Pitching style, pitch learning priority

[Hillhouse]

It would to me. Being able to locate a pitch is a must to be able to use it consistently. Don’t get caught up in the fuss about throwing 8 different pitches. If your kid can master 3 by the end of high school she is ahead of most.


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I'm not disagreeing with what you say in theory. Even thought I despise the word "fastball" in softball pitching. lol. But the fuss of throwing 8 pitches is not easy to ignore.

Here's the only rub with what you're saying Chili: today's kids live in a different world than I did when I grew up and was pitching. Social media has changed everything. EVERYTHING. Now days, the cool thing is to take a picture of yourself holding envelopes from colleges and thanking the coaches for the mail. 90% don't say that the mail is simply a questionnaire that is sent to anyone and everyone who fills out the softball team's request for info. 10 year olds can get that same mail. But, the majority of people don't realize that. People who don't know better will think Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, etc. is showing interest in your pitching/playing because they sent you mail with the cool looking envelopes. I have no doubt even that is exciting for a young lady who is obsessed with softball, and I did something similar when I was young with the top teams in men's fastpitch. The other thing that happens on social media, is Sally will post a pic of her with her new personal record for how fast she throws. Or, she'll post a video of her new pitch the coach is teaching her, which makes her 7th pitch she's got now at 12 years old. Meanwhile, Jane Doe who is my student is still working dropball and change up only. It wasn't that long ago I actually lost a student, whom disappears for months at a time to play other sports. She came back after 3 months and wanted to know when she's going to learn the "other pitches" and was worried college coaches won't be interested in her because she's got 3 pitches while the other kids have 8. I sent her mom an email and told them I fully understand if they wanna go elsewhere since apparently I'm holding her back from being contacted by Oklahoma!!!! The fact Patty Gasso isn't contacting her has nothing to do with not being as good as others, not keeping her body fit, not pitching for months at a time, prioritizing other sports, AND because her moron pitching coach isn't teaching her the rising screwball that 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist Michele Smith mentioned during the last ESPN broadcast. Anyway, I digress.

Social media today puts an insane amount of peer pressure onto kids. The girls who throw 2-3 pitches believe their friends and things they see online about one of their friends who says she has 3x as many pitches AND throws 70mph.

I actually saw, with my own 2 eyes, a kid hold up a pocket radar that showed a ridiculous speed for this 12 year old girl. I think it was upper 60's mph. And she proudly held up the radar for the pic. And, the truth was, they were getting that velocity by doing running through pitches (getting a running start) and then throwing the ball towards the target from 20 feet away. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

 

[Cornbread]

High level control: Moving the location of the pitch left, right, up and/or down in 4 inch increments.

This is how you become a pitcher. The goal of pitching is to miss the barrel. Weak contact. Less pitches per inning per game.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

actually saw, with my own 2 eyes, a kid hold up a pocket radar that showed a ridiculous speed for this 12 year old girl. I think it was upper 60's mph. And she proudly held up the radar for the pic. And, the truth was, they were getting that velocity by doing running through pitches (getting a running start) and then throwing the ball towards the target from 20 feet away. I couldn't believe what I was seeing

I bet I know who the PCs were. There are two who do it all the time with their students. I've seen them post 71 MPH on a run through. It makes no sense.