Is it safe to teach a 9 year old a Screwball?

[Topdog@3rd]

Screwball,
Yep agree, It just kills me to think that a Pc or more likely a parent thinks at 9 it time to teach his kid this, SoCal in his first post had heard about someone teaching a screw at 9.

And about "what the coaches would say" about a 9 yr old learning a screw, I just think there would be some chuckles out there followed be some sort of comment.

Agree that is why this board is good. I just never thought I'd get so wrapped up in one topic (Pitching) I think my dd's and there coach are rubbing off on me, I really think that guy never sleeps, lol. But man, I can sit and lission to him for hours, knows a lot and is one of the most passionate persons I've ever meet.

 

[starsnuffer]

One thing to remember is that, for the majority of pitchers in youth softball, their parent IS the coach, and even if they know better, their egos are usually to big for them to admit it.

The other thing you have to keep in mind is that for a coach of a softball team, there are a ton of responsibilities and skills that need to be taught, and it's simply impossible to teach or reteach a pitcher within the confines of a team. Pitching is an individual experience that requires individual instruction outside of team practice. A softball team coach may know that something is wrong, and may even comment on it or suggest the pitcher work on it, but we know that the results are going to depend on outside instruction and practice.

I had a girl last year who was my #2 pitcher. She was 13 and her father loved telling me that she had a "drop, curve, screw, changeup, and "a killer fastball with tons of movement". The kid was fierce and had a ton of speed, and since she was playing 12u she was successful with her speed alone.

The problem was that she had no control over her fastball (I guess that's what killer movement means, no one knows where the damn thing is going). Her "screw" and her "curve" didn't break (much like the OP's video), but she pitched the "screw" inside and the "curve" outside, so I just had the catcher call accordingly as if she would any "lesser" pitchers inside and outside fastball. Did I try explaining this to dad and daughter? Absolutely. Did it help? Hell no.

The "drop ball", btw, was a pitch in the dirt, I found. If she hit a batter in the head I'm sure that would have been her "Rise ball".

Point is, a head coach can't change a pitcher, we can only decide who actually pitches for us. In this kids case, she really did try very hard, had a good attitude, ect, and at 12u speed works, so yeah I let her pitch. I don't think she'll have much success unless she adjusts and I made sure she understood that, no matter how much she didn't want to hear it

-W

 

[quincy]

I am always going to be my DD coach, we have a professional helping us, but I am her coach. They give us advice on what to work on.

In LL a kid, not on my team, destroyed his arm throwing curve balls. He had potential but was done at 11 years old. My pitching arm is a little bit off from throwing screw balls in baseball.

If she is manipulates her arm in any way to throw a screw ball, stop! If it is the release of the ball is off her hand, go for it.