Not to Highjack this but where does this notion of never throwing a fastball come from? It's the easiest pitch to put where you want and as you said, thrown when you need a strike. I think it should be used to get ahead in the count then it makes it easier to get girls to chase movement pitches. Nothing wrong with a FB on the hands that only gets fouled off. The bigger point is not to miss with it.
When to throw a fastball.
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Not to Highjack this but where does this notion of never throwing a fastball come from? It's the easiest pitch to put where you want and as you said, thrown when you need a strike. I think it should be used to get ahead in the count then it makes it easier to get girls to chase movement pitches. Nothing wrong with a FB on the hands that only gets fouled off. The bigger point is not to miss with it.
Absolutely agree.
Last year in my DD's rec league, she was just gaining her composure on the mound as a pitcher. She finally started finding the strike zone consistently. There were 2 older girls, who were on local daddyball travel teams. According to their fathers, each of the two older girls threw riseballs, screwballs and curves. My DD really enjoyed beating those teams. The look on their faces when my DD, who threw a fastball and occasional change up, would win was priceless. If you can't throw strikes, you could have 10 different pitches. A ball is still a ball, and a strike is still a strike.
I just had this conversation with one of my pitchers. She throws a feathered fastball as Osterman describes and that is what I consider a fastball, a pitch with corkscrew spin and little break. From my observations that is the fastest pitch for most girls. I have her throw it on the inside corner as a first pitch, many batters look at the first pitch and when they get a fastball on their hands they often foul it off, at best. Now we are 0-1 and our odds tip in our favor. Not saying I'll have my catcher follow that pattern the 3rd time through the order but until it doesn't work I stick with it.
- Nov 29, 2009
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Pitching in college. If you throw a FB to an average or good college hitter it's nothing but exercise for the fans as they chase the ball 200+ feet from home. If it's 1st pitch or last pitch of a sequence it gets hit.
The only time my daughter would ever throw a FB in college was for a pitch out. I take that back... Once in a while she'd throw a flat rise and it would usually get hit... HARD!!!
I don't know about your daughter, but mine played at a high level and traveled the country starting at 14U. She threw VERY few FB's in games at 14U. After that every pitch was thrown to move, change speeds or both at the same time during a game. And she threw a legitimate 60 mph at 14U.
Throw the fastball as part of the mix. Even to good hitters. Just hit your spots. The idea that a top hitter at 14u, 16u and 18u is going to crank every fastball they see is not true. Ave. and good college hitters will not easily crank fastballs if they are off the black and they can be used to set up lots of pitches. As your DD develops you will discover for yourself the right mix as the competition improves. Master the snappiest, most accurate fastball you can. Blow it by kids, learn to locate it and learn the other pitches as well. As the competition gets better you'll need 3 or 4 good pitches that allow you to change speeds, spins, planes and of course location relative to the plate.
Apparently your DD was a better D1 college pitcher than mine.
My DD would throw a fastball when she got behind in the count at 3-0 or when her breaking pitches weren't working. She had exceptional control (in HS she went 37 straight innings without a walk) and she would change speeds on her fastball. She had a live arm, and her fastball would move. She was hitting 62 MPH in college, and had a top speed of 65 MPH.
We went to the CWS in Oklahoma in 2010, and we saw lots of fastballs.
My DD would throw a fastball when she got behind in the count at 3-0 or when her breaking pitches weren't working. She had exceptional control (in HS she went 37 straight innings without a walk) and she would change speeds on her fastball. She had a live arm, and her fastball would move. She was hitting 62 MPH in college, and had a top speed of 65 MPH.
We went to the CWS in Oklahoma in 2010, and we saw lots of fastballs.
The notion comes from exaggerated statements like this:
"" If you throw a FB to an average or good college hitter it's nothing but exercise for the fans as they chase the ball 200+ feet from home.""
Consider that MLB has professional hitters, many of the best on the planet. The stakes are high and runs on the scoreboard are prized. Yet even when the world's most elite multi-million dollar hitters KNOW that a fastball is coming *over the plate* on a 3-0 count, they decline to put it over the fence. What gives, pitch counts? Is there any manager who wouldn't take the run scored over one more click on the pitch counter? Think about that...HOMERUN or one more pitch? We all know which is more valuable.
It's too bad that some of these "average or good" college women couldn't pinch swing on 3-0 in MLB for those sure fire home run shots that the professional hitters can't routinely pull off on a fastball down the pipe.
The FB is another pitch in the arsenal IMO. If fast pitch hitters are set up to expect only breaking pitches, then they are set up to miss-hit a fastball that doesn't break. Unpredictability works--"I thought it would drop but it didn't." Yet even when it is predictable as in MLB 3-0 counts, it doesn't automatically end up over the wall. The sky is not falling. Like any other tool, the FB has it's use. Just my opinion, but I'm no college coach.
"" If you throw a FB to an average or good college hitter it's nothing but exercise for the fans as they chase the ball 200+ feet from home.""
Consider that MLB has professional hitters, many of the best on the planet. The stakes are high and runs on the scoreboard are prized. Yet even when the world's most elite multi-million dollar hitters KNOW that a fastball is coming *over the plate* on a 3-0 count, they decline to put it over the fence. What gives, pitch counts? Is there any manager who wouldn't take the run scored over one more click on the pitch counter? Think about that...HOMERUN or one more pitch? We all know which is more valuable.
It's too bad that some of these "average or good" college women couldn't pinch swing on 3-0 in MLB for those sure fire home run shots that the professional hitters can't routinely pull off on a fastball down the pipe.
The FB is another pitch in the arsenal IMO. If fast pitch hitters are set up to expect only breaking pitches, then they are set up to miss-hit a fastball that doesn't break. Unpredictability works--"I thought it would drop but it didn't." Yet even when it is predictable as in MLB 3-0 counts, it doesn't automatically end up over the wall. The sky is not falling. Like any other tool, the FB has it's use. Just my opinion, but I'm no college coach.
Agreed.... The point is location on the fastball. It's very difficult for any hitter to take a pitch on the black on the hands over a fence. To keep it fair is hard. I often use it at U14 (against ver good competetion) to get ahead too. If you miss with it, it gets hit. Put where it should be it's a called strike or foul ball. That then allows us to start using the outside drop or drop curve.
I've been through U18 ball with my older DD she's now playing DII ball. She loves an inside hard pitch (crewball, fastball). And generally she'll swing and hit it somewhere. But, when placed correctly, it is very difficult to hit fair. If it's on the black putting it back in fair territory is hard to do. It's the ones that miss that get hit hard. My other DD is playing high level U14 now. Good competition. We were in two fall tournaments and took 1st and 2nd and she threw the FB 30% of the time. There is one that I would like to have back as she missed it and it went over the fence.
