Phantasmagorical

[SoCalDad]

People who achieve great things must be willing to fail.

The first pitch my DD ever threw in a game as a first 8U player went straight down the middle of the plate, over the backstop and almost hit a car in the parking lot. After the game DD asked me, "Did you see that first pitch? It went straight!!".

Winners also celebrate the positive and minimize the negative.

 

[RookKev]

BCD.
What is the size of your two pitchers? I am curious about height and weight for each. The velocity you cite it very nice. I'm not concerned about the control vs speed debate.... I'm just more interested in the dynamics of girls pitching in this age range, and the speed they can/have hit. How long have they been pitching?

I'm surprised at 10U both of you are content to share the mound time with that kind of speed.

 

[joemcq51]

They both throw hard for 10 years old, about a month ago they got clocked between 49 and 53 mph. over 8 pitches.

That is flat gas for 10U. 53mph from 35'. I would assume they are either gonna strike em out or walk em. Just to give you an idea how quick that is, it equates to about a 65 mph pitch from 43'.

 

[sluggers]

Why do I have my doubts about a 10YOA kid throwing 53?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Sluggers, it is impossible. But, PCs will lie to parents. And inexperienced parents believe them. I am guessing that it is 43, which would still be very good for a 10YO. But, they are at 35 feet and throwing an 11 inch ball. You can't get too excited about it, until they move back to 40 and 43 feet, and use a real ball.

I have 3 early 12 YOs that I teach. They are known to be pretty good. They top out at 51 and cruise at 48. They have been in lessons with me for 3 years.

 

[PA SB Dad]

Why do I have my doubts about a 10YOA kid throwing 53?

Not just one 10yo, but TWO! Hence my earlier comments about a troll! Or a dad who does not realize just how extraordinary that is...

 

[LAdad]

Not just one 10yo, but TWO! Hence my earlier comments about a troll! Or a dad who does not realize just how extraordinary that is...

If everyone who exaggerates their DD's pitching prowess is a troll, then what's this board: Asgard?

As a rule, a troll doesn't say "thank you, you're right" when you point out the errors of his way.

 

[joemcq51]

Give me two 53mph 10YOA pitchers and 9 other girls. I'm looking for a nationals top 5 finish.

 

[Bill Bollinger]

I had the worst experience last night as our girls bounced back to even the season series at 2-2.

As a matter of fact the experience was surreal.

Let me give you some background – We have 2 pitchers on the team (both about 7-9 months of once a week pro training and constant at home and team practices) and one of them is my daughter and the other is the head coach's daughter. They both throw hard for 10 years old, about a month ago they got clocked between 49 and 53 mph. over 8 pitches. They both have good action on the ball, tough to see the seams and often there is a slight "wrinkle" on the ball as it makes it's way in.

This is where the story falls apart. Because they can't consistently throw strikes, we have found ourselves giving up almost all of our runs on walks. They either strike them out or walk them in, some of the better girls can hit them. Anyway, we loose the first game of the season on walks and not getting timely hits and we loose our second game the same way. However, in one of those losses my kid comes in in relief, inherits a bases loaded no outs situation and strikes out the side on 13 pitches. Everybody, including myself, sees light at the end of the tunnel. All the work is paying off! Our third game the other pitcher goes the entire game with stellar defense playing behind her and not only a wins but wins with a no hitter! We are all excited now as we see what can be and can't wait until the next game so we can get back to even on the season. It would seem we now have 2 pitchers that are throwing hard and getting it in (or close) to the strike zone!

The fourth game of the season my daughter starts and does not even make it out of the first inning. She struck out 2, walked 2 and (ugh.) hit 3 batters. (2 in the toes, the third in the back. ugh.) She was done by rule. She got moved to first and the head coaches daughter pitched well enough to get us thru the game. We won. But I felt like we lost. After she hit the third batter I was in shock. I did not say anything, I don't yell at any of the kids during a game, but I just felt terrible. How could this have happened? What was wrong with my coaching? What was wrong with the pro I hired? What was wrong with my kid?!? Mechanics? Technique? Been thru them all. Practice? Never miss. Vacation? The pro I hired will take one but not my family. While my out of body experience was underway I questioned everything I have ever done. T-Ball, all of it rushing by...

She understood how important that start was to the team..I wonder if she understood how important it was to her? She tells me she does. A day later, typing this, I feel maybe, just maybe there is still hope...or maybe it's just the evil, magical, part of baseball that tells you everyday offers a fresh start, a chance to start again. I hope my kid gets a chance to "start" again.

Can you imagine the amount of money a MLB Pitcher could command if he was able to deliver on the expectations you are setting? Being a pitcher is really hard and the goal over time is develop someone who can ultimately work through those days when they don't have their best stuff. It can even change in between games. If you are a golfer, I am sure you are able to swing the club exactly the same every shot and make it go exactly where you want it to go every time. The key is how you handle those tough shots and play the next one and knowing your own game well enough so when you are not playing well, you can still score decently. This is also a TEAM game and is why you want/need more than one pitcher.

Bill