When a 10yo catcher hands you this....

[Jdaddy]

Somebody will end up calling an ambulance! I bet there will be a whole lot of 911's in this team's future.

 

[MightyMO]

LOL. The thing that so many parents don't grasp is that their kid doesn't "have" that pitch until she can throw it in a game...to a spot...reliably...and it does what it's supposed to do. Being introduced to the grip/spin of a pitch, and attempting to throw it during practice sessions doesn't count.

Sadly Eric, those parents legitimately think their DD can do all of that with all of the pitches.

 

[MNDad]

With all the 10u girls topping 60 and swinging 34/24 bats that wrist band seems too simplistic.

 

[Eric F]

Sadly Eric, those parents legitimately think their DD can do all of that with all of the pitches.

Yup.......

 

[Gags]

My 10YO daughter played little league last fall. Based on 95% of the pitchers we saw, I'd take a sharpie and change column one to "Fastball", and column to "Not a Fastball".

All-Star/TB level? Maybe "Fastball" and "Change-Up".

Having peeked in on a few weeks worth of 10U fastpitch clinics, other options may be "Strike", and "Anywhere but the middle of the plate"

 

[grcsftbll]

My 10YO daughter played little league last fall. Based on 95% of the pitchers we saw, I'd take a sharpie and change column one to "Fastball", and column to "Not a Fastball".

All-Star/TB level? Maybe "Fastball" and "Change-Up".

Having peeked in on a few weeks worth of 10U fastpitch clinics, other options may be "Strike", and "Anywhere but the middle of the plate"

I'd add a drop to that, if we're talking travel ball.

 

[MightyMO]

My 10YO daughter played little league last fall. Based on 95% of the pitchers we saw, I'd take a sharpie and change column one to "Fastball", and column to "Not a Fastball".

All-Star/TB level? Maybe "Fastball" and "Change-Up".

Having peeked in on a few weeks worth of 10U fastpitch clinics, other options may be "Strike", and "Anywhere but the middle of the plate"

Based on watching 10U travel ball the last 3 years (2 with DD playing and 1 watching friends) I would say you're not far off. In our area it falls to about 90% - fastball only, 9% - fastball/changeup, and 1% - legit third pitch. The pitchers that dominate at the 10U level are almost always girls who are big for their age and can throw hard. It's difficult for a 9 or 10 YO to time a 52MPH pitch coming from 35 feet away so they throw everything by most girls. A lot of those girls give up pitching when that same 52MPH fastball starts getting hit 190 feet the other way when they are 12.

 

[Greenmonsters]

...is there any non-snarky way to respond that does not completely undermine her faith in her coach? Asking for a friend.

Absolutely none whatsoever.

This is a why catchers should be enabled to call pitches.

 

[Eric F]

Based on watching 10U travel ball the last 3 years (2 with DD playing and 1 watching friends) I would say you're not far off. In our area it falls to about 90% - fastball only, 9% - fastball/changeup, and 1% - legit third pitch. The pitchers that dominate at the 10U level are almost always girls who are big for their age and can throw hard. It's difficult for a 9 or 10 YO to time a 52MPH pitch coming from 35 feet away so they throw everything by most girls. A lot of those girls give up pitching when that same 52MPH fastball starts getting hit 190 feet the other way when they are 12.

Pretty much exactly my observations. My 12yo DD loves 52mph fastballs...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNshxJUHmeY

 

[DNeeld]

I'd add a drop to that, if we're talking travel ball.

I would say 99% of drop balls at the 10u level are either low fastballs or low balls thrown with enough speed taken off they just die before getting all the way to the plate. In other words, gravity is doing all the work, not ball spin.