Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Too Young to Pitch?

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One of my daughters just turned 7 and will be seeing a pitching coach starting this fall. Some people have told me that we are starting her too young. I've been told by certain people (not doctors) that starting this young could hurt her arm. She has been pitching this summer without a coach and has the capibility and drive to pitch. In other words we are not forcing pitching on her, it's what she says at this time she wants to do. I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on the "Too Young" issue for me.

 

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I would be surprised if you ever hear this from a medical professional, from a physical standpoint. Can they throw overhand? Why would they be too young to throw underhand? There are pitching coaches that may not be interested in working with them until they reach a certain age, as they might consider it a waste of time on their part. Expect to make certain concessions to age and physical attributes. 1) Might need smaller ball, for an overhand throw the ball kind of sits on top of the hand, she will need to be able to hold onto the ball as she whips her hand around, might even need to go to something as small as a baseball. 2) Length of workout, and lessons. A 7 year old, might concentrate for 5 minutes one day, and 20 minutes the next. Don't be afraid to cut it short when they just don't seem to be into it. 3) Don't be surprised if she goes in fits and starts concerning lessons and practice, maybe even stopping for several weeks.
There are others out here that know much more about pitching then I do, but imho, I have maintained that by the time they begin playing baseball, kids have thrown thousands of times overhand, (rocks, toys, sticks, all kinds of balls etc), it will take that many times underhand to accomplish the same thing.

 

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Well I'm not a doctor either but I can tell you we moved here from the Pacific NW. Back "home", pitching lessons typically start at the 8U and by 10U you can see some pretty nice pitching by 9 year old girls. Windmill pitching doesn't stress the arm like over hand (baseball) can and if taught well, girls can develop good skills early on. At that age it's not so much about accuracy at all, more about learning the correct technique and developing skill. Girls learn only regular pitch and change-up to start with. Many girls take group lessons once a week in 9-week segments at the younger ages and don't move into private lessons until they are a little more developed. I say if your daughter is interested in pitching, let her go for it.

 

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I also am curious about this subject since my youngest will be 8 in April. She comes to her big sister's pitching lessons & has picked up the motions just from watching. Her mechanics are sometimes better than her sisters, lol. She has been practicing with her sister a couple days a week now. I think she wouldn't have the attention for it if it was her private lesson though. I personally don't see anything wrong with letting them pitch at this age since I think I was 7 or 8 when my dad taught me to pitch.

 

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My daughter started lessons shortly after she turned 8 and she just turned 9. It hasn't bothered her at all and at this point, she will be more than ready next spring. She recently started working on a change up.

 

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Yikes, My 4 yr old takes her mitt and her Lite flight ball with her to every tourney. She pitches to me during everyone one of her big sisters games. She has good form for a 4 yr old lol, its really funny to watch her, she grunts and snaps her arm real tight to her body like her sister. I was thinking of taking her to lessons when she was 6 if she was still interested in pitching. I was hoping this one would be a catcher or something but it seems she has picked pitching as her position of choice

I cant see how teaching a kid to pitch properly would be bad for them. As stated the windmill style isnt all that hard on the arm. I guess I was thinking I would not put my little one on any kind of pitching schedule, just let her throw when she wants too.

 

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My youngest daughter too started playing with pitching before she could speak sentences. ?She had two big sisters that both pitched, and spent everyday in the dirt at ball fields.
Alot of her sisters work, and my instructing sunk into her head just by being around. ?She would imitate but I never asked her to practice, she would ask me if she could pitch. ?I let her go as long as she wanted, her sisters would instruct her (worked for all of them on thinking of mechanics). ?When she started asking if she could pitch in games, then we starting "practicing" (that was 6 but still didn't push too much)

At 7 she was pitching 10u games, at 10 she pitched 12u tournaments and now this fall she is pitching 15u fall ball games very successfully. ?She is a very good location pitching, with a good mix of movement pitches for now 11.
Having old siblings sometimes is a good thing.

To young.....NO just approach it the right way. ?I don't know if she will always be a pitcher, but she loves it now but also loves every other position on the field as well. ?She definitely is leaps and bounds above her sister at that age (they were just starting to play fastpitch at 11 for the first time)

 

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you are never to youlng to start and if you do things right it will not hurt her.

 

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It is my opinion as a pitcher that if ?I would have started at 7 years old, by now playing 16 and under, I would be burnt out. I do believe that 7 years old is a little young, but if she wants to do it then good for her. But, she might get burnt out quicker starting at a young age. ?

 

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My daughter is 7 and she has been pitching with a coach for abou t6 months but started goofing around when she was probably abou 4. She has worked her way up to about 1 hr 1x a weeks with her coach. The problem we have wiht her is her attention span is not too long......The other problem was finding someone to take her that young. So we make a game out of it.......... She pitches innings against her sisters high school team and that is how we do it.........
I think the younger the better as long as they are taught correctly and warm up properly before they begin throwing. She will even pitch some next summer for her travel team.

 

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I saw a little 8 year old pitch for a 10U team this summer and I guarantee she wasn't hurting her self, she was fast and accurate
and could make the play on a come backer.

 

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Attention span, and finding a coach that will take them at a young age, is the problem.
If the girl is able to learn, then go for it.

 

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I wonder, in the last 7 year parents are now thinking your never to young to start ?