Third pitch?

[Da Coach]

I agree with everything Sluggers said about pitching development. As far as the timing of things though that can vary greatly.

Having to play Varsity as a freshmen all depends on the schools too. Our high school makes freshmen play with freshmen.

Don't forget that Lisa Ferrnendez started pitching at 15. Lauren Bay started pitching at 14.

You've got plenty of time ahead of you. Go with the rise ball next but don't do so until she can hit the corners inside/outside and high/low with her fastball.

Also don't forget that 4th graders favorite activity is playing Mario Kart with her friends. She may not say that in front her parents, afterall, she's only a 4th grader.

Based on my experience VDubya.

 

[Mark H]

Most kids take a long time to learn backspin and you have to have more horsepower to make it effective. But if you go that way, don't give anything less than ruthlessly honest feedback. Put tape or a stripe on the ball and work toward great backspin. When you get two thirds backspin then you have something. If the axis is tilted to the side but the axis is moving perpendicular to the fight path, that's still very good. If the tape is showing two thirds back spin and one third bullet spin, that's still pretty good. I can't tell you how many dad's I've watched talk about their kid's rise ball and all it's got is bullet spin or worse. Don't be that dad or mom. Also, work on throwing it at the knees as well as at the top of the zone.

 

[DonnieS]

Don't forget that Lisa Ferrnendez started pitching at 15.

You've got plenty of time ahead of you. Go with the rise ball next but don't do so until she can hit the corners inside/outside and high/low with her fastball.

Based on my experience VDubya.

Lisa started pitching at 8 years old - she told me one of her biggest regrets is not getting to play more games when she was my youngest daughters age when I met her ,which was 10.

 

[3'sDad]

DD is 1st year 12U...she throws a fastball and CU and is now just beginning to learn how to throw a drop.....this year her pitching coach told her to expect the pitch to be more like a drop change as she just can't get enough rotation and velocity on the ball at this point....no sense in rushing pitches until she masters what she is currently working on.

DD never really threw with an 11" ball except for the All-Star tournament last summer...it took about 2 weeks to adjust to the 11" ball and find the correct release point to pitch at 35' instead of 40'.....it took nothing to go back to the 12" ball and 40" when she played Fall ball......best of luck.

 

[coachdan]

I have a 11 year old that has been pitching for 3 years. She can located her fastball (50mph) and has a good change. We trying to find a 3rd pitch to work on but all we work is the spins from the T or K drill. We are working screw, drop, curve, and rise spins only to try to find what she has the best spin with. She is having a very hard time getting the spins correct and is no were close to being able to throw any of these in a game. If anyone claims to have a 11 yr old throwing 5 pitches I would love to catch her because frankly I don't believe it.

 

[SBFAMILY]

I took advice from Bill Hillhouse.
1. Drop
2. Change
Most young kids do not have the speed or the spin to master the riseball at an early age. It could be years before they master it. What you see is a slant rise from most, not a true rise ball.

 

[Mark H]

I have to agree with Hillhouse on this one.

 

[vdubya]

DD & I throw 3-4 times/week. We have revisited the peel drop and it is breaking a lot more now that she has grown some and her speed has improved.

We're also working a drop-curve that is a turnover pitch. Hopefully one of these will rise to the forefront in the next couple of weeks and we can focus in on it as a third pitch for games.

I feel that the drop curve would be the better pitch to have. Why just drop when you could drop and curve? With the increasingly savvy batters that have learned rotational hitting mechanics, I like having another outside corner pitch anyway. Also the drop curve represents a third speed as opposed to the drop which is near-fastball speed.

Ultimately it will come down to what she can throw that ends up being a gamer pitch. She'll still probably throw a vast majority of FB and changeups and I'm sure the change will still be the devastating pitch.

Thanks for the advice all.
Vdubya

 

[DonnieS]

I took advice from Bill Hillhouse.
1. Drop
2. Change
Most young kids do not have the speed or the spin to master the riseball at an early age. It could be years before they master it. What you see is a slant rise from most, not a true rise ball.

This is the same advice we got and followed.

 

[Mark H]

I feel that the drop curve would be the better pitch to have. Why just drop when you could drop and curve?
Vdubya

Because a rh drop curve is breaking along the length of the rh hitter's bat and strong hitters will still do something with it more often than you'd like. Love the rh drop curve against a slapper though. The direction of break should always be thought of in relation to the swing plane rather than in relation to the ground.