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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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Just Get It Over, Sarah, Just Get It Over
by Dave
Friday, July 08, 2005
 One of the more frustrating experiences is to sit for two hours watching a youth softball game ending with the score 16-15 when neither side gets a hit the entire game. Walk, steal, walk, steal, walk, walk. It is worse when your kid's team is on the losing end. Worse still is when your kid is in the circle. You sit there unable to get a grip on yourself hoping, praying that this pitch is going to be a strike. Please, god, let my kid throw a strike. To me the only thing worse is watching the parent of a pitcher who is suffering control problems yelling every couple of pitches, "just get it over." Does the parent suppose the kid isn't trying to "get it over?" Does anyone suppose any pitcher is content to stand out there throwing balls?
There is no question that youth softball games can be won and lost solely based on whether the pitcher does or does not throw strikes. Parents and even coaches are content to find the one or three kids who throw strikes frequently even when that kid has almost no velocity on the ball. Often in unsophisticated leagues a girl who doesn't even windmill is chosen. The chosen one gains confidence because she is the pitcher. Ask her what she does in softball and she'll say something like, "I'm the pitcher. I throw strikes." But I am willing to lay it on the line here that within two years the 10-12 year old "control pitcher" will have completely given up pitching, perhaps the sport, or if she still is in the circle, she will be getting hit hard.
It is absolutely wrong to emphasize control over velocity. The reason is relatively quickly the batters will begin to get better and as they get batter their mouths will water when they see a pitcher who throws slow strikes. A pitcher who throws slow strikes is a batting practice pitcher. Beginning and intermediate pitchers need to develop their motion and arm speed long before they begin concentrating on the strike zone. If you or your kid's coach begins to emphasize control over speed, your daughter will begin making adjustments to her delivery in order to "just get it over." Eventually she will get it over and soon thereafter the batters will begin "getting it over" your outfielders' heads.
The most important aspect of pitching is the quality motion. You want pitchers to obtain the motion which allows the greatest force on the ball but that is a subject for a different day. The second objective after you have obtained an efficient, powerful motion is to lock that motion down so it can be repeated frequently. As your child's repetitions of a good motion rise, she will be able to throw well no matter how tired she gets. After that, your focus must be on arm speed.
If your daughter has locked down a good motion and you are looking for ways to strengthen her arm and build arm speed, there are a couple of drills you can try. First try having her throw from a distance greater than the current pitching distance. If her league has a 35 or 40 foot distance, try having her throw from 45 or even 50 feet. In order to get you the ball, she will begin throwing with greater and greater force which will cause her to unconsciously pick up her arm speed.
Another drill you can try, is to have her neal down on one knee, preferably with something to cushion the knee, with one leg extended in front of her pointing directly at you. She will have her glove hand shoulder pointing at you and the ball in her throwing hand down by her thigh. Have her raise her glove hand and, pointing it at you, windmill the ball to you. This drill removes a primary source of power, the legs, and forces her to use only arm speed to get you the ball. At first you will want to do this from a close distance. As her power grows, you can eventually move back to pitching distance. Modifications of this drill are to have your daughter stand up, facing you sideways and throw without using her legs just like she was doing from one knee. You can modify this by having her step with her landing leg. Then you can add a pushoff with her drive leg. I like to refer to this as "three quarters motion" because it involves three quarters of the full motion and is kind of like "pitching from the stretch" in baseball. It is a good warmup drill on game days as well as being a good drill to gain arm strength and speed.
One other drill I have seen which seems to build arm speed is the "walking pitch." In this drill the pitcher stands at about pitching distance on a flat surface and takes a couple (say 4) steps backwards to find the beginning point. Then she walks towards the pitching plate in order to get there with her push off foot. If she is a righty, have her walk left, right left, right, pitch. For some reason this drill causes the pitcher to build adrenaline as she approaches the pitching plate and seems to result in a faster arm motion. I remember the first time I caught a high school pitcher who was warming up in this manner. This also happened to be the first time I had caught somebody who threw over 50 and I was afraid my life was going to end anyways. But when she started this walking pitch thing it occurred to me that she might actually be trying to kill me! I asked her about it and she told me it was something she did to get her arm speed up. I didn't doubt that it was working.
A good way to work your young pitcher is to have her start by warming up. Next she can throw from one knee followed by throwing from three quarters motion. Next have her throw from long distance followed by walking into the pitch. Finally you will have her pitch her regular motion from the pitching plate. A good workout for a young pitcher is to work each of the five stages (on knee, three quarters, distance, walking, and normal pitching) for 25 pitches. This adds up to 125 pitches which if you follow baseball seems like a lot but it really isn't and this regime can be completed in 15 - 30 minutes. If your daughter really wants to throw more, expecially from full motion, let her do it. Repetitions are a better way to develop the control everyone craves.
I have given you four ideas for working on arm speed. I hope I have also instructed you about putting speed ahead of control. Your young pitcher should practice pitching as frequently as possible. The windmill pitching motion does not place the same kind of strain on a pitcher's arm that overhand baseball pitching does. She should be able to pitch several times each week. When your young pitcher practices frequently, has a good, locked down motion, and works at it, control will happen naturally. She wants to throw strikes but if she repeats a proper motion frequently, the strikes will come. And if she has power to go with control, she will be a good pitcher for years to come.
If you have committed to emphasizing speed over control and you are your daughter's primary practice catcher, here is a good piece of advice, get yourself a big bucket and two dozen balls. When she throws the ball 15 feet over your head, reach down, pick up another and keep practicing. Don't so much as flinch when she throws the ball way out of your reach. If you do, she'll know you are frustrated with her lack of control. Instead you want her to know that you are supporting her and since you don't have to go retrieve the ball, nobody cares that she just threw a bad pitch.
If you hear yourself at games yelling "just get it over," take a good listen to what you sound like. Here's how your child hears it: "You stink, pitcher, find another position." This will likely be one of those rare times your child listens to you.Labels: pitching
 
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