Pitching for weak contact vs. strikeouts in 12u

[Softballmom2008]

Do pitchers tend to get more BB when trying to strike out a batter or trying to get them to hit the ball? Assuming they are not fatigued and doing ok on the mound.

 

[uncdrew]

Do pitchers tend to get more BB when trying to strike out a batter or trying to get them to hit the ball? Assuming they are not fatigued and doing ok on the mound.

Potentially, yes.

Certainly at younger ages. Nibbling corners, trying to get calls on the river, throwing change ups when you aren't that good at that pitch...

 

[OsDad]

Do pitchers tend to get more BB when trying to strike out a batter or trying to get them to hit the ball? Assuming they are not fatigued and doing ok on the mound.

A lot of first year 12s don't have the stuff to actually throw past batters so to get Ks they have to try and get calls. You end up with a bunch of opposing batters who don't even bother swinging and a bunch of coaches and parents groaning and gasping and shouting "great pitch kid!" in the general direction of the home plate ump.

 

[Vertigo]

Dd’s Pitching coach has always told her to pitch to soft contact, really getting her to focus on her spins and off-speed stuff. Yeah, strikeouts are great but when you are constantly playing against high level, aggressive hitters those K’s are going to come a lot less frequently unless you can throw 65+ with good movement. Dd always has to adjust going from HS ball (and more K’s) to travel due to 1-9 being capable of putting it over the fence.

One pitcher on dd’s team just has phenomenal spin on the ball and when she is on, she either gets K’s or soft hits to the IF. Love watching her deal.

 

[Sparky Guy]

One of the things I tell all my pitches is they don't have to strike out every hitter. All they need to do is fool the hitters by half the width of a bat, 1.25". A hitter not making good solid contact will generate a lot of pop ups and ground balls. If they strike a hitter out that's even better. K's don't take bad bounces or get thrown badly.

When my DD was pitching she averaged 7+ K's per 7 innings pitched all the way through college. The biggest benefit from the K's was many poorly struck balls that enabled the defense to take an aggressive mindset behind her. They felt confident they were not going to get a lot of rockets shot at then and always seemed to play better behind her.

I tell my pitchers to throw each pitch to try and fool the hitter. The rest will take care of itself.

 

[_MIA_]

Bottom of last inning, tie ball game, no outs with a girl on second and cleanup hitter up, I am probably going to have a different mentality regarding pitch selection, which this really is about since I am assuming that whatever pitch a pitcher is executing they are doing that to the best of their ability, than the same scenario in the first inning or if we are up by 6 runs...

 

[bmakj]

"Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic. "

 

[badmonkey]

"Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic. "

I do like the idea of pitching like a fascist. I'm going to tell my daughter to pitch like a fascist. Then I'll spend the next hour explaining what a fascist is. Then she'll say "you said we were only going to practice for an hour."

Or maybe I'll tell her to let them hit it so we can actually practice.

 

[MadBandit22]

My Daughter is first season 12u and was recruited to pitch on a new team, the HC told the parents his strategy was for the pitchers to pitch for weak contact vs. Ks. From what I’ve seen of the defense, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. They are an A level team but 1st year 12u. I’m concerned if DD following this instruction she will walk players or errors will be made in the field and she will be come frustrated.

Why not let her decide if she should try to strike out the batter vs. trying to get them to hit the ball? I’m wondering if he is trying to get the defense more opportunities to field outs? Or keep pitch counts lower assuming they hit the ball sooner rather than later since sometimes it take 6-8 pitches to strike out a good batter,

I also think if this is the strategy, they should do a lot of situational stuff with live pitching to batters in practice to figure this out.

Thoughts on this strategy?

I can’t find any info about it.

It’s tough to buy into soft contact with a questionable defense. In this case I would keep track of earned runs vs unearned runs. The confidence of a pitcher is very important. If the pitcher is doing what is asked of her and giving up many unearned runs she needs to know she is doing her job. A pitchers primary function is to get outs and keep their team in the game. How they get outs is not as important as getting the outs. Gotta keep team in the game and give them the opportunity to win the game.

 

[MadBandit22]

"Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic. "

Having been a pitcher you have to hold yourself to a high standard. My goal was to throw a perfect game every time out. Pitching is about walking your expectations back and being flexible.
Ok I walked a batter now my goal is no hitter. I gave up a hit now my goal is a shutout. Gave up a run now my goal is to win the game.
As a player my idea of a perfect game was 27 K’s Dominate. As a Dad & Coach 21 pitches in softball is a perfect game. Always should set high goals and have something to shoot for. Then reality sets in and you make asjustments.