At what age should your daughter start working with a pitching instructor
daboss
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I had 4 girls this winter 8 yrs old. Many will argue both ways and to be truthful the only thing I considered was cutting the time length of the sessions. It's very difficult to get an 8 yr old to stay focused and learn for an entire hour. I think 40-45 minutes would have been enough. Depending on their maturity I would say 9-10 yrs old is a good age to start. I'd much rather start them at that age, even if they don't come every week just to get some basic awareness and mechanics under their belt until they decide to get more serious. Everyone grows both mentally and physically at different rates so it really is necessary to evaluate the individual before deciding. If they truly want to come, I don't keep them from coming. This winter is the first year I ever charged money for a lesson ($10). I've lost track how many years I've been teaching. I'll put my education on pitching up against anyone. History shows my methods seem to work.
The one thing I've always giggled about are other pitching instructors that will use the natural progression of things as a gimmick to get girls to pay money to come seek lessons from them. The families of a a 9-10 yr old or even at 12-14 yrs old would be approached by an instructor reliant of your money for income and say "If you come take lessons from me I can get you throwing your fastball 5 mph faster next winter." Parents, there's probably going to be a change in your daughter's speed if she's a year older, bigger, stronger, and has grown mentally. It isn't the instruction in most cases. That's okay, I'm sure the additional money spent will make you feel better. Why come to me for free. lol. I'm not an expert. As long as you are happy I'm okay with it..............
The one thing I've always giggled about are other pitching instructors that will use the natural progression of things as a gimmick to get girls to pay money to come seek lessons from them. The families of a a 9-10 yr old or even at 12-14 yrs old would be approached by an instructor reliant of your money for income and say "If you come take lessons from me I can get you throwing your fastball 5 mph faster next winter." Parents, there's probably going to be a change in your daughter's speed if she's a year older, bigger, stronger, and has grown mentally. It isn't the instruction in most cases. That's okay, I'm sure the additional money spent will make you feel better. Why come to me for free. lol. I'm not an expert. As long as you are happy I'm okay with it..............
Softball Dad
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DD started lessons at 9 when she asked for help pitching and switched to a better, and more expensive, instructor at 12. We wish we would have started with the better instructor. She pitches in college now so I guess it all worked out.
DD Started @ Age 8 After seeing one of her teammates Pitch & Thought that looked like Fun. Its been 8 years & has been successful so far. Key was A Great Pitching Coach who wouldn't teach beyond initial Mechanics for 1st 6 months. Alot of Drill's until she was allowed to throw Full.
You can't start to early. This is not a position that you can teach yourself. If your daughter wants to pitch you need to get her to a pitching coach for her safety and so she can learn proper mechanics. Just my opinion but high school ball is full of self taught pitchers that pitch around 45 mph and can't throw a strike.
It depends on whether you want them to be able to throw 2 good pitches by 10U or 7.
@ 10U tryouts:
Parent: Hi Coach! My daughter, little Suzy, is here to try out for your number 1 pitcher position.
Coach: Okay. Is she fast?
Parent: Honestly, I don't really know. We've never gunned her but she seems fast.
Coach: Hmm...does she have anything besides a Fastball?
Parent: Oh yes! She has the 2 seam Fastball, the 4 seam Fastball, a Change-up, a Dropball, a Curveball, a Crop, a Screwball, a Cutter, a Riseball, and a Scrise! She's currently working on her Crize but hasn't perfected that yet.
Coach: That's great! Can she hit her spots with each one consistently?!
Parent: Maybe one out of ten but we're working on it religiously and she's definitely getting better!
Coach: Well…...how much movement does she get out of each pitch then?
Parent: Not much if any at all?
Coach: Okay, so let me get this straight. You don't know how fast she throws, she can't hit her spots and gets no movement out of any of the pitches you claim she can throw. How can you claim she has all those pitches?!
Parent to Little Suzy: SUZY! Get back in the car! You can't play for this guy! He's a moron! He can't tell what a pitch is based on the spin! We're going somewhere else!
Sorry folks, I couldn't resist. Truth be told, I agree with most everyone here. The sooner the better. 8U is not too early. The one thing parents need to be aware of is the need to continue to make practice fun for them. Most pitchers quit pitching by 2nd year 14U. That's due to them feeling like it's more of a job than a calling and a study done several years ago cites parents as the main reason. Just an FYI.
As for those that may feel that this is mean and/or condescending, please don't. The point is, although we have a lot of great pitching coaches on here and a lot of great parents, your kids need to master each individual pitch and be able to hit their spots with it 9 out of 10 times before moving onto the next one. There are pitching coaches out there that just like to brag about how many pitches their pitchers can throw. There are also parents out there the same way. If the pitchers can't hit their spots consistently with a particular pitch, or the pitch itself has no movement, they will get teed off on. JMHO
@ 10U tryouts:
Parent: Hi Coach! My daughter, little Suzy, is here to try out for your number 1 pitcher position.
Coach: Okay. Is she fast?
Parent: Honestly, I don't really know. We've never gunned her but she seems fast.
Coach: Hmm...does she have anything besides a Fastball?
Parent: Oh yes! She has the 2 seam Fastball, the 4 seam Fastball, a Change-up, a Dropball, a Curveball, a Crop, a Screwball, a Cutter, a Riseball, and a Scrise! She's currently working on her Crize but hasn't perfected that yet.
Coach: That's great! Can she hit her spots with each one consistently?!
Parent: Maybe one out of ten but we're working on it religiously and she's definitely getting better!
Coach: Well…...how much movement does she get out of each pitch then?
Parent: Not much if any at all?
Coach: Okay, so let me get this straight. You don't know how fast she throws, she can't hit her spots and gets no movement out of any of the pitches you claim she can throw. How can you claim she has all those pitches?!
Parent to Little Suzy: SUZY! Get back in the car! You can't play for this guy! He's a moron! He can't tell what a pitch is based on the spin! We're going somewhere else!
Sorry folks, I couldn't resist. Truth be told, I agree with most everyone here. The sooner the better. 8U is not too early. The one thing parents need to be aware of is the need to continue to make practice fun for them. Most pitchers quit pitching by 2nd year 14U. That's due to them feeling like it's more of a job than a calling and a study done several years ago cites parents as the main reason. Just an FYI.
As for those that may feel that this is mean and/or condescending, please don't. The point is, although we have a lot of great pitching coaches on here and a lot of great parents, your kids need to master each individual pitch and be able to hit their spots with it 9 out of 10 times before moving onto the next one. There are pitching coaches out there that just like to brag about how many pitches their pitchers can throw. There are also parents out there the same way. If the pitchers can't hit their spots consistently with a particular pitch, or the pitch itself has no movement, they will get teed off on. JMHO
My DD didnt start lessons until she was 14, she pitched little league baseball until then.
First2Third
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Most important thing you can do for a young pitcher is to teach her how to THROW underhanded before she tries to "pitch" with a wind-up, etc.
It depends on whether you want them to be able to throw 2 good pitches by 10U or 7.
@ 10U tryouts:
Parent: Hi Coach! My daughter, little Suzy, is here to try out for your number 1 pitcher position.
Coach: Okay. Is she fast?
Parent: Honestly, I don't really know. We've never gunned her but she seems fast.
Coach: Hmm...does she have anything besides a Fastball?
Parent: Oh yes! She has the 2 seam Fastball, the 4 seam Fastball, a Change-up, a Dropball, a Curveball, a Crop, a Screwball, a Cutter, a Riseball, and a Scrise! She's currently working on her Crize but hasn't perfected that yet.
Coach: That's great! Can she hit her spots with each one consistently?!
Parent: Maybe one out of ten but we're working on it religiously and she's definitely getting better!
Coach: Well…...how much movement does she get out of each pitch then?
Parent: Not much if any at all?
Coach: Okay, so let me get this straight. You don't know how fast she throws, she can't hit her spots and gets no movement out of any of the pitches you claim she can throw. How can you claim she has all those pitches?!
Parent to Little Suzy: SUZY! Get back in the car! You can't play for this guy! He's a moron! He can't tell what a pitch is based on the spin! We're going somewhere else!
Sorry folks, I couldn't resist. Truth be told, I agree with most everyone here. The sooner the better. 8U is not too early. The one thing parents need to be aware of is the need to continue to make practice fun for them. Most pitchers quit pitching by 2nd year 14U. That's due to them feeling like it's more of a job than a calling and a study done several years ago cites parents as the main reason. Just an FYI.
As for those that may feel that this is mean and/or condescending, please don't. The point is, although we have a lot of great pitching coaches on here and a lot of great parents, your kids need to master each individual pitch and be able to hit their spots with it 9 out of 10 times before moving onto the next one. There are pitching coaches out there that just like to brag about how many pitches their pitchers can throw. There are also parents out there the same way. If the pitchers can't hit their spots consistently with a particular pitch, or the pitch itself has no movement, they will get teed off on. JMHO
This reminds me of the time, going way back, that we were at tryouts. I believe 14u. they announced to parents if anyone had a glove to please help warm up pitchers to view and evaluate. So, i walked over to help. they assigned me Pitcher X, (not my DD), and i proceeded to catch. she gets warm, and starts calling out all these pitches shes's throwing, while mom is standing there watching. finally, after umpteen pitches, I finally said, "anytime you want to throw something other than fastball down the middle, just let me know". Needless to say, mom was irate, and my DD was not made an offer to this squad. Apparently, said pitcher was #1 pitcher on the 14u team my DD was trying out for.
Bottom line - as long as it's fun for them, start as early as possible.
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you could always play pitching talking videos to your DD while she is still in mommy's tummy... this is the best time to get her thinking about being that #1 - 10u pitcher we are all afraid of!!!! huh? lol can never start too early. Right pitchers dads?
