05/15/2024
I've said it once and I'll say it again....
Parents and pitchers are too worried about putting a name to the “level” they are at.
They get entirely consumed with if their daughter is labeled beginner or advanced. Why?
I will tell you right now, it means WAY MORE to a parent than it does to a coach like myself.
As a coach, when someone is explaining a basic concept vs a more advanced concept, I don’t listen any differently. I don’t HEAR any differently between the two. I aim to learn, always.
I listen with intent to learn even though in “level” terms, I would be the MOST “advanced” in 99.8% of any pitching conversations on the matter with the general public.
Here’s where I am with this situation if it’s something that must be defined for you:
❗️Where your pitcher is in her journey and the level you would consider her to be at should be defined by her CONSISTENCY and her ACCURACY, first and foremost.
❗️ The level she's at SHOULD NOT be defined by the amount of years she hs been pitching or the number of pitches she have. Honestly, these two things don't tell me much as a coach.
❗️❗️I REPEAT, the level she's at should not and IS NOT defined by how long she has called herself a pitcher and the number of different pitches she has.
I hate to break it to you, but if your pitcher has been pitching for 7 years, has 6 pitches and has a 45% strike percentage, that’s not advanced. Those 6 pitches have no real use in a big game that matters against good competition. If she's throwing strikes at 45%, that means sometimes she'll do great in some games and other times she won’t be able to get outs. That's unreliable. And while everyone has ups and downs and it’s normal, your pitcher's job as a pitcher is to create consistency for her team and the feel of the game every time she goes in.
Let me simplify - Our number 1 job as a pitcher before ANYTHING ELSE is to throw strikes.
- There are no quick answers when it comes to pitching.
- There are no quick results.
- There’s no cheating the journey.
It takes work WHILE creating good consistent habits with your mechanics and with your pitching pattern to become advanced....to become elite.
Just because you have put in time, doesn’t mean you’ve earned the starting spot or advancing to the next level you have in your head and it certainly doesn’t mean you have earned a college scholarship.
THROW STRIKES. First and foremost. Period.
Let me simplify again - If your pitcher isn't throwing strikes, the batter can’t get themselves out. And that’s our other main job / to get outs. Fly balls, ground balls, strikeouts. It doesn’t matter. Our job is to get outs and we accomplish that by throwing strikes.
Another thing - if your pitcher isn't throwing strikes in practice, how do you expect her to do it in a GAME with more pressure??
Everyone needs to slowwwww down on a rush to advance their pitcher on to the next level they have in their head based on time put in and amount of pitches they have. Those two things DO NOT MATTER to the game itself.
The game doesn’t know how long your pitcher has been pitching and the game doesn’t care about how many different pitches she has. It will forever be about getting ahead of hitters, getting the 3 outs in every inning and keeping the other team from scoring. Period.
So give more focus to THAT.
Because when she focuses on throwing strikes, it means she's becoming MENTALLY TOUGHER and she's becoming physically STRONGER.
Throwing strikes means more consistency in her mechanics. Then from THERE....she can learn a new pitch more easily because everything is in place.
But she should not be learning new pitches until she can throw the ones she has (fastball and change up) at about 80-85% strike percentage in practice. Then when she is throwing 70% strike percentage in game, she has EARNED the ability to learn a new pitch.
So still....being an “advanced” pitcher means she is advancING. In her mindset, in her solid foundation and in her ability to be consistent.
AdvancING is not defined by number of years pitched and number of pitches she has. And to add to this, a FORM of advancING could be determined by MPH. Seeing numbers go up on a radar gun IS earned. It’s not subjective. To see her speed advance is never a bad thing and it *could mean* the pitcher is more advanced *if* she is able to throw strikes with that speed.
Throwing a certain MPH does not exclude your pitcher from our #1 job - to throw strikes.
Same thing goes for pitchers who have a ton of spin and have been measured to have high spin rates. That too, is earned undoubtedly. But the spin means nothing if she isn't throwing with command and can’t put the ball where she wants to.
Speed and spin rate are not bigger than the game. And the game has always been and will always be, who can get outs. The game has no idea if you consider your pitcher a "beginner" or "advanced". The game doesn’t care. And if the game doesn’t care, then neither do I.
THE GAME is my standard. Not subjectively what a pitcher or a pitcher’s parent WANTS to be labeled as.
