Needing more accuracy.....

[sluggers]

I understand that "throw hard accuracy will come".....is there anything that helps to speed that along?

Hmmm....I certainly don't understand that. Control comes from good mechanics and hard work.

SO;

Make sure your DD has good brush interference. Brush interference is absolutely required for good control. Brush interference is where the arm brushes the side of the body prior to release. If she has no brush interference, then she will always struggle with accuracy. We have a whole sticky devoted to brush interference.

For your DD to develop "control", you and her have to understand what control is.

So, here it is: Control is the ability of a pitcher to move the ball in 3 to 4 inch (the diameter of a softball is 3.8 inches) increments around the strike zone. Your DD has to learn how to move the ball up/down/left and right.

The "quadrant" drill is the basic drill.

Step 1: Divide the plate in half. Have her practice throwing to the left side of the plate, and the right side of the plate. The ball does not have to be over the plate or in the strike zone. The goal is for her to learn how to move the ball side to side. Then, do the same thing for up and down. Again, don't worry if the ball is a strike...just have her learn how to throw the ball up or down.

Step 2 Divide the plate into four quadrants. (Inside high, outside high, inside low, outside low.) Same thing as above. Have her work on placing the ball into each quadrant "on demand".

Step 3: Same as intermediate, except now she has to hit the glove. At this stage, you leave the glove in the same spot until she hits it.

These drills form a process for practicing and judging control. In college, my DD would start at Step 3. If she couldn't hit the mitt, she would go to step 2. If she couldn't do Step 2, she would go to Step 1.

The drill is really important for your DD. Your DD should use the drill when warming up to pitch in a game. It forces her to be mentally focused on doing something specific with the ball, rather than mindlessly throwing the ball under her arm is loose.


How long does this take? My DD did the quadrant drill from the time she was 13 until she graduated.

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[Rick M]

She just turned 10. Started actively throwing 1 year ago in rec ball. Took lessons from August through October, getting ready to start back up. Admittedly. We haven't practiced as much as I would like, but I do feel like we have practiced enough for her to be able to throw more than 1 strike out of 20......just wondering if anyone had any advice.

My best advice would be to develop some thick skin and the patience of a Saint. August through October is only three months of lessons, it's going to take much, much, much, more than that before you see any kind of efficiency.

Next year, when she's a second-year 10U, you're going to be feeling great when your DD starts mowing down hitters. Don't be fooled. When she moves back to 40 feet and has to throw a 12" ball it will be like starting all over again. If at any point you feel as though she's "practiced enough," take a deep breath and remember that pitching is a huge commitment and that there are college and pro pitchers who have trouble finding the strike zone.

 

[uncdrew]

She just turned 10. Started actively throwing 1 year ago in rec ball. Took lessons from August through October, getting ready to start back up. Admittedly. We haven't practiced as much as I would like, but I do feel like we have practiced enough for her to be able to throw more than 1 strike out of 20......just wondering if anyone had any advice.

As a point of reference for you.

My 9 year old joined the travel team last Summer/Fall and raised her hand when the coach asked who wanted to pitch. 4 girls raised their hands. Coach explained to the girls and parents that to be a pitcher they would have to have weekly lessons and the coach lined up professionals for us. Girls and parents also told they would have to practice often to get better and while all 4 girls would get game time, the best ones would get more game time.

So my daughter and I took it seriously. More than some of the others probably.

It's been about a year. So we've had 40+ lessons and throw about 100 pitches 4-5 days per week. We warm up the same every time, and some days we do drills a bit more than full pitch, depending. Some days we quit early if she's frustrated, grumpy, etc. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Over the cold and wet off-season, we kept our schedule. I know many girls didn't/couldn't.

Daughter in Fall season (2018) pitched 49% strikes in games, and in Spring (2019) was up to 60%. Went from 0.9 strikeouts per inning in 2018 to 1.4 in 2019. Walks went from 1.2 per inning to 0.6 per inning. First pitch strikes went from 46% to 61%.

My advice? Continued lessons (with the right instructor) and hard work. And for you and the coaches, patience and support and the knowledge that it'll come. Somedays it feels like there's no improvement, but like my situation, if you work hard you will see season-to-season improvements.

 

[uncdrew]

good mechanics and lots of quality reps. I set up a 5' foam ball on top of a tee and that's her target. 10U pitches at 35' so set it up 10 or 15' away for a bucket, back another 10' or 15' for a bucket and then have her pitch to "batters." finish with some long toss and an ice cream.

A 5 foot foam ball is a pretty big target.

 

[justAdad2]

My best advice would be to develop some thick skin and the patience of a Saint. August through October is only three months of lessons, it's going to take much, much, much, more than that before you see any kind of efficiency.

Next year, when she's a second-year 10U, you're going to be feeling great when your DD starts mowing down hitters. Don't be fooled. When she moves back to 40 feet and has to throw a 12" ball it will be like starting all over again. If at any point you feel as though she's "practiced enough," take a deep breath and remember that pitching is a huge commitment and that there are college and pro pitchers who have trouble finding the strike zone.

this is the best advice i read so far. OP keep in mind pitching is a marathon just keep working on mechanics dont worry about strikes they will come.

 

[HasBeenorNeverWas]

Have you read the IR in the classroom thread? A Sticky at the top. If not, get a cup of Coffee and go to town. The Yuotube below outlines the drills.



Is your coach teaching this? If not find another coach. Also, are you exagerrating when you say 1 out of 20 are strikes? How far off are they?

Her coach is teaching this. Not exaggerating unfortunately it's getting better, because I can actually catch a lot more than I used to be able to (they aren't to far outside my reach) but we are still not hitting a strike zone very often at all.

 

[HasBeenorNeverWas]

I hate the "throw hard..." snippet. It is usually a parents excuse for a player that has never learned to throw underhand properly. Further the complexities of pitching cant be distilled to aphorisms.
Immerse yourself here and, learn and do, repeat endlessly. Mostly as a parent you need patience for your DD to develop (it is an arduous process) and steel yourself against coaches who want results now.
As for accuracy, there was a cool video clip they played last nite of the Fouts girl throwing to her catcher who was behind a stack of cinder blocks and those plastic hitter statues in each box. Her goal was to thread the needle in and out.

Saw that! And showed my kid ☺

 

[Ken B]

Sorry if I missed it, but is she pitching in games right now? Many kids struggle with making changes when required to pitch. I’d suggest shooting some video of her demonstrating good form during lessons or practice, then comparing what she sees in game video.

I went back and read through your posts. Do NOT focus on control. Form, form and more form. When she has decent posture with brush, she will start to throw to one spot and should be able to do this with her eyes closed.

Soon after she demonstrates trust and consistency with form, casually move your glove around with no expectation to hit it. Your primary job is to fetch, not catch.

Cheridan Hawkins reportedly took nine months off to focus on form and spins. It’s a journey, and there are few shortcuts...

Trust the form. The sooner this happens, the sooner she’ll be able to work on spots and spins.

 

[Dandan111]

I would spend more time on side throws and A lot less time on full pitches. You'll both be happier. My Dd is 12 now. We've seen a few pitching coaches. We have a Tincher coach I like,Practice is much more enjoyable for us.

 

[SWPadad]

I agree with Dandan, spend more time throwing from the K position than full. Also i would throw in to a net at the beginning of practice and really work on brush interference(BI) making sure her stride foot is at 45 degrees or less and is standing tall with no lean. If not you will having trouble with brush. As she is throwing keep an eye on her fingers after she throws if she has cupped fingers she has spun the ball if she has a open hand she chucked the ball and is guiding it.
Practice throwing with her eyes closed. By doing this she has has to rely on feel of brush right at release. I use the que "brush, spin the ball". Like i said earlier watch the fingers most girls don't spin the ball every time.
After that you can do regular pitching. Have her pitch with her eyes closed. You will be surprised she will throw more strikes with her eyes closed than open.