? for parents of established pitchers

[Sparky Guy]

My daughter is getting ready to start her senior year in college. She's been pitching against very high level teams pretty much her entire pitching career which started when she was 11. She had some very good success in HS. Her travel teams always played against the best competition from throughout the country. Her college sophomore year she finished in the nation's top 10 in K's per 7 innings at the DII level. She averaged over 10 K's per 7 innings that season. She was off slightly last season only averaging 7.6 K's per 7 innings. She knows how to make hitters miss.

Through the years she always kept it simple. Since she was playing 14U she has never thrown a fastball in a game. She throws 5 different pitches during a game. She'll throw a rise, drop, screw, change, and curve. All of her pitches move through two planes when they break. She will vary these pitches slightly by changing the speed and spin on the ball. She can vary each pitch slightly to make them look different enough to keep the hitters off balance. No two ever pitches look the same. The one thing she has worked very hard on is disguising each pitch. Here delivery is nearly identical for each pitch. It irks me to no end to see girls in circle doing all kinds of weird gyrations for each different pitch. If you keep it simple it's less likely to break.

[Sparky Guy]

Regarding the comments on the curve, again, we've been to a lot of college clinics and that's the standard line. Some of those colleges have done exceedingly well in NCAAs. Our closest university is Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and they just won the NCAA D-II National Championship.

Coach Montgomery used Kaitlin Colosimo in the tough games during the post season. Kaitlin has a very good peel drop. However, she may find the going a little more difficult this season. The NCAA is trying get more offense generated this season. They changed the strike zone for 2008. They have shrunk the zone vertically this season. The top of the ball must be inside the strike zone at the top and the bottom of the ball must be in the strike zone at the bottom. They have made it harder for the good drop and rise ball pitchers. If a pitcher is going to be successful in college she better have a very good curve and screw. They have taken the top and bottom of the strike zone away from the pitchers. The zone is still the same horizontally with any part of the ball touching any part of the sides of the strike zone.

My daughter uses her curve ball with great success in college. She strikes out nearly as many hitters with the curve as she does with the rise.

[rrtiger]

My dd has been pitching since she was 10 and is now 18. She has a rise, curve, screw, drop, change up and fastball, although she rarely throws the latter. Curve, rise, and change are her best. The most important suggestion I can give is to not just throw screw and curve. You have to mix up the height that the ball crosses the plate or she'll get tagged. Because my daughter throws fast, a good change up is necessary to keep the batters off balance. Even if your daughter may not have a great drop or change up, it's always good to show the batter that you're willing to throw it to keep them guessing. Also, don't be afraid to throw inside on a batter, especially if she's showing bunt. Good luck!

[3strikesLooking]

My DD`s been pitching for 8 years now. My concern is how your pitching coach wants to teach new pitches constantly. For instance, the cut-rise is a very difficult pitch to master. I would stick with the basics and perfect all the basic mechanics before learning advanced combos. DD comfortably throws any pitch at any time. BTW, she quit throwing a fastball when we left Recball @ 10u.

[jofus]

Well, it's not constantly, that was the first class in quite a while that he showed her anything new. He basically warms her up with fastballs, then works on changes (2 different ones), drops, and screw balls, and to a lesser extent curves and rises. I think he just shows her new ones to see how she could do with them, plus to make it a little more interesting. He has students around her age that he hasn't even shown a rise to yet, because he didn't think they were ready for it.

[bkatona]

thanks to all of you who wrote. DD is 10 and in her first full year of pitching, so we both have quite a bit to learn....her coach has her working on the 4 quadrants of the strike zone (high in, high out, low in and low out) in addition to introducing the change-up, which will take this season to begin to throw with some confidence.... it is quite a bit of fun and lots of practice for both of us.

[Nzane]

Enjoy the journey. There will be many hours spent with DD, some good some bad, but all worth the effort.
May sound cliche but just try and relax and enjoy the time together. I know I started out way crazier than I am now (hold the comments those that know me). We spend much more time laughing and smiling now than we used to. I wouldn't trade the time spent with my DD for anything.

I hear ya Spaz. I feel the same way bro........

[artomatic]

Enjoy the journey. There will be many hours spent with DD, some good some bad, but all worth the effort.
May sound cliche but just try and relax and enjoy the time together. I know I started out way crazier than I am now (hold the comments those that know me). We spend much more time laughing and smiling now than we used to. I wouldn't trade the time spent with my DD for anything.

I hear ya Spaz. I feel the same way bro........

I love you guys...


seriously, i agree with spaz regarding having fun...i can pretty much echo the part about chilling and enjoying the time together the last couple of years instead of grinding her and pushing her towards burnout...