Pitching practice

[liviking]

My question is when working out with your daughter or student , after you warm her up , do you have her throw hard right away . Or do you start at 50 % then go up to 75 % and finally have her pitch at 100 . If you do , how many pitches do you have her pitch at each step ? Do you have her pitch slower so her muscle memory can remember ? My DD is 10 and has been taking lessons for about 9 months . I have Bill Hillhouse and Rita Lynn's DVD's and have learned quite a bit from both . I do throw with her 4 -5 days a week and in the winter we work on form on a platform I made for her . She dose not like throwing slow - She feels they can hit off of me then -LOL ! Her coach after she warms up ,haves her throwing hard while working on her mechanics . Just want to see what others are doing ? Thanks in advance , LI Viking

 

[Amy in AZ.]

We do Power K's and walk throughs. I don't do a specific number, maybe 10 Ks and 5 walk throughs. We start the K's at like 30 feet and then, take a step back, until they get to 40 feet.

I think it is too hard to go to the rubber and throw 50% and 75%.

Our warm up includes some long toss.

 

[sluggers]

Interesting question...my DD's warmup was complete when she was throwing at 100%. Within the warmup, she gradually increased her speed.

The warmup consisted of:

Overhand throwing
Underhand pitch and catch (can your DD play pitch and catch throwing underhanded? You are standing up, not on the bucket. Does she have to do the raise glove to the moon, knee slap, take arm back until you hear the ligaments snap before every throw? Or, can she simply throw the ball with the same accuracy as if she were throwing overhand? I'm a big believer in playing underhand pitch and catch.)

She would gradually increase her speed on the underhand pitch and catch until she was at about 90%. I would then "assume the position", and she would throw maybe 10 pitches at maximum velocity.

THEN, we would start practice.

 

[halskinner]

Along with quality you also have to consider quantity at practice.

If you are just now starting to work out for the upcoming season, do your wrm up and then pitch intil she says she is tired. Dont push it past that but keep count. Next session or two, do not throw any less than that but again, keep count.

Increase those numbers by 10 pitches per week. In other words if she was throwing 80 the first week, go to 90, or a few more if she is good with that.

Keep increasing that number by 10 per session / week until you reach a number that would be around 150% of whatever would be a 'Bad' game. That way, even if she has a bad day and has to throw quite a few more than a normal game, or has to pitch 2 back-to-back, it wont be as stressful as a normal workout because she has built her pitching stamina up gradually.

sneakysoftballpitching.com

 

[Mike]

I'm a big believer in playing underhand pitch and catch.

Agreed! My daughter does a little walk through like thing, and the focus is on staying sideways and long and loose. Good stuff Sluggers, do you throw back underhand also?

 

[Ken Krause]

In order to learn to throw hard you have to practice throwing hard. I wouldn't use anything less than 100% unless you're working on correcting something specific -- a deep practice technique.

 

[coachdan]

When warming up I first have pitchers throw overhand and keep backing them up until they cannot reach there partner, then we start moving back in until about 30 ft apart. Then we do the same thing under hand, I tell them to stay loose and play catch underhand again I back them up after ever 3 or 4 throws until they cannot reach there partner. When they can no longer reach partner have them do walk through throwing long. After several throws were start moving back in adjust there release point until they get to pitching distance.

 

[chinamigarden]

My question is when working out with your daughter or student , after you warm her up , do you have her throw hard right away . Or do you start at 50 % then go up to 75 % and finally have her pitch at 100 . If you do , how many pitches do you have her pitch at each step ? Do you have her pitch slower so her muscle memory can remember ? My DD is 10 and has been taking lessons for about 9 months . I have Bill Hillhouse and Rita Lynn's DVD's and have learned quite a bit from both . I do throw with her 4 -5 days a week and in the winter we work on form on a platform I made for her . She dose not like throwing slow - She feels they can hit off of me then -LOL ! Her coach after she warms up ,haves her throwing hard while working on her mechanics . Just want to see what others are doing ? Thanks in advance , LI Viking

My DD does some ks (10 or so) then starts to do full circle pitches from about 30 feet (10 or so) without her pre motion or big leg drive, then moves back twice (10 or so each time) until she is at 43 feet. She does those gradually picking up pace as she feels comfortable. Then she tells me she is ready to go, I put on my mask and she starts full wind up pitches. She is probably going about 75% and works up to full speed. Which is probably about 90%.

At about age 11 I let her decide when she was ready, as long as she isn't rushing I let her tell me when its time to go full out.

edit to ad, this is all after she throws overhand for a bit, until she is feeling loose.

 

[tojo]

When I start a student, I always tell them that they should have a warm up routine and do stretchs before they pitch. I also tell them "think of your muscles, ligaments, and tendons as a piece of bubble gum. When you take the gum out of the wrapper you can pull it apart but when you chew it for awhile you can stretch quite a bit before it will break". You are taking a chance when you start out throwing a 100% of pulling a muscle or tearing or injuring a tendon or ligament.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

DD is a 15 year old sophomore in HS. She has been pitching for 4 years.

Pitching practice starts with doing the agility ladder
Then overhand throws
Then underhand pitch and catch.
Then she moves to about 10 feet and pitches soft working on all spins
Then she moves out to about 20 feet doing the same at medium speed
Then she moves to about 30 feet and works on fastball mechanics at 75% speed and works out 10 feet at a time increasing speed until she is at 2nd base throwing hard.
Then she moves to the rubber and throws maximum speed for about 10-15 pitches
Then she works on whatever she is working on at the time (particular pitch, hitting just off the white, whatever she is struggling with in games)
Lastly she will throw each of her pitches 5-10 times finishing with the fastball just off the plate at all 4 corners.

Her pitching practice generally takes about an hour and she is whooped