HELP!!!!

Coaches....I need some advice. My DD has been pitching for around 3 years. She does great in pitching practice, team practice and warm ups. My husband said she is so accurate and controlled with her pitches (and her form) that she hits his glove right on target everytime...everyplace. She throws pretty fast for her age....her pitching coach clocked her at 56 mph. HOWEVER...for the past couple of months...she has struggled when she gets to the mound during games. One game a couple of weeks ago...she threw 16 balls....IN A ROW!! One of the moms have been taking pictures for the team and we noticed her form is a little off....she's leaning in, not dragging as hard and not following through. We ask her why she's not doing those things and she says she doesn't know. She does everything right at practice. We've had a couple of people tell us she's thinking too much. She needs to relax and just throw. Her pitching coach is not at the games, so it's hard for him to see what she's doing and why. She's getting frustrated and so is her dad. I don't want her to give it up. Does anyone have any helpful advice or the number of a good Sports Psychologist?

 

My DD has the same problem, But it was caused from her taking a line drive in the gut in a tournament.
From the sounds of it she is not following through. She is trying to get her self in position to catch a ball hit back up the middle. Which in turn makes her release early, or release late to compensate. One thing to try is to have her in practice put a line or ball about a foot in front of were her front foot normally lands, and tell her to hit that mark with her stride. It will make her drive harder with her legs and everything else fall in to place. Also Keep encouraging her to stay aggressive and to not let up. The second she starts to let up is when that nasty line drive will come back to bite her. I believe pitching is as much mental as it is physical Good luck!!!

 

Ten dollar fix . . . maybe

Don't over think this . . . that's what your DD may be doing. Pitching is motor memory. I she's able to throw strikes for her pitching coach she should be able to do it in the game. The closer to actual game situation practice is the less novel things (a batter and umpire) will interfere with this memory. Many baseball and softball programs now have simulated batters to use in pitching practice. You can pay $300+ for one or make a $10 one like I did. Its 4" PVC. "Batter Girl" is switch hitter! Obviously the key is to learn to throw at the top or bottom (my preference) of the zone . . . hence the green. Using batter girl should help.

If fear is an issue then the pitching coach needs to emphasize finishing in a defensive position. If she has good mechanics this should happen anyway with a balanced finish standing tall, ready to field. You can work on this by having someone stand in beside the catcher and throw (softly at first) balls back her as the pitch crosses the plate. Of course some great pitchers finish in terrible defensive postions. Danelle Lawrie is a good example. She falls toward the batter . . not good.

Last word. How many of the 16 straight balls were fastballs? If fewer than 1/2 then whoever is calling pitches needs to rethink things.

 

I dont know if you have tried this, I see many many pitchers do this, even the better ones in HS.
Another "tool" Similar to DD. A pitchers stride is crucial. In practice, figure out what her stride should be. measured with her foot, its usally based on the players height. its either going to be 5, 5 1/2 or 6 unless very tall. from the rubber put one heel on the rubber and go heel to toe until that correct step is set, mark it. throw some good hard pitches to verify this is working. once you have figured out what the correct one is, (pitching coach is sure to be able to help with this), before warm up in a game. measure it off, draw a line in the dirt and focus on stretching to that point. gives both the correct stride and the concentration to do it, taking away from the "over thinking" time.

Like I said, just another tool. keep working, she will find the right combo. yes, pitching can be frustrating, its why there so few, very good ones.

 

Really good point.

 

I just asked my husband and he said they were all fast pitches during that particular game. They were just trying to get a strike. He said they were close.....just about 2 inches too low or outside.

 

RELAX!!

As pressure builds, her muscles will tighten, causing her to grip the ball so tight, her flexibilty is gone. This causes her to start to guide the ball and leads to frustration. This causes a vicious cycle. She has to develop the focus to where during games, she sees nothing but her catcher and her target. Yelling at her, which I'm sure by now is happening, just increases her anxiety. And remember, some of the best Major League Baseball pitchers have experienced this same thing.

 

If she didn't get hit, then it sounds like shes bending over and aiming the pitch after missing with a couple of pitches. Its a mental thing as much as anything, since she does well in practice. Hopefully maturity will take care of the issue. In coaching middle school, I have seen kids who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at ages 11-13 or 14, suddenly start throwing well later. The key thing is to keep pitching in game situations, and re-enforcing how well she is doing. It sounds like the pressure of the game is what is causing her mental implosion.

 

My DD has had the same problem all summer. She pitches great to me and in lessons but gets nervous and erratic in games. This is after being an ice-queen for two years. It is a frustrating and slow process but just be patient and give her positive feedback. We tried all of the above but the thing that has finally worked is having one of her team-mates actually hit against her a couple times per week or at pitching lessons. She has regained confidence that she can do it without having the pressure of the team, coach and fans watching.

 

Batter girl is a good idea!

I like your "batter girl"! Your yard is pretty too!