Is learning to pitch early in softball career beneficial?

[mudbug]

I agree, there are exceptions to every rule. But I would say that learning the windmill is one of the harder and un-natural movements in sports. It can take a year just to develop muscle memory for the movement before starting to get the most out of it.

That is why any girl on the field cant just go up and hack pitching in a game if needed to . I would say it takes minimum 3-4 years to become a very good pitcher, even with talent for it and good instruction. So is it possible? yes. Is it smart to wait ? Absolutely not. Since girls get recruited at 16 (or earlier) they generally need to be pitching at 12 yo if they want a shot, and 10-11 is even better.

I would agree that it is not necessary to start before 11 though.

 

[MVLA Softball]

My DD would have a problem with this use of Monica Abbott as an example of someone who starting pitching in high school. They faced in each as 8th graders (they might have been 7th graders, but I think 8th). Abbott started pitching when she was 12. I was coaching my DD's All Star team and Abbott pitched for the Salinas All Star team (Bobby Sox). They were on opposing teams for the fall ball team as well ("Super Sox"), but they did not face each other.
I mention the Bobby Sox connection because my dd stopped playing in the organization once she was in high school, so I am certain the encounters had to be in grade school.

In grade school, Abbott had control issues, but it was clear that she was ahead of every pitcher of an opposing team (unfortunately, including my DD).
I agree with you SoCalSoftballDad, and discount Abbott as being relevant to the issue of the effect of starting to pitch while in high shool.

 

[Lozza]

I think it depends what you want out of it. If American fast-pitch finishes by college age (excluding the top players) then yes you'd defentitly need to be pitching by an early age. If you want to play state or national level in Australia I'd say a simillar age for starting.

But if you want to be a good local comp pitcher, or even rep pitcher I think you can be older and still be very, very good. As I said on the other topic, I was 18 when I started pitching full time (I' d pitched for about five months in U'12s but didn't stick with it. I prefered first base at that time) I've pitched to a state league level in the top state in Australia and am currently one of the better pitchers in my local A grade comp. I will admit a big part of that is genetics (my mother was a state pitcher and I've always been described as a natural) and I'm struggling now to teach myself a change up (if its all natural its hard to change the hand movements!) though I have seem to got the hand of the drop ball. (reduction in speed, but once I get these two pitches right I'll get my speed back up)

The hardest thing to teach mid-teens is the movement. I've had a couple of older girls (14/15) and they really struggle to get the movement right and flowing. The younger girls don't seem to have this issue. One of my pitchers, I've had to walk through the motion with her, with me physically moving her body for her. It seems to have clicked thankfully.

 

[Jojo]

My DD would have a problem with this use of Monica Abbott as an example of someone who starting pitching in high school. They faced in each as 8th graders (they might have been 7th graders, but I think 8th). Abbott started pitching when she was 12. I was coaching my DD's All Star team and Abbott pitched for the Salinas All Star team (Bobby Sox). They were on opposing teams for the fall ball team as well ("Super Sox"), but they did not face each other.

In grade school, Abbott had control issues, but it was clear that she was ahead of every pitcher of an opposing team (unfortunately, including my DD).
I agree with you SoCalSoftballDad, and discount Abbott as being relevant to the issue of the effect of starting to pitch while in high shool.

My DD faced Abbott in a 18U tournament, they were both 16.
I remember her well, because she was so tall and gangly. I took a picture of her and thought to myself "wow", this kid's going somewhere. I asked around and was told she was 6'2".
We had a great team at the time, one of the better hitting teams, and Abbott threw a 1-hitter against us. My DD threw a 4-hitter.
Our single hitter never moved past 1st base. It was one of those games where you know your kid is pitching one of her best games, but no way she's winning this one!
Osterman was a little older than my DD, but played in a lot of the same tournaments as my DD, but they never played against each other. I did hear at younger ages Osterman was not as dominate until she reached her Sophomore year, all I know is that her senior year, every week when we would check DD's pitching stats in the newspaper, Ostermans were ALWAYS 0.00!

 

[mudbug]

Just something to think about...My dh is a former MLB pitcher who is now a minor league manager. His roommate in triple A was on a football scholarship. He hung out with many of the guys on the baseball team as they were all in the same dorm. Never played baseball in HS. He went to watch a practice at his Div. 1 college and picked up a ball and threw it. They started goofing around and he was trying to pitch. Lo and behold this big left hander was whipping the ball in there. Coach saw and told him to come in and pitch to the catcher. He was throwing 95 mph as a left hander who had never pitched before. Needless to say the went on to pitch for the USA Olympic team and was a #1 draft pick by the Seattle Mariners. Another kid he had this year was a short stop at Fresno State. He started pitching his sophmore year in college as a long reliever as some guys in the bull pen were hurt. Yes, he was also a #1 draft pick by the Texas Rangers. There is something physically with having a "fresh arm." Mark Prior would be a good example here..Won every accolade in high school and college, but arm troubles - wear and tear on his joint have prohibited any career. I know he had his arm insured and will be set financially for the rest of his life, but never really got to reach his potential in MLB. I don't know if pushing these kids at 8 has any benefits compared to waiting for these girls to mature and grow a little more. Many of the women on the US Softball team didn't start pitching until 11 or later.On the other hand, girls physically mature earlier than boys, so does this work in the girls favor to start early since most of them top out in HS and are done after college. I think this would be a good medical study subject for some med school to do.

The windmill is very different. It is not a natural throwing movement. Any boy on a HS baseball team can get on the mound and hack pitching, even if he doesnt have any junk pitches. Any girl cannot just step on a rubber and pitch windmill. It is much harder to learn and develop muscle memory, it generally takes a fair amount of time.