Would you rather have speed or great movement on the mound?

Logistics...

Everything starts with Power..
with that comes the principals of sequencing, or theory of addition..
There are 3 components to power...
Leg drive + Arm Speed + Wrist strength...
you need all of them to be great...

Next comes Control
it can be defined as consistency with regard to location and movement,
or a command of the strike zone.
A great pitcher uses Posture ( high and low control )
and Spacing ( side to side control ) in regard to location.
They also use Sequencing ( high and low zones ) and alignment of the power line
( side to side targets ) as they approach various hitters.

Deception has many factors...
The obvious changing of speeds effectively will confuse hitters.
Another area is the creation of great movement in 2 different planes
( down and away, up and in ). Other factors to master are keeping similar release points for
pitches in different locations and minimizing tell tale cues as to different pitches...

Comprende??

 

Measurements?

Does a good side to side breaking ball move 6 inches? 10 inches? 2 inches?
How much does a good up and down breaking ball move?

If you have good movement on your ball, what is good speed to compliment in order to provide contrast? 52MPH? 55MPH? 58MPH? 62MPH?

 

Any movement is good.....
I have a kid that we have taught to throw 3 different curveballs..
One is thrown with a 2 seam grip and at a fastball speed.
It breaks 2-4 inches.. down and out. We can change her hand angle and
it breaks down and in... We throw it inside as an opening pitch...
She also throws a big bender. We throw it at 80% of the fastball, and right at the righthanded hitter...breaks 6-8 inches...if she hits it, 99% of the time, it is foul.. Then we throw our 2/5... Which is a change-curve...
It is designed to throw outside, and get them to chase.. Never thrown for a strike. It is at 70% of the fastball speed.

There are not many pitchers I have seen that throw a REAL riseball...
Most of them are front release fastballs that shoot up in the zone...if you want to know if a pitcher is throwing a true rise ball, watch the spin..
You should see All RED ( 4 seams spinning clock wise ). Most of what you see is a DOT, as the kids wrist has rotated at release and the ball is not spinning in the proper plane..

A great rise ball pitcher throws BACK DOOR RISES.. which start below the knee, and come up and catch the bottom of the strike zone...

This is not to say there are not some great rise ball pitchers in NC.....
but it is a very hard pitch to master and throw effectively.

I don't focus on the contrast of speed in regard to mph...
We try and determine what % of the fastball speed each pitcher should throw her off speed stuff to complement her approach..
Every kid is different... each will do certain things well, and will struggle with others..

All great pitchers have another common factor.....
They have great catchers...

 

My comment on the subject is, almost all D1 coaches want pitchers that throw between 61 to 65, they say that at that speed the ball breaks most. Course if yoiu are Monica Abbott, who throws in the mid seventies, and can thread a needle, it and her change up is thrown about sixty MPH, you don't really worry about things like the change of speed.
So the first thing that I look for is speed, or rather the ability to throw in the mid-fifties, with that you can then teach movement....
But remember not everone can throw in the mid-fities,and those that can't have to relie on movement
All the other things are taught. change up, drops, rise ball, curves, ect.

So give me a pitcher that can throw hard, and she will be taught the rest

 

THANKS!

Thank you WndMillR and nctiger....that was more in line with what I was looking for. Anybody else want to weigh in?

 

apply power

the power part of this entry can be informative, very informative, to hitters. "HITTING IS ALL ABOUT TIMING" dedicate your time to develop your hitter. she can do it! play safe

 

amen

gotta appreciate sound info. monica abbott has a 0.00 era and is 17-0 with somewhere around 290 k's in 100 innings. i think its fairly safe to say that her position in the softball community is the heat. FYI i saw her strike out one of THE best. brianna brown, with ease. as of sat. breanna was batting .410 ish for a very good heel team. monica is an exception to the rule that WINDMILR, GURU,DAWg etc. are referring to. BUT WINDMLR does have smarts on this issue. what a wonderful rendition of setting up pitches that he gave. not only was it understandable, i'm wondering now if my first husband has moved back to nc? i'm playing safe

 

I never left....................

 

the "circle is complete".....there you go WMR!

 

ok

oooo kkk! you're both good at conversing as well as softball knowledge. found my ex husband, i don't think is in my equation. for now, i'm leaving you alone. for now! you play safe