after reading along this thread, it was funny to watch the interview Marc did with Monica Abbott.. along about the 30 minute mark, she specifically addressed this same topic
strikeouts or putting the ball in play--the mental appraoch
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halskinner
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As I understand it, she said she pitches to make the hitters hit poorly. That is fine for her, look at the caliber of fielders she has backing her up on the team.
Unfortunately, not many pitchers have the luxury of having Olympic caliber players to back them up in the field in the event of a hit ball.
Put Monica out there with a completely different line up and she might think on a little different lines.
I have said this many times; I have pitched for weak teams in my younger days, teams that if I allowed a batter to put the ball in play OR I walked one, they pretty much went on to home plate without my team bothering them at all. On one team, they couldnt hit, throw, run or catch well at all. The only games we won were the ones where I struck out 14 to 17 batters. Any less than that and we usually lost. I didnt have the luxury of having Monica's confidence in my team's ability to get the out.
Hal, what about when she played at Tennessee? Did her fielders suck there? Your logic baffles me. Softball is a team sport. If the pitcher is trying to strike everyone out, which no one can, how does that make sense? By the way, did you ever lose a game when you pitched? What did you do when someone hit that ball off of you? These questions come fast and furious after reading your posts.
Sometimes we need to be realistic about ability. Not everyone is as talented as Hal or Monica Abbott. My DD is currently 10 playing 12U. While she can strike out weaker hitters, I can't expect her to try and strike out everyone. She just doesn't have the velocity or skill to strike the better ones out. If she can make them hit her pitch to induce a weak grounder to 2B I consider that almost as good as a K. It also saves her arm a little if she doesn't have to throw as many pitches.
fastpitch - what do you mean exactly when you say "save her arm" and "induce weak grounders"? What is she throwing to the better hitters to make them hit weak grounders. Wouldn't the better hitters light her up causing her to face more hitters and throwing more pitches, thereby NOT saving her arm. Just curious.
Fastpitch, this position by Hal is by far the craziest thing I have ever seen posted on a fastpitch pitching board. To say you should try and strike everyone out is so far out there, one would be dignifying the idea by even talking about it. It makes no sense, and no top notch pitcher would ever tell you to do that. I've asked Hal to reiterate his position with the possibility that I misunderstood him, but based on his subsequent posts I did not misunderstand him at all. Don't tell any kid at all to try for strikeouts, it is a recipe for losing.
Basically, I want her to change speeds, use movement pitches and stay down and out of the middle of the plate. If she can keep a strong hitter off balance and induce them to rollover on a pitch off the plate and hit a grounder to 2B she's done a great job. At this point in her career she isn't going to blow pitches by everyone with her scorching 46mph FB. Nor do I think she is going to locate every pitch either. But for me to tell her she has to think about striking everyone out is just being unrealistic. I try to focus on having her hit her spots on the edges of the plate in, out, up/down... at least when they do hit her... it may not be as hard.
fastpitch - thanks for the examples, new to this and trying to learn. fpcoach - "Don't tell any kid at all to try for strikeouts, it is a recipe for losing" Is this what coaches all over of the country are telling their pitchers, not to pitch for strikeouts? I would think that the pitcher has a strategy (e.g. here's how I am going to pitch to the #4 hitter, etc) for getting each hitter out at the plate not necessarily putting the ball in play and seeing what happens. Maybe I'm missing something?
halskinner
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Originally Posted by halskinner
"As I understand it, she said she pitches to make the hitters hit poorly. That is fine for her, look at the caliber of fielders she has backing her up on the team.
Unfortunately, not many pitchers have the luxury of having Olympic caliber players to back them up in the field in the event of a hit ball.
Put Monica out there with a completely different line up and she might think on a little different lines.
I have said this many times; I have pitched for weak teams in my younger days, teams that if I allowed a batter to put the ball in play OR I walked one, they pretty much went on to home plate without my team bothering them at all. On one team, they couldnt hit, throw, run or catch well at all. The only games we won were the ones where I struck out 14 to 17 batters. Any less than that and we usually lost. I didnt have the luxury of having Monica's confidence in my team's ability to get the out. "
"Hal, what about when she played at Tennessee? Who said anything about UT?
Did her fielders suck there? Again, what are you talking about? I never said OR inferred anything like that.
'Your logic baffles me. Softball is a team sport. If the pitcher is trying to strike everyone out, which no one can, how does that make sense?
My comment about Monica said nothing about her ability, she is a verY successful pitcher from what I have seen of her. My comment was to illustratre that she has a ton of confidence in her fielders to make the play and get the out. Unfortunately, that is not the case for most young pitchers out there who do not have that caliber of fielders behind them.
How you read all of your comments into what I put down is amazing. I read my post again to make sure it was put plainly and simply enough and it was.
Did I ever lose games, of course. But again, I can recall one particular game with the team I referred to; I struck out 15 or so and WE STILL LOST 1 TO 0!
What did I do when someone did get a hit off me? I fielded my position like everyone else on my team that was in the field.
By the way, did you ever lose a game when you pitched? What did you do when someone hit that ball off of you? These questions come fast and furious after reading your posts. " You're comprehension of the English language is now questionable also.
"As I understand it, she said she pitches to make the hitters hit poorly. That is fine for her, look at the caliber of fielders she has backing her up on the team.
Unfortunately, not many pitchers have the luxury of having Olympic caliber players to back them up in the field in the event of a hit ball.
Put Monica out there with a completely different line up and she might think on a little different lines.
I have said this many times; I have pitched for weak teams in my younger days, teams that if I allowed a batter to put the ball in play OR I walked one, they pretty much went on to home plate without my team bothering them at all. On one team, they couldnt hit, throw, run or catch well at all. The only games we won were the ones where I struck out 14 to 17 batters. Any less than that and we usually lost. I didnt have the luxury of having Monica's confidence in my team's ability to get the out. "
"Hal, what about when she played at Tennessee? Who said anything about UT?
Did her fielders suck there? Again, what are you talking about? I never said OR inferred anything like that.
'Your logic baffles me. Softball is a team sport. If the pitcher is trying to strike everyone out, which no one can, how does that make sense?
My comment about Monica said nothing about her ability, she is a verY successful pitcher from what I have seen of her. My comment was to illustratre that she has a ton of confidence in her fielders to make the play and get the out. Unfortunately, that is not the case for most young pitchers out there who do not have that caliber of fielders behind them.
How you read all of your comments into what I put down is amazing. I read my post again to make sure it was put plainly and simply enough and it was.
Did I ever lose games, of course. But again, I can recall one particular game with the team I referred to; I struck out 15 or so and WE STILL LOST 1 TO 0!
What did I do when someone did get a hit off me? I fielded my position like everyone else on my team that was in the field.
By the way, did you ever lose a game when you pitched? What did you do when someone hit that ball off of you? These questions come fast and furious after reading your posts. " You're comprehension of the English language is now questionable also.
I really don't know what coaches are telling kids all over the country. I assume it depends on who the pitcher is. There was a girl on my DD's team last year who threw so hard she really had the ability to strike everyone out. I probably wouldn't tell her to let them hit it. I'd probably tell her to go for the K all the time. (that strategy may need to change as the level of play got higher). My DD on the other hand doesn't have the same velocity as her and may need to approach pitching differently.
If you look at the Major Leagues there are a lot of pitchers who get outs and are effective without striking everyone out. Everyone is a little different.
