"Natural" curve ball?

[dinogirl]

10 year old DD has just started pitching the 12-inch ball in 12U rec games. She still pitches the 11-inch ball for her club team, so she practices with both. It's not really an issue, but I don't know if this factors in. In general she seems to have a lot more spin on the ball than the other pitchers on her team, though she doesn't throw it quite as hard (peak speed 46mph, my guess in games lower 40s). She has excellent control which helps.

She pitched in her first real game last night from 40 feet with the big ball. I noticed when I was warming her up on the side that the ball was curving, but I honestly thought it was the wind. She pitched a successful two innings and then the ump comes over to me (I am one of the coaches) and says, "That pitcher of yours has an amazing curve ball."

The catch is that is her 'fastball.' So the question is if your daughter's 'fastball' is really a curve ball, what do you do with that? While effective last night, is that an indication that maybe she is doing something wrong mechanically in general? Is this something that happens with some girls? Do you try to leave it alone and enjoy the ride? Her PC was just talking about teaching her a curve ball this summer. Would this be a bad idea and maybe mess up the pitch she is already throwing? Or if this pitch is already curving, maybe she needs to work on a fastball instead -- maybe this is the reason she throws it a little slower than the other pitchers on her team?

While I see the spin, I haven't noticed much movement on her 11-inch ball pitches, but I think that is probably because we're so close with those (35/6 feet).

 

[JAD]

Don't really have a good answer to your questions, but a lot of pitchers have a "tail" on their fastball. It does not break as much as the real pitch, but has enough movement to keep batters on their toes. My DD has a natural "screw" on her fastball.

 

[grcsftbll]

My 9 year old's fastball tends to tail off also. Her speed's nothing crazy, low to mid 40s, but she has a lot of spin. I think it'll be interesting to see what she does with a real curve ball whenever she learns that one.

 

[1bucketmom]

Video her to see what she's doing with particular focus on release. I wouldn't change a thing. Let her get this pitch "locked" in.
To naturally have movement on your pitch is gold.
You can always teach a "fastball" as a different pitch later.

 

[riseball]

If her fastball release results in a "curve" than something unique is going on. However at her age I would not try to fix it. Sounds like she has some good movement an command. As long a her mechanics are sound, I would embrace that and let her progress along her own path.

 

[Axe]

Sometimes small hands can cause interesting spin, especially as she moves to the 12" ball. It can seem gigantic. I wouldn't over think it. One day that "curve" will go away, it will spin like it's supposed to and you'll be trying to figure out how to get it back.

 

[Crystal Brown]

I think some girls get different spin depending on how the ball comes off the fingers.

 

[CoachBroker]

Throwing low 40s I doubt it is tailing however if she is hitting upper 40s then it it could be. I bet she is internally rotating right before release causing it to spin (opposite of screwball) away from rt handed batter. That's a deadly pitch in 10u.

 

[commish]

I am not a professional by any means but I will say my daughter had this issue this winter. She is 10. Her PC fixed the issue by getting correct spin which increased her speed by about 4MPH. I was also thinking it wasn't a bad thing that it moved with a slower speed but the PC said she was putting to much stress on shoulder at her age and corrected it to keep her from getting hurt. It may be different for your DD but glad I mentioned our issue to PC.

 

[quincy]

if it is not broke don't fix it but it sounds like the 12" ball is slipping out of her hand on release.

At some point you want her to be aware of it, but leave her alone for now.