Pitching and Pitchers Discussion WEAK PITCHING

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What should a parent do when her DD is the only pitcher at the JV level and the other freshman pitcher has been taken to the Varsity squad for left field. It's obvious the little girl and the rest of the team needs help. Four losses to run rule, bless the little girl for trying but she just can't do it all. What approach should be taken?

 

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Be thankful that she has the opportunity to pitch as much as she is going to. It may be no consilation but, a good pitcher is made very often out of neccesatiy. As a parent of a pitcher who will be a freshman next year I empathize with you. Help your DD to keep it in perspective and push the positive aspect of all the experience she will gain. Loosing is never easy and it can really destroy a young ladies desire to play the game. As long as the parents stay supportive and positive about it, the girls will get better and figure out how to win (as long as there is knowledgable coaching).

 

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Most HS coaches use their JV team as a developmental squad. So while the wins are nice, it's more important that the girls are receiving proper instruction and are getting the repetitions in. The dilemma here is that pitchers are aways under stress to produce, and if the team isn't winning will feel that she's letting them down. Saw pitcher a couple years back that KNEW if she let the other team hit the ball it was going to be extra bases, and KNEW if she walked a batter that they'd eventually score unless she could shut everything down before. She became so worried about being perfect that it began to affect her on the mound and at the plate.

You'll need to watch for that and try and head it off. Encourage her to look for improvements in herself and her team. Help her analyze her mechanics and her pitch selection vs situations (sometimes it's not that it was a bad pitch, it's the fact that it was thrown at the wrong time). If she's comfortable with the team, encourage her to let them know that she's trying her best, and she that appreciates their efforts on her behalf (might encourage a few of her team mates to start working on being better at the plate or in the field - you can't be run ruled if you hit as good as the team you're playing).

Bottom line is this is a team sport, and while pitcher can carry a team for a while, if the other players aren't there for her, the end result will be failure.

 

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BearMay nailed it.

A pitcher's job it to give the team a chance to make outs, not get the outs herself. So, are the balls that are being hit playable by a competent player? If so, then a miss is an error (no matter how it gets scored) and not the pitcher's failure.

My DD struggles with this very issue. But success is not a 0.00 ERA.

Don't walk batters, keep the ball down so that it is playable, and field your position well. If a pitcher does that, then they are doing their job.

 

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Bear and Sideliner are right. Have you DD control what she can. Do not get caught up in the score and the errors. If she pitches the best she can and does her job that is all anyone can ask of her. My DD was on a team like this where if you let them get a hit they would get extra bases most of the time. I encourage her, as Bear stated, to be a leader and to motivate the other players. Near the end of the season they actually got better. I think being a leader in what you say and going out and leading by example can help a lot. If this isn't working you need to remind her to look at the positives and move on. Good Luck!

 

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JV and pitching is always a problem. Do you hold a player back at JV when should could be playing another position at Varsity so she can pitch for the JV team and they have a chance to improve without walks. If she is a freshman then let her take one for the team. If she is a junior or a sophomore you need to start making decisions.

If your daughter is not the pitcher than your daughter needs to encourage all she can. and parents need to also be supportive

 

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while I agree with all tbese posts I recently witnessed a simialr situation that was heartbreaking. A team took their other freshman and (I think the parent said) soph pitchers to sit on the varsity becnh- that left the 6th pticher in the system to pitch the game by herself. She ended up thrwoing 138 ptiches and the team was mercied 12-0. yes there were a few errors and no they didn't hit (opposing pitcher was pretty good as was the fielding - no errors- no walks, 3 scattered hits) but the girls was physically spent - she could barely get the ball to the plate by the 4th and 5th innings - the other team was swiging at things to get out - luckliy the ump widened his strike zone and the other team made several substitutions to get her out of there. if a girl is sitting as a Freshman or even sophmore and could be playing JV I'm not sure I agree with the sitting when you leave another player at risk for injury- the parent sharing this said there were no plans to send anyone back down. how long before that young girl's arm just falls off!

 

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Have her strive for the 21 pitch perfect game! Rarely happens, but well placed LOW pitches in high school can be VERY effective at inducing easy ground-outs. One-third as many pitches too!

It's a team sport, and the fielders are just as responsible for a win or loss as the pitcher. Now, if the fielders are not doing their part to help the team, you WILL be in for a long season.

Also, a very good catcher can make an average pitcher look VERY good, but poor catching skills can make a GOOD pitcher look pretty weak.

 

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Thanks for all the opinions on the posting. This is a tough matter at heart with the young lady doing the pitching. I will talk to her and encourage some of your alls input. Wish us luck. Will let you know how it's going.

 

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David - Are you saying that a freshman good enough to start in the field on Varsity should be left on the JV just to pitch? The Varsity coach should be putting his best players on the field in an attempt to win the Varsity game. While I understand how frustrating this situation can be, especially in the smaller schools, I don't think you should ever lessen the Varsity's chance to win to improve the JV's.

Brute - you didn't say how good of a pitcher this girl is, so I will assume that she pitches well enough to win. If that is case, the JV's just need to get to work. That's all you can do - work hard in practice and try to turn it around. Don't focus on the scores and whether you have won or not. Focus on whether you are improving and are better today than you were yesterday. Challenge all the players to do everything they can to play better on the field. Have some knowledgable parents volunteer to help at practice so the coach can get more quality work in during their practice time. Work the kids hard (at the right things!) and they can get better and make the games more competitive.