Thoughts on not using a fastball

[sluggers]

And why is that the fastball is one of the 3 pitches that MLB pitchers throw to the best hitters in the world???!

It is all about control.

Newbies think if their DD can get the ball to move 1 out of 2 times and they can put it near the plate, then their DD knows how to throw a breaking pitch.

 

[coach james]

2yr 14u and above, I rarely call a FB. Maybe as an out of the zone, chase pitch (well located) but never over the plate.
Fast balls over the white is batting practice for most hitters.
Like said above, unless she's in the upper 10% of speed, there needs to be some movement. And as always, throw a good dose of change ups... always

 

[riseball]

DJCarter, lets say 14u.
JAD, I agree. I think a well placed fastball is a great pitch. I also feel it is an important pitch to help disrupt the batters timing, especially when it tends to be 2-4 mph faster then the movement pitches. If you prefer a fast peel drop in place of a fastball, I am cool with that too. I just think they have their purpose especially when a pitcher is behind in the count.

Properly thrown a FB is a movement pitch. If a pitch does not move you should not call it.

 

[JAD]

There are a lot of coaches across the country who never call a fastball, but they call a lot of curveballs, screwballs, drops, and rises that do not move...I remember a pitcher who showed up at our 14U tryout and said she had 7 pitches. Put her through a pitching workout and all 7 pitches hit a pie pan.

 

[Bob516]

hit a pie pan.

Is this a figure of speech, or do you literally mean the pitcher could hit something the size of a pie pan?

 

[TMoney]

I chuckle every time I hear this brought up. I don't know that I have seen any elite pitcher, softball or baseball, that doesn't use a fastball. If you look at the statistics, over 60% of the pitches thrown in a game are fastballs. It's just insane to me to think that someone would go through a game and not throw one.

 

[JAD]

Is this a figure of speech, or do you literally mean the pitcher could hit something the size of a pie pan?

It means every single pitch she threw was exactly the same, she just called them something different...

 

[corlay]

And why is that the fastball is one of the 3 pitches that MLB pitchers throw to the best hitters in the world???!

because a baseball "fastball", is a softball "riseball"? ;-P

With DD, she tries to get batters out with Drop, Rise, Change;
but if behind in the count, she will spot a Fastball, or two...

 

[Bob516]

It means every single pitch she threw was exactly the same, she just called them something different...

lol. My DD, new to pitching, was asked by her teammate how many pitches she has. My DD said two. Her teammate, bragging, started talking about her five pitches. My DD already gets it, there is not point is saying you have five pitches if you can't consistently get any one of them in the strike zone. All my DD wants to work on right now is location with her fast ball.

Thanks.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Baseball and softball are clearly different when it comes to pitching. Due to the large number of baseball pitchers throwing 98+ coming out of the bullpens yes they should be throwing gas.

There aren't enough softball pitchers that have an above average fastball so you need to limit that pitch and pick your spots.