Opinion about playing up

You are right and I know she is going to give up some hits. You are also correct it will be more important than ever to hit her spots. If I knew she could react to the shots up the middle I wouldn't be worried. 8am Saturday should be very interesting. This is not a tournament we are going in with high hopes and if we come out with no injuries I will be happy. We will probably learn alot about how the older girls play the game.

 

Depends on how hard and where you throw it

My DD throws about 50% fastballs in D1. Career ERA is 1.80. Went 15-2 last season. Cheri Kempf will tell you the fastball is UNDERUSED at all levels. In fact, failure to use it eventually limits development. If a 14U pitcher can't get same age kids out with her fastball she'll likely never throw D1. The key is being able to throw it where you want (mostly down) when you want to.

 

What you said kind of goes against what I have heard from any D1 coach and some very good instructors at camps. Even though we work on this pitch every week we never use it. I don't know if she can or can't get them out with fastballs because honestly we have never tried it against the better hitting teams.

Your daughter must have some good movement on her fastball for it to be thrown that often. You have given me an idea to experiment with. That won't happen this weekend though. I also respect Cheri Kempf's opinion.

 

Yep; that's the conventional wisdom and

I've seen it result in lots of young pitchers never reaching their potential. They become 'junkballers' at age 12 never developing the mechanics or strength to throw 62-64 mph required of D1 pitchers (I mean real 64mph not the one timed on Dad's gun!).

Most kids don't get people out with the fastball because they throw a bullet spin.. . . the result of improper mechanics. If the fastball has a true 12-6 spin it is very 'heavy' especially when thrown knee high. You have to be very strong to throw a 12-6 fastball but if thrown properly the combination of the spin and gravity makes it very difficult to lift. Believe it or not my DD played 4A HS ball and top level travel ball facing a number of Gold teams and never surrendered a HR until her freshman year in college. In fact, her senior year in high school the left fielder didn't handle a single fly ball.

Too many kids (and Dad's) are enamored with the rise which, for most kids, is really little more than a high fast ball. In school ball and and even some travel ball they get away with it because girls are undisciplined hitters. In college, however, only the best rise pitchers survive. Most either develop an effective down pitch or spend their career warming up.

You can go a long way if you "throw down, throw hard and keep it in the yard".

 

Looks like I need to fire my dd's pitching coach, and all along I thought movement pitches along with the speed of those breaking pitches meant something. We were at a 18u tourn. last weekend and if you thru them alot of fastballs with no movement you'd better duck 64 or not. jmho

 

Location, location, location

Every batter has holes in their swing. For example, most RH cannot hit inside third, knee high. I'm not going to convince you about this but watch the NY Yankees Mariano Rivera. Throws 80% fastballs at around 94-96 mph. Lots of major leaguers can throw this hard but they're not as successful as Rivera. The key is LOCATION. Also remember that VERY FEW girls throw a true 64 mph. My DD attended and now works the pitching camps at UNC each summer. It's amazing how many girls who say they throw 62-64 are clocked in the 50's there. In fact, no one has ever clocked faster than she has there on the same day, same gun and she's never clocked over 65 mph. Same thing happened when we went to NFCA clinics when she was in HS. There are far fewer girls throwing 60+ than many believe.

Even if you don't use the fastball you better throw it a lot in workouts since the mechanics for all pitches start with the fastball. We never throw more than three breaking pitches in drills without throwing one fastball.

Remember the fastball is the easiest pitch throw. Her freshman year my DD threw a 1hit seven inning shutout vs a 40-win D1 team throwing nothing but fastballs and change ups. It was so cold and dry that it was almost impossible to spin the breaking stuff.

As for pitching coaches, I think many make the entire process too complicated. I laugh at 12U parents who tell my their kid throws six pitches. All you really need to succeed is to be able to throw the fastball to any spot at any time, have some change of speed and one breaking pitch that you can throw for a strike or off the plate. Everything else is just gravy.

 

I agree we always work on the fastball in work outs, but also work on curve, rise, drop, screw and change. I guess it's different for each pitcher, what ever works to get the out.


It has been fun to debate this with you. Good luck to you and your dd

 

Thanks, always enjoy talking pitching

Best of luck to your DD as well.

 

What's also amazing is all that talk about pitch speeds when there's not a single radar gun at the park... and when there is a gun present, it's not reading right!

Who are the pitchers who do legitimately throw 64+?