Would much appreciate a totally honest assessment of my 10u pitcher daughter

[Rubicon]

I am quite new to softball (played baseball back in the day, though) and would be much obliged for the wisdom of more experienced folks.
My daughter started playing 2 years ago. She started pitching about a year and a half ago but, not knowing anything, she spent about the first 9 months with a pitching coach that taught "Hello, Elbow" and all that jazz. I am very studious, and knowing nothing about fastpitch pitching, I started hitting the Internet so I could learn as much as possible and hopefully help her. I concluded that the methods generally espoused in this forum were the best and fortunately found a pitching instructor that believes the same things (I knew I was on the right track when I started hearing "elbow to pocket, wrist to pocket" and such).
Last summer she told me she loves softball and wanted to play travel-ball and hopefully pitch in college some day. She's been having a blast in travel-ball, but I have seen such a small sliver of the world that I'm afraid I am still very ignorant of how good she is and what needs to be done for her to be on the right path towards her dream.

I would very much appreciate all honest assessments of where she stands right now. Her pitching coach is complementary, but I want a completely independent and neutral assessment. How good is she for a 10u pitcher? (She just recently turned 11). What would her chances be of making a really "good" team? Also, how can she improve? I'd appreciate constructive criticism... please be brutally honest... you can't be afraid of the truth if you want to improve.

Like I said, she just recently turned 11, and she is 4'10" and 100 lbs. Ball Coach Pocket Radar (the newest one) clocks her at 40-44 mph, with most at 42. The pitch shown is 42 m.p.h. Her Rev-Fire readings are between 16-22 R.P.S.
Please let me know if I should post more or from a front view, etc.

https://youtu.be/f1Re_U2626U

 

[chinamigarden]

There is a lot to like there. I'm not as detailed as others so I will let others make more specific observations but your dd is well on her way. As for her chances of making a "real good" 12u team she needs to be throwing a bit faster. The rev fire numbers look pretty good for 11, the speed will come.

 

[FastPitchCat]

not bad. form is better than my DD when she started out 2-3 years ago.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

My rec girls that are her size and age, throw 41-45. So, she is right there, with them. I see a step back off of the rubber, which isn't legal in ASA. I would look for a 10U team, for the rest of the year and encourage her to throw a lot of long toss. By this time in the summer, my girls are practicing with dad or someone, 5 days a week, for 50-70 pitches.

Throw long toss, underhand with her, from as far back as she can get.

It would help to know what part of the country you are in, so we can judge the competition.

 

[nanotech14]

She has a lot going right. I would like to see her have a negative move with the pitching hand and glove, like rocking a baby to her throwing hand side. Get her to hide the grip on the ball in the glove and then rock the baby.

 

[chrispots]

So now lets put her side by side with a D1 pitcher (totally unfair and can seem demoralizing but that is not the intent)

The first thing that stands out to me is the straightening of your DD's "levers."

She could pick up a 2+ mph if she would just get some bend in her arm to utilize the whip...like this marked gif of Ocasio from Florida

Also note the bend in both Littlejohn and Ocasio's stride leg (left)...the both get their knees up (your DD does too) but they hold the shin angle until their drive legs almost straighten.

Also note how their shoulders get behind their hips through thoracic extension (chest pops "out"). Your DD gets thoracic extension but her shoulders (and therefore her posture) are forward...its a speed and spin killer...I know...DD2 used to do this too Compare to Ocasio and Littlejohn and it's pretty easy to see...IMO just get her to keep her shoulders behind her hips and you'll see a better landing posture with some rearward tilt...

Have fun...it's a wild ride...CP

 

[Rubicon]

My rec girls that are her size and age, throw 41-45. So, she is right there, with them. I see a step back off of the rubber, which isn't legal in ASA. I would look for a 10U team, for the rest of the year and encourage her to throw a lot of long toss. By this time in the summer, my girls are practicing with dad or someone, 5 days a week, for 50-70 pitches.

Throw long toss, underhand with her, from as far back as she can get.

It would help to know what part of the country you are in, so we can judge the competition.

Thanks for the advice. She throws 5-6 times per week, 50-150 pitches per day. I will start doing more long-toss with her.

We are in Ohio, so middle of the road competition is my guess from what I have read. The fastest I've seen so far is 45 (my experience is limited to about 6 friendlies and 6 tournaments, probably totalling 40 or so teams, but half of those being last fall).

There have been like 3 games that her pitches were all dropping hard, producing tons of strikeouts, but by the next day she couldnt reproduce it. Other times, she has a pretty nasty curve, but again. It's a fluke... the next day it's gone. Sometimes there's just a bullet-spin. She does seem to have really good natural internal-rotation. Hopefully some day she can control those movement pitches. Her change-up seems to be pretty good. Most 10u I've seen dont even throw a change, and the ones that do seem to just float in a slow pitch. My dd's drops off the table right onto the plate when it's working. She also has pretty good control... rarely walks any, and sometimes on the right day can hit corners pretty well.

 

[Rubicon]

Thank you, chrispots, that is what i am looking for. I am trying to become a student so I can help her... it's very complicated... not an easy thing. But that's good... if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Thanks again.

 

[Easton33]

Amy is correct, might as well get her started correctly and get her feet on the rubber. It's not legal in USSSA either. Work on her drive off of the rubber and all of her energy going toward the plate. (Back leg kicks out taking some momentum with it) Remember she is 11 and keep working with her. I think the assessment you want should probably not be made until she hits 14's. So keep her working on it and if she doesn't make an A or B team let her get her pitching experience in C class. Don't get caught up with the letters at this age. Experience/mound time is more important than the level you are playing. Pitching 20 games in C is a heck of a lot better than pitching 5 in A. Again she is 11 and has a lot of growing to do, keep her mechanics on track and re-evaluate in a couple of years.

 

[djcarter1966]

Load, load and load. She loses a little of potential energy by standing straight up and rocking backward then forward. Instead thinking about making everything tighter, bunched up or coiled up maybe the pitching gurus (not me) have a better term for it. Start with not stepping back as others have stated its not legal (she needs her toe on the back of the plate and keep it there), then maybe instead of rocking body while standing tall, rock glove and ball together backward slightly while incorporating some bend (not a big bend over) but flexing at the knee with a slight bend then explode up and out. Again I am not suggesting some of the crazy arm way back bend over to the ground type motion just something to help store/create energy that can be released. Hopefully one of the guys can explain it better.

BUT overall she looks pretty good, a lot going right here!!