What pitches should a 12U player have at this point?

[Dana Marque]

I ask because we did our first official club try-out. Granted - it was pouring rain. As I watched, several girls were throwing screw and curves, etc. Not necessarily hitting their spots but they were decent. But what I found odd was that none of them had a great change-up. Either rolling on the ground or thrown way up high... My daughter does have a nice change-up and is very accurrate at hitting her spots. But she only has her fast-ball (two seam and four seam - I mention that because they come in a different speeds) and a beautiful change-up. She's working on her drop curve and has thrown it in a game or two. Not extremely comfortable with it but it's still work in progress. My question is - did we screw up?? Should she have more pitches but not necessarily be accurate on all? Or should hitting her spots be more important? So confused... What's really more important at the 12U club level???

Thank you in advance. You know I value everyone's opinion.

 

[James Smith]

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/15588-2-pitches.html

 

[canyonjoe]

IMHO if you can spot the FB and change speed with it and have a good true change up you ahead of the game. If you throw down the middle to 12U teams they will light you up.

 

[Dave619]

That is basically where my DD is at 12U...spotting fastball, change, and working on drop now. If your DD can throw off-speed that is probably a bonus at this point. Did you screw up? No, not at all. However, keep in mind there are many club/travel coaches and PC coaches that think the more pitches a pitcher can throw...the better they are. Mostly what you will find is "forced movement" on girls that age. Ball starts on the right side of the pitcher...the ball ends up on the left side of the plate...it must be a curve ball! No...more than likely the pitcher just threw the ball and it went on that side. Pitcher throws the ball high on the batter...must be a rise ball! No....just a high fastball. I haven't seen a 12U that can throw a rise. Maybe there are some, just not that I have seen.

Point is, don't listen to it and don't buy into that theory. If you watched those girls throwing screws and curves, most were forcing the movement by stepping in or out of the powerline or moving their arm in a way to force that movement. I tell my DD the problem with that when she gets older is batters can pick up that if you step this way or that way and the arm changes a lot they will know exactly what you are doing. Her pitches need to look as similar as you can make them. Even if some of those girls did get break on the ball it was probably very inconsistent. It is better to locate that fastball on the outside corner with 80% accuracy at 12U than throw a "curve" that only breaks some 50% of the time. So the other 50% of the time the curve doesn't break and goes down the middle of the plate...a pitcher that does that will get hit hard against a good team...even at 12U.

If your DD has a good CU, you are in great shape. My DD use to throw "six pitches" and she struggled with consistency, it was not a pretty site. Now she throws two and we are working on another. We will probably hold on that for a long time. Stay the course until she is ready to move on.

 

[bucket pinata]

Thought this article might shed some light.Pitchers announce their number of pitches as if the one with the most wins! It’s not the pitches you can count that make you a great pitcher – it’s the pitches you can count on . Read on to discover the difference.
Working with pitchers every day, of all ages, I’m constantly confronted with the issue of number of pitches. It usually comes out in the form of a question, as in “how many pitches should I have?” I’ve never been a big believer in having a ton of different pitches and yet I’ve felt like I’m out on my own little island in this regard. As a pitcher myself I only had a rise, drop, change and off-speed. Nobody threw a screwball back then so it’s not unusual that I didn’t have one. But lots of people threw the curveball, and yet I never could. So, I just didn’t throw it.
I always figured it was better to be really good at a few pitches than average at a lot of them. I know this isn’t the popular mindset when it comes to pitching but beating someone with a $400 piece of technology in their hands is hard enough without hurting yourself by having average pitches.
This point was driven home to me when I watched Keilani Ricketts dominate the best hitters in college softball at this year’s Women’s College World Series. I don’t think anyone would deny that Keilani was the best pitcher in college softball, and yet she only threw 4 pitches – and one of those was a combination of her first two:
1.Curve
2.Drop
3.Curve-Drop (Crop)
4.Change
The best pitcher in college softball didn’t even have a rise or a screwball! Sure, she can probably throw them, but obviously not as well as she throws these pitches – so she doesn’t risk watering down her dominance by throwing average pitches!
Now here’s the key – by only throwing 4 main pitches (including a changeup), Keilani allows herself the ability to devote TONS of time practicing them so she can really dominate them. Having only 4 pitches means she better be REALLY good with them. She can’t really beat you by going up on you, since she doesn’t have a riseball. You know that as a hitter and she knows you know that. So she’s got to be able to hit her spots exactly – and more importantly – she’s got to be able to throw these pitches on either side of the plate to either a right or left handed hitter. And, we know from watching, that she did!
Where most pitchers fail in regards to their pitches is the following:
1.They leave too many pitches over the plate
2.They have too many pitches that don’t really move
3.They spend too much time practicing their really bad pitches
4.They don’t master a change up
5.They can’t throw their pitches inside to batters
When you read this list you quickly realize that Keilani didn’t do any of these things. By only have 3 moving pitches plus a great change up, she was able to perfect these 3 pitches, she didn’t miss over the plate, she made her 3 pitches really move, she had a killer changeup, and she could throw all of pitches inside to Righties or Lefties!!! Keilani wasn’t the best pitcher in college softball because she had the most pitches. She was the best because she could use the pitches she had to dominate the best batters in college softball!!
Cat Osterman is another example of a great pitcher who doesn’t throw every single pitch. Cat’s made a living by throwing a tremendous rise, drop, curve and change. She doesn’t even throw a screwball. Sure, she can probably throw one in practice, but since it’s nowhere near as good as her other 3 moving pitches, she doesn’t throw it in games.
The way a pitcher dominates is being able to attack a batter’s weakness with pitches that appear to be strikes. We would all help our pitchers a TON if we’d get them away from the mindset of needing to have every single pitch. Some pitchers just aren’t able to throw every pitch well. Spending time perfecting a killer dropball is far better for a pitcher than splitting dropball practice time with very average riseball. As I’ve said in prior articles, I’m not a big fan of the screwball since 3 things can happen with that pitch and 2 of them are bad (hit the batter or leave it fat). And yet almost every pitcher I know wants to throw it and every coach I know calls it. If all you can do with a pitch is hit a batter or leave it fat, then spend time perfecting another type of pitch that has more upside and less downside.
Take a lesson from Keilani Ricketts and Cat Osterman – and have your pitchers spend more time mastering a few of their pitches (REALLY mastering them), and less time trying to learn more of them.
NOTE: As a side note some of you might think that Keilani was so dominate because of her speed. Sure, she threw the ball 68-70 miles per hour, but so did a lot of other pitchers that didn’t have near her success. And, on the flip side of that is Cat – Cat can throw in the mid 60’s but she’s got the best pitch movement in the world when she throws 58-59 mph. Speed can help, but what’s FAR MORE IMPORTANT is movement and control of that moveuts some perspective on where you might want to end up.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I can't even get them to throw a C/U. In the situations around here, no one is calling pitches. Their FB is generally 42ish, we practice C/U a lot and drop has been introduced. I think a screwball is a possibility. You get out of pitching, what you put in and I and not seeing a lot of 12 yos put much in.

 

[MK37]

My DD has a peel drop, change up and an off speed pitch. The off speed is thrown like the peel she just buries it in her palm. All are a work in progress but are decent.

 

[samalusa]

My DD will be 11 next month and going into 12U fall ball. She has a fastball, 2 changeups, a slider, and screwball (work in progress). Moving into 12's, her pitching coach has her only throwing fastball and changeups until she gets acclimated to 40' and the bigger ball. She's able to locate inside/outside with the fastball. Difficulty with changeup cause of the extra 5'.

 

[humpty]

What's a slider in softball

 

[bucket pinata]

I am not sure what you are watching because Keilani has a rise, too.

Those were the pitches she said she had so might want to let her know. Also I passed this article on and did not write it myself. Just thought it was an interesting read. chillax brutha.