Pitchers Personalities

[radness]

Pitchers Personalities
*Not how they pitch.

Rather -what type of presence in the circle.

*How does this, or does this,
impact team chemistry?

Examples-
Charismatic- makes eye contact with team and verbal.

Stoic- never cracks a smile,
strong body language.

Queen bee- relaxed, not interested in fielding, teams friend.

Snob-...snob. Perhaps introvert, non interactive.

* Add own examples please,
these are to open discussion.

What works, what complicates things, what doesnt work, or can they all work?
Perhaps we can discuss area's to
encourage development in this important role on the field!

Go Pitchers!
Go Feedback!

 

[Vertigo]

I‘LL bite. My dd is the kid that if you just showed up at the field you wouldn’t know if we were winning or losing. She’s quiet but appears confident. She will assist fielders with where to go with the ball on a play by talking to them, not yelling. She’ll crack a smile or giggle a bit with a tough strikeout or if a HR is blasted off her. She never looks like she’s upset or ticked off.

At times I guess I wish she appeared a little more “into” the game but that’s her personality with everything. She’s extremely laid back. In the dug out or in another position she’s talking to and cheering on her teammates - but she’ll never be the player who is extremely vocal or wears her emotions on her sleeve. She isn’t that “electric” player who gets others fired up.

I think overall her demeanor helps her teammates because she doesn’t show her frustrations on a botched play. She will be the one to give them a quick tap on the back and say it’s ok, or will wait on the field after the 3rd out to high five her CF who just made a diving catch to save a run.

ETA: I do sometimes miss when the opposing players at 10U - 14U would sing their cute little songs to her while she was in the circle, “We like free bases,” etc. Then her fun personality would come out when she’d sing along with them while dealing.

 

[DrRiello]

My dd is stoic in the circle. Confident appearance. You wouldn’t know if the team was winning or losing. Her demeanor rarely changes. However, she will goof with the girls between innings. I like seeing that. But once the inning starts she is all business.
She loves fielding will try for anything around her.
I think her demeanor helps her team stay calm in bad times. She never looks rattled. Just does her job.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HighStrung]

DD is a bit of a blend but leaning towards stoic when in the circle. In the dugout she's chatting with friends and very encouraging her teammates, cheering on her batters, etc. Fielding she's much the same, talking about the runners and where to go with the ground ball, etc.

When she's on the mound, she's something different. I'm not sure if its something I did or just her. When she was learning to pitch, the last thing I always said to her as she was walking out was "Alright sis, time to go to work". By that I meant, you've got a job to do and emotions don't help, ie getting upset or rattled by a bad pitch, etc. Apparently it stuck. She's always been calm out there, confident but not cocky. She's not the "stare down the batter" type of girl, but she does watch how the batter approaches the plate. See if the batter is confident, uncomfortable, or even cocky; and then tries to use that against them. She's a thinker, she's comfortable with her skillset and knows that she knows how to make adjustments.

I've watched her K a three hole hitter with a curveball shes still working on to win the game, walk off the field with less than a grin, only to be bouncing up and down squealing like a 10yr old who got a pony for Christmas the second she hits the dugout and is surrounded by her teammates. But on the mound, she's never shown that. I think she sincerely feels that emotion, good or bad, takes her mind off the task at hand. She'll slap gloves with her infielders and smiles if they compliment her, compliments them for a good play, attacks everything within reach, but that circle is her zone. She finds a hard focus and claims to not even hear the fans, just teammates, coaches, and blue.

I'm not sure if she'll always be this way, but it's been the way she is for the past few years.

 

[Tango]

DD is 13. Parents tell me all the time that nothing bothers her. She will run over and fist bump someone that makes a great play. Kinda a goofball when they come into the circle but all business once on on the rubber. Error, HR, and strikeout without girls coming to the mound nothing. Pictures are hilarious after the game because of her facial expressions with teammates but it's only when they are circled around her.

At 10 she pitched all but the last inning of the Dixie State Championship game and then moved to 3rd. She made an error that put the winning run on 2nd. She ran to the mound and you see the pitcher laughing. I asked after the game what did she say. Hurry up and strike her out I'm hungry. LOL. That's my girl.

 

[radness]

The descriptions are great.
Notice interacting with teammates is a trend....so far.
If not in the circle in the duggout! Nice!
Promotes camaraderie and makes a good teammate!

Have caught for all 4 described personalities.

The Queen bee's sometimes on pop ups team would yell 'MOVE' instead of 'ball' or
'i go, i go''.

Interesting even the snob would be supported by the team on the field.
Maybe we knew its just important to do that?!

Go Pitchers!
Go Feedback!

 

[Chris8]

I'll bite too.

DD is 14u, 2nd year. I'd classify her as stoic in the circle or or other defensive positions.

When shes pitching you wouldn't know if we were winning, losing, just gave up a bomb or had 3K's in a row. I call it the three C's...calm cool collected. She'd crack a smile or give me a wink/glance when I was HC. This last fall we moved her to another team. I still get a "look" occasionally during the game then a follow up to that moment after the game. I think her stoic demeanor came from growing up watching DS pitch. Also at the 8u-12u years we had lots of conversations about pitching, demeanor, how you look to others. There was a lot of analysis by DD of other pitchers, what she liked and didn't like...what she wanted to emulate. She still does this to this day.

If something goes awry in the field while she's pitching, she's the one telling the teammate not to worry about it...that they've got the next one...then back to business.

If she's playing IF she's the first to cheer on the pitcher and go give her some encouragement if warranted. She tries to be that teammate she'd want when she's pitching. If she's playing OF she's very vocally encouraging to the pitcher.

When she makes it to the dugout that's when there's more light hearted laughing/emotions, right until she's on deck...then it's back to business.

This fall DD's team played up in 16/18's for a good part of the season. She was NERVOUS pitching against 18u teams. I told her she's a Freshman in HS, those are HS girls... you're a HS player so...... go do your thing. Same stoic presence. As dad I could see the signs only a parent might know she was nervous. HC tells me after first game.... that you'd never know if she was nervous or not. And that's the image she wants to portray. Quiet confidence is her goal.

Over the years I found that her stoic approach was calming to her teammates. Our experience was overly emotionaly pitchers seem to bring a team up or down as their emotions go.

 

[Rolling Hard]

I like the bulldog. Competitor. Hates losing. No talking during warm up. Serious. Knows exactly what the score is, how many outs, fields position well and expects others to do so also. Always backs up throw or takes cuts.

 

[Cannonball]

My dd was pretty intense. She was also so very hard on herself. She expected to win every time she took the circle. I am sure some thought that she was arrogant. However, she was the first to compliment a teammate and would say things like, "we got this" when her team might fall behind. She would get mad at times when the HC her first years of HS would pass her over in the rotation when they were playing lesser talent. She wanted the no hitters. I've told the story before but that HC got mad at my dd and told her he was not going to let her pitch. She was not allowed to even throw in practice. (Naturally, she threw with me at home.) Then, 4 days later, they were to play the 4th ranked team in state and on her birthday. She was told at game time and had already started taking flyballs in the OF. Man she was hacked off. She threw a 1 hitter at them and hit a bomb herself.
The one picture below is her at 14 years of age playing 18u. The other is of her at 12 where she won a bunch of awards in a major St. Louis Tournament. Disregard the ugly guy standing next to her. The lady on the other side is why I am who I am.

 

[Langeswelding]

I'll bite also. 10U first year beat a lot of teams we had no business beating. 10U the whole team improved a ton and we won most of our games. The pressure she dealt with is what amazes me the most. The pressure situations that she dealt with and thrived amazes me for her age. She is clutch for sure. I think a pitcher who is at her best under the toughest circumstances is a winner in my book.