My daughter pitched her entire 9U season (still age 9), and did pretty well. She is definitely the most consistent pitcher on her team, and has good velocity for her age as well (compared to other teams we've faced).
As part of her windup, she slaps her leg with her glove. I've seen other pitchers do this, also. Her pitching coach commented on it (not his preference, but up to her), and let her continue with it. When this became part of her windup last winter, I did some research on it and found some commentary on how it's probably not a big deal at this age, but as she gets older good hitters will learn to time her pitches from the noise of the slap. Other than the bruises that she constantly has on her leg where she hits it (and the looks we get when she wears shorts in public), is the pitch timing issue a big enough reason to work on changing her windup during the off season? Or are there other reasons that we should work to change this now as well?
As a side note, she went to a pitching camp this summer at a local university (mid-season, maybe not such a great idea) and did change her wind-up for the next game based on what she'd learned there - which did not include a leg slap (along with other things - because a 9 year old thinks this is totally okay to try new things). After the first batter, the coach got my attention in the stands and asked me if my daughter planned on only pitching change-ups for the whole game - it changed her velocity that drastically. After that game, I told her that if she wanted to change her windup, it had to be done in the off-season. Just curious now as our season is wrapping up if it is really something we should work on.
Also - if it matters - her coach informed us that he intends to play only Class A level 10U ball next season and going forward.
Thank you!
As part of her windup, she slaps her leg with her glove. I've seen other pitchers do this, also. Her pitching coach commented on it (not his preference, but up to her), and let her continue with it. When this became part of her windup last winter, I did some research on it and found some commentary on how it's probably not a big deal at this age, but as she gets older good hitters will learn to time her pitches from the noise of the slap. Other than the bruises that she constantly has on her leg where she hits it (and the looks we get when she wears shorts in public), is the pitch timing issue a big enough reason to work on changing her windup during the off season? Or are there other reasons that we should work to change this now as well?
As a side note, she went to a pitching camp this summer at a local university (mid-season, maybe not such a great idea) and did change her wind-up for the next game based on what she'd learned there - which did not include a leg slap (along with other things - because a 9 year old thinks this is totally okay to try new things). After the first batter, the coach got my attention in the stands and asked me if my daughter planned on only pitching change-ups for the whole game - it changed her velocity that drastically. After that game, I told her that if she wanted to change her windup, it had to be done in the off-season. Just curious now as our season is wrapping up if it is really something we should work on.
Also - if it matters - her coach informed us that he intends to play only Class A level 10U ball next season and going forward.
Thank you!