OMG...I spewed my coke when I read this!! This is great! Thanks for keeping it in perspective for me!!
My DD is Jekyll and Hyde: need help!!!
- Thread starter stephanie
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OMG...I spewed my coke when I read this!! This is great! Thanks for keeping it in perspective for me!!
Is she going to pitching lessons? If so, see if you can take the catcher with you. See if you can hint that the catcher needs to get some private lessons. Also, is the coach working with the catcher at all? Is she using a mitt? Is she moving the target inside and outside and not setting up down the middle?
More times than not, as my pitchers get better, the catcher can't handle them.
More times than not, as my pitchers get better, the catcher can't handle them.
- Jul 14, 2008
- 1,796
- 63
If you want to gain some insite on how YOU can help her handle things like this........You can listen to this guy's pod casts..........He's outstanding.......Not for her.......For YOU........
Peak Performance Sports Pod Casts
Peak Performance Sports Pod Casts
- May 25, 2010
- 1,070
- 0
I couldn't agree more. You've seen her talent and it's not going away. She's only going to get better.
As was pointed, she is 10 YOA...but, to go a little farther:
Most likely, the problem is that she is having trouble identifying the strike zone of the umpire and then can't accurately place the ball into the umpire's strike zone. So, she slows down. When she slows down, her mechanics get messed up, and she can't find the plate with a GPS and a compass.
You have to teach her:
(1) how to determine an umpire's strike zone.
(2) how to place the ball within the umpire's strike zone.
You teach kids how to move the placement of the ball on consecutive pitches left to right and up and down. You don't teach kids how to throw strikes--because there is no universal strike zone in softball. There is only whatever strike zone the umpire is calling that day.
Most likely, the problem is that she is having trouble identifying the strike zone of the umpire and then can't accurately place the ball into the umpire's strike zone. So, she slows down. When she slows down, her mechanics get messed up, and she can't find the plate with a GPS and a compass.
You have to teach her:
(1) how to determine an umpire's strike zone.
(2) how to place the ball within the umpire's strike zone.
You teach kids how to move the placement of the ball on consecutive pitches left to right and up and down. You don't teach kids how to throw strikes--because there is no universal strike zone in softball. There is only whatever strike zone the umpire is calling that day.
- Jul 14, 2008
- 1,796
- 63
How would you know how good she is in pregame.....UNLESS.......she's throwing to you in in the pregame warmup......
If she is.......then there is the problem.........Not with you of course.......But the confidence she shows in warmups to you........is likely because she IS confident when throwing TO YOU.........or even her PC........
If So.............then how do you get her to throw with the same confidence in the game.........
Several suggestions come to mind.........
1.) Pay her.........For strikes or strikeouts.........Say.......10 cents per strike.........And 25 cents for every strikeout......With no penalties for balls.........Would it be worth 5 bucks a game to see your kid throw a few no-no's?.......
2.) Challenge her........Say with a little game of "knock the glove off"..........See how many times she can knock the catchers glove off in inning or a game.........Remove the fear of the catchers inabilities...........Besides.........Changeups are worthless unless you can establish the fastball..........
3.) Play a little game of what I call "shooting gallery" in practice..........Move the glove from side to side-corner to corner in a constant slow movement.........And tell her try to hit the glove at the exact time the glove reaches a corner......Change it up by switching to a diagonal movement from low and in to up and out......Then up and in to low and out.......with the same goal...........Hit the glove when it reaches the target.........After she gets proficient at this "fastball" game..........Add the changeup for the down and out target........She gets to pick when to windup......and which target to hit........As you keep the glove moving to the pre-choosen 2 locations.......
You'll be amazed at how much this teaches a student to be in charge of where the ball goes........With the added distraction of movement........
4.) Teach her to play shortstop...........It's the next best thing to pitching..........
- Sep 3, 2009
- 674
- 0
Who is she warming up with, pre-game? If you seriously suspect that it may be an issue of switching from dad to the catcher, then have them practice together outside of team practice. Encourage them to talk during these practices, not chit chat, but working out what works best for each of them. It could be something as simple as she isn't comfortable how the catcher is holding her mitt, or perhaps the timing is off between the two of them. Get this worked out, and you'll see big results.
Board,
You are cracking me up with that last response. Next you will be telling people the Giants are in the World Series.
Stephanie.
I have parents who tell me the same thing about their pitchers. Get into the game and fall apart. There are a lot of good responses to this in the thread. And the one I am going to give you kind of leads in that same direction. First your daughter is a 10U pitcher. The key for success is consistency in controlling the flight of the ball. Regardless of the kind of pitch she is throwing. That is the same key for an 18U gold pitcher. But yours IS 10. She doesnt have thousands of hours of practice and hundreds of hour of mound time behind her. Experience is the best teacher. Period.
I can promise you when that batter steps into the box your daughter is having a couple of thoughts . 1. I dont want to hit this girl. I am afraid I will hurt her 2. I dont want to walk this girl. My coach will get mad. (If he does hes an idiot for yelling at a 10 player to begin with. Some coaches just dont get it. ) 3. I dont want to let my team down.
Those alone would scare the snot out of any 10U pitcher. So, she has a great warmup and then steps onto the mound. The girl that was pounding your hand during warmups throws 4 straight balls. High,Low, In, and Out. And you scratch your head and go what the heck just happened? More often than not she is trying to "Guide" the ball to the target. I see this all the time in my back yard.
One of the test I do with my young students is I will take an old large stuffed animal and sit in on the top of the bucket. I will give them 10 pitches and tell them I want to see how many times they hit the animal. In my case its a large stuffed rabbit I have had for many years. So at the same time I am doing my best Elmer Fudd imitation and telling the pitcher to "Kill da Wabbit" Makes the parents laugh but the kids dont have a clue who Elmer Fudd is any more so they think their coach has gone insane.
Anyway I am not really interested in seeing how many times they are going to hit the bunny as much as what happens when I put pressure on them on the mound. More often than not I see EXACTLY what your talking about. They slow down and try to guide the ball to the target. Of course the results are poor. So then we work on getting them to throw the ball and not guide the ball to the target.
Lo and behold when they start throwing it instead of guiding it the results start getting better and better. Once they understand that then it translates over into the game.
Give it a try and see what happens.
Good luck and let me know the results.
Dana.
You are cracking me up with that last response. Next you will be telling people the Giants are in the World Series.
Stephanie.
I have parents who tell me the same thing about their pitchers. Get into the game and fall apart. There are a lot of good responses to this in the thread. And the one I am going to give you kind of leads in that same direction. First your daughter is a 10U pitcher. The key for success is consistency in controlling the flight of the ball. Regardless of the kind of pitch she is throwing. That is the same key for an 18U gold pitcher. But yours IS 10. She doesnt have thousands of hours of practice and hundreds of hour of mound time behind her. Experience is the best teacher. Period.
I can promise you when that batter steps into the box your daughter is having a couple of thoughts . 1. I dont want to hit this girl. I am afraid I will hurt her 2. I dont want to walk this girl. My coach will get mad. (If he does hes an idiot for yelling at a 10 player to begin with. Some coaches just dont get it. ) 3. I dont want to let my team down.
Those alone would scare the snot out of any 10U pitcher. So, she has a great warmup and then steps onto the mound. The girl that was pounding your hand during warmups throws 4 straight balls. High,Low, In, and Out. And you scratch your head and go what the heck just happened? More often than not she is trying to "Guide" the ball to the target. I see this all the time in my back yard.
One of the test I do with my young students is I will take an old large stuffed animal and sit in on the top of the bucket. I will give them 10 pitches and tell them I want to see how many times they hit the animal. In my case its a large stuffed rabbit I have had for many years. So at the same time I am doing my best Elmer Fudd imitation and telling the pitcher to "Kill da Wabbit" Makes the parents laugh but the kids dont have a clue who Elmer Fudd is any more so they think their coach has gone insane.
Anyway I am not really interested in seeing how many times they are going to hit the bunny as much as what happens when I put pressure on them on the mound. More often than not I see EXACTLY what your talking about. They slow down and try to guide the ball to the target. Of course the results are poor. So then we work on getting them to throw the ball and not guide the ball to the target.
Lo and behold when they start throwing it instead of guiding it the results start getting better and better. Once they understand that then it translates over into the game.
Give it a try and see what happens.
Good luck and let me know the results.
Dana.
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