The peaks and valleys are killing me

[Softball fan dad]

My DD finally took over the #2 spot at the end of last spring in 12U. Finished the season great. Came back with a new team as the #2 in 14U B ball and struggled early in practices. Lost speed, bad accuracy, looked a mess. Played the first tournament last weekend started 3 games and did great! Last night pitched for the HS rec team, and she did terrible. Accuracy and speed were bad. I know I've got to keep more even, but are these ups and downs normal? One minute she looks like an allstar, the next she picks up some bad habit and can't do anything.

 

[sluggers]

Yes, they are normal.

She will have good days and bad days. The ratio goes up as she gets older, but even MLB pitchers have bad days.

There are specific reasons for why she pitched poorly. Your job is to watch her pitch and then calmly and rationally figure out why.

almost always, there is a mechanical problem. Then, determine how to address the problem and what she can do to fix it.

 

[grcsftbll]

I can relate. My pitcher threw in the towel in the spring, 2nd year 12U, after 6 months of it. I think it's normal for them to go through fluctuations, especially around this age. They change so much, emotionally and physically.

 

[DrRiello]

Softball. Yeah it’s totally normal.
Sometimes their head isn’t there. Or their mechanics breaks down, or whatever. It happens.
Since it’s fall we added a couple of technique changes to get her faster and spin better. Well those changes take time to master and become consistent. So it was a tough start this fall.
I decided to go thru her motion and create checks on all her mechanics so she can go they a mental check list if things are going wrong. At 14u I can’t be fixing her during a game anymore. She has to do it on her own. Her last outing was aces and she did use the checks as needed. So this time it worked.

Hang in there.


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[Laphoneman]

Agreed with all above if you have a job it’s to watch and figure out the mechanical break down. With dd it’s usually lower body mechanics usually hips or maybe glove swimming. Slow mo video from 3rd base gate for rhp on bad day and compare to good day. once I figure out the break down I show dd . for some reason if I tell her the break down she keeps doing it, but if she sees it then she will fix it.

 

[joe720]

If you can get anything from a 13YO consistently and can teach others to do the same you'll be a millionaire.

Mine is the same age. Some days of practice it looks like the first time she ever picked up a ball. Then will play on game day and throw 1 or 2 hit shutouts.

I've learned to just chill out and not look at small segments of time. The journey is longer than a week, month, or even year.

 

[Softball fan dad]

If you can get anything from a 13YO consistently and can teach others to do the same you'll be a millionaire.

Mine is the same age. Some days of practice it looks like the first time she ever picked up a ball. Then will play on game day and throw 1 or 2 hit shutouts.

I've learned to just chill out and not look at small segments of time. The journey is longer than a week, month, or even year.

All great advice from everyone, thanks. That last part, "Just chill out and not look at the small segments of time. the journey is longer than a week, month, or even a year." Needs to be framed and I need to look at it often to remind myself. Thanks.

 

[uncdrew]

How long has she been pitching (seriously)?

Does she have a pitching coach?

Does she do the IR or the HE?

 

[Softball fan dad]

How long has she been pitching (seriously)

Does she have a pitching coach?

Does she do the IR or the HE?

She pitched HE for about 2 years successfully. She switched to IR with a new pitching coach about a year and 1/2 ago. Tough transition, but finally "got it" last spring and made big jumps in accuracy and speed. Was pretty consistent through the summer, but not so much now.

She also pitched about 270 over the weekend. That's the most by a lot for her. I guess its possible she was still recovering by Wednesday night.

 

[uncdrew]

Switching from HE to IR is probably about half like starting from scratch. Hang with it, it'll get better.

When my DD pitches poorly, I'm quick to forget, quick to cancel (if it's just us in the yard) and quick to move on to the next day. A lot of this is in your head, just as lots of it is in her head.