Workload

[krazykat]

In addition to physical issues, the mental aspect of pitching is affected by throwing too much in a day. I was talking to a college coach at a game when he commented about this. He believed that a pitcher who pitched a lot at tournaments lost their mental edge and were simply going through the process of pitching. A pitcher who knows they are going to pitch all day long tend to zone out rather than compete on every pitch.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

As the father of a pitcher, I would like to put in my two cents. I would never want my daughter to throw that many pitches over a weekend this early in the season. I think a lot depends on their current level of conditioning, and for those teams traveling down south to play this weekend, it's still early. There's a reason MLB pitchers throw limited innings early in the season. It's so they can build their endurance and not get hurt. Yes, I know softball and baseball mechanics are different, but the process of building endurance is the same.

Now, if you're in mid-season form, I think you can go with a heavier workload. Montana Fouts can do it now because she's an adult with the best training available.

 

[cnardone]

I agree that conditioning, technique and the child herself have a lot to do with it limits. What works for one does not work for all. This is a first year 12U. Not College not even 14U. It is one day, sometimes stuff happens. We all know that. But if this coach's plan each weekend is to pitch their 11 year old Number 1, 10 innings a day; that coach is not doing that pitcher any favors.

 

[Bullseye]

If a parent allows another adult who calls themself a coach to make parenting decisions for your kid you have relinquished your role as a parent.

 

[RedeemerKing]

If a parent allows another adult who calls themself a coach to make parenting decisions for your kid you have relinquished your role as a parent.

As added context— in the case I originally mentioned, pitcher’s mom is one of the coaches.

 

[radness]

Just 'throwing' this out there...
If people are so concerned with pitchers throwing too many innings maybe they shouldn't play another defensive position where they also have to throw overhand. Simply commenting how far do people want to go to protect athletes?

At practices an entire team is throwing overhand so much accumulatively they're throwing around 300 throws per practice.

Is that too much?
Happens, a lot, for many years...
Is everybody getting injured because of that? No

 

[GunnerShotgun]

If a parent allows another adult who calls themself a coach to make parenting decisions for your kid you have relinquished your role as a parent.

The best team to coach is a team full of orphans.

 

[Bullseye]

The best parenting advice is for parents to do heavy research on the coach before joining the team. You may find that the coach can only coach orphans who have no parents to help make good decisions before putting them in harm's way.

 

[uncdrew]

In addition to physical issues, the mental aspect of pitching is affected by throwing too much in a day. I was talking to a college coach at a game when he commented about this. He believed that a pitcher who pitched a lot at tournaments lost their mental edge and were simply going through the process of pitching. A pitcher who knows they are going to pitch all day long tend to zone out rather than compete on every pitch.

There's something to this.

My DD went from being P1 on a good team to one of three great pitchers on a great team.

On her last team, she'd pitch 4 of the 6 games on a two-day tourney. So she had to pace herself, both physically and mentally. When she can pitch a much more healthy 1-2 games per weekend, she can go all out in any game, be it pool or bracket. It's awesome. It's so much better for her, and so much better for the team. And more fun to watch.

 

[lostcreek1]

I don’t believe any one player is getting anywhere near 300 full exertion overhand throws in one practice. If they are that coach is an idiot.