to say thank you for the comments. I just recently found this forum and the advice on here is (mostly) very good. Throwing 5 days per week is going to be our norm for the remainder of the year. Not sure if it's right or wrong, but hey, dad needs a rest even if she doesn't! Thanks again.

 

[SoftSocDad]

5 days of pitching per week for a 10yo is plenty.

I've got an eager newbie as well, so I understand having to force DD to take a day off. Mine walks around the house swinging her arm on her off days.