As I mentioned earlier, your situation is similar to my first JV year. ?I had a girl come to open gyms starting in October, that had never pitched in her life. ?The varsity coach say's "this is your JV pitcher." ?I put her down on 1 knee to have her do some single arm circle drills, working on her release, at a wall about 8 feet away. ?Her first pitch went straight up in into the ceiling, rattling the rafters. ?I just rolled my eyes. ?She worked extremely hard over the next few months, and I felt come season she would be ready to throw. ?She was doing the windmill windup, and throwing consistently around the plate. ?
The first game came, and I put her out there to throw, but there was one problem, there was a batter!!! ?After 5 innings and giving up over 30 runs and probably as many walks, I was numb. ?The next 3 games were exactly the same, walk, walk, walk, run scored....My assistant coach by then is saying, can't we try someone else. ?Me being stubborn said, "No, she is the only one that wanted to come in and put in the work, so she is our pitcher." ?After a few more games I gave in and tried someone else. ?I brought in a girl who had thrown slingshot in rec. ball, and she pitched a majority of the rest of our games.
The girl I had worked with, kept working and turned into the varsity starter the following year as a junior. ?And had she not had 2 minor accidents her Senior year requiring her to miss the first half of the season, she probably would have had an outstanding Senior season, for a pitcher who never pitched her first ball till her sophmore year.
I believe in "Diamonds in the Rough," but it will take alot of patience. ?Good Luck!!
. We probably "grew" more that season than any other. On the positive side, it was great to see the girls that truly had the "team" mentality. We had 3 girls step up and try because they knew the situation and they had "some" pitching experience when they were much younger. Stay positive and hang in there!
