Pitching Practice - When to start and how?

[forkliftgator]

DD is 6 and really wants to pitch. Years away from game pitching, but I learned the hard way with my son that if they don’t come into the kid pitch league prepared to pitch day 1 its hard to get opportunities.

when and how should I start her preparation? In baseball the pitching and general throwing motion are the same so we got dual benefit from the practice time, which isn’t the same in softball.

Are there drills I can do with her that won’t risk developing bad habits (bad habits caused by me knowing nothing about softball pitching).

 

[sluggers]

Pitchers are rarer in softball than baseball, so almost anyone who wants to pitch will be given an opportunity.

But, at your DD's age, work on her overhand throwing motion and make sure that is solid.
For the underhand motion, have her simply throw underhand. Play catch with her throwing underhanded.

*DO* play catch underhanded. The basic throwing motion is very simple. She raises the ball to 12, bends her arm at the elbow, and then pulls down with the elbow.

Try to get her to "leave her right foot (assuming she is a rightie) behind. This is not any different than throwing overhand. If you throw overhand, you don't suddenly spin your hips closed and pull your right leg forward before throwing the ball.

The biggest mistake is that kids close their hips too early and too much so that their hips are square with the plate. This causes them to drag the arm around the hips.

*DON'T* try to have her pitch. As soon as you have her stand on the pitching rubber, she is going to do some crazy windup and rotate her arm as fast as possible.

 

[Hillhouse]

Fork, I'm not speaking to your daughter specifically. But if your kid can't catch a ball thrown overhand to her, she's too young for pitching lessons.

Bill