- Jun 6, 2018
- 305
- 43
Oldest started at 8u and just signed her commitment letter for college last month.
Here are my things.
Have them prove they want to do it when they are young. My daughter literally spent 4-6 hours a day on just doing the motions and drills when she was 9-10. This developed the muscle memory necessary to carry it forward.
Learn control at an early age. By 10 my daughter was throwing 90% in the strike zone and spotting pitches. This helps them going forward.
Do not try throwing 4+ pitches before you can even spot your fastball or consistently throw a changeup for a strike.8 Too many girls want to throw 4+ pitches but wend up not throwing any of them effectively.
Work on these things in order. First learn control, then work on your core (legs, stomach, arm whip), then work on spin, and finally long toss and building speed. Too many want to throw hard but fail to throw strikes and have low spin rate. Those girls get hit hard in 16u+.
Definitely a proponent of using tools to develop speed and movement. Use weighted balls for muscle development for speed, use a 14" ball and some kind of device to develop spin. Movement does so much more for girls as they get older.
Lastly, work with them to develop the psyche of a successful pitcher. This is hard because girls are all different but you want them to pitch the same way whether no outs bases loaded or nobody on and 2 outs. Too many girls i see completely shut down a team for 3-4 innings and then give up a hit and then completely come off the rails.
Encourage them when they do good and let them know what to work on to get better. I know I see too many take either of the extremes, meaning all praise or all negativity, neither approach is successful in the end.
Be ready to put the time in with them throughout the process as pitchers require the most commitment for lessons, etc.
Now to one thing I look back on wish i could know then what I know now. Daughter had a tiny crow hop at an early age to gain speed. Never had an ump call her out but coaches would always say something. Seeing what gets the most speed and strongest deliveries in college/pro these days wish I never worked to correct it. The umpiring is so off and majority of top end pitchers use this in some variation to get their extra speed.
Here are my things.
Have them prove they want to do it when they are young. My daughter literally spent 4-6 hours a day on just doing the motions and drills when she was 9-10. This developed the muscle memory necessary to carry it forward.
Learn control at an early age. By 10 my daughter was throwing 90% in the strike zone and spotting pitches. This helps them going forward.
Do not try throwing 4+ pitches before you can even spot your fastball or consistently throw a changeup for a strike.8 Too many girls want to throw 4+ pitches but wend up not throwing any of them effectively.
Work on these things in order. First learn control, then work on your core (legs, stomach, arm whip), then work on spin, and finally long toss and building speed. Too many want to throw hard but fail to throw strikes and have low spin rate. Those girls get hit hard in 16u+.
Definitely a proponent of using tools to develop speed and movement. Use weighted balls for muscle development for speed, use a 14" ball and some kind of device to develop spin. Movement does so much more for girls as they get older.
Lastly, work with them to develop the psyche of a successful pitcher. This is hard because girls are all different but you want them to pitch the same way whether no outs bases loaded or nobody on and 2 outs. Too many girls i see completely shut down a team for 3-4 innings and then give up a hit and then completely come off the rails.
Encourage them when they do good and let them know what to work on to get better. I know I see too many take either of the extremes, meaning all praise or all negativity, neither approach is successful in the end.
Be ready to put the time in with them throughout the process as pitchers require the most commitment for lessons, etc.
Now to one thing I look back on wish i could know then what I know now. Daughter had a tiny crow hop at an early age to gain speed. Never had an ump call her out but coaches would always say something. Seeing what gets the most speed and strongest deliveries in college/pro these days wish I never worked to correct it. The umpiring is so off and majority of top end pitchers use this in some variation to get their extra speed.