Suddenly Not So Controlled

[rathgar]

Hi,
My DD has been pitching since 10- is now on first year 14U team. She goes to private coach weekly and is working on all pitches. Years past she was great at control, hitting spots. All of a sudden this season she has trouble getting first pitch strikes, her pitch/strike ratio is lower than ever. Her pitching coach thinks she is not always releasing correctly - she is mixing up riseball release/ vs. fastball etc. I am no expert so I don't know. She is high in the zone a lot more this year and has walked more batters in the last few games than all of last season.
Do all pitchers go through these struggles when learning other pitches?
Please help. I can tell she is getting frustrated.

 

[coach james]

Of course, there is always a learning curve to a new pitch, but that doesn't explain her missing on a basic fb... I would imagine she is a little nervous and is feeling the pressure of moving up a class. Give it some time and let her figure it out on her own. Sometimes giving them too much info will make it worse.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Is she going through or recently had a growth spurt? It can take a little time to adjust mechanics when the size of the moving parts change!

 

[Indiana]

Has she hit a growth spurt? My DD went through the exact same thing after growing 5 inches in one year (13 1/2 - 14 12/). Her fastball also jumped about 8 mph in velocity. Honestly, the toughest part was convincing her of what was going on. She's the type of kid who would insist on wearing her favorite boots eventhough her feet were now 2 sizes too big for them. Now that her growth has settled down to a reasonable level she has been able to work with her coach to make the adjustments she has needed to make in order to accomodate her larger, stronger frame.
The hitters are much better at 14U as well - DD has commented that she really has much less plate to work with at the higher levels. (especially hs varsity, which she was on last fall as a VERY freshman-like freshman, but that's another story!)

Edit: Greenmonsters beat me to it - ditto GM

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Even baseball players go through this. There is no easy answer. I watched my son do it, too. Good luck and try not to mention it too much. I bet she knows it is a problem.

 

[rathgar]

She has recently gone through a growth spurt but my daughter is small - always has been - and the growth was some height, but more her body filling out. She is only 5' 2" . I believe she now realizes she won't be pitching in D1 and I think she has internalized some of this and it is affecting her self esteem. She pitches mid to high 50s. This year the other two pitchers on the team finally caught up with her on speed - so they all pitch the same speed. One of the other pitchers is much taller and I think my daughter is feeling she has lost that position as the "go to " pitcher that she had in years past. So, it could be confidence.
She always complains about the strike zone and that umps don't give corners, etc. I don't always listen so much because she has a tendency to blame everything on others - we are working on the idea of taking some ownership.
This is probably for another thread - but do you think learning the movement pitches will help her to continue to play at a higher level? That may be her only hope.

 

[sleepwalker]

I don't know if your daughter just jumped from 40' to 43' this year or not, but I'm guessing that since she is a first year 14U that she is now throwing at 43'. My daughter was 14 when she started throwing at 43' while playing for a 16U team. At 40' my daughter did fine, good control, good velocity and stuck out a lot of girls. At 43' she struggled. She just didn't have the strength nor control for that extra 3 feet. She ended up bouncing a lot of balls and struggled that entire year. Now, many will think that 3' isn't that big of a deal, but I would disagree. A pitcher has to have the strength and be accurate for an additional 3'.

What would happen if the bases were moved back 3'? It would be more difficult to get on base bunting the ball. The bang-bang plays after a bunt would now result in a girl being thrown out by 3'. OBP would go down across the board for all hitters. It would definetely become more difficult to steal bases.

 

[halskinner]

At the 14u lev el, the batters are well trained and they get aggressive, more than the younger levels.

Could it be she is just facing better hitters now and not getting the calls or swings at pitches outside the strike zone?

The jump from 10s to 12s is a noticeable one for teams. 12s to 14s is also a big jump. 14s to 16s not so much. 16s to 18s is a huge jump in competition levels.

 

[halskinner]

Oops, sorry wont let me delete the 2nd post

 

[smddad]

Is she going through or recently had a growth spurt? It can take a little time to adjust mechanics when the size of the moving parts change!

I was thinking this same thing. My DD went through a huge growth spurt last year. One pitch had to be bagged because of it and that was her CU. She is just now getting it back.