14 Common Misconceptions About Pitching - Part 3 of 3

11. My daughter will reach her full potential if we do local travel tournaments, and play on city high school teams. Illinois has enough competition to help elevate my daughter to an NCAA or an IHSA state finals team.

In the last 10 years, only one team in the DI WCWS had pitchers from Illinois on it. As far as high school competition, the IHSA used to have a state bracket in which the winner of the city tournament went directly downstate. Unfortunately, the city schools lost too many games by too much of a margin, so they began to mix the city conference with the near suburbs to make the championships more competitive. The city's conference is improving though, with Marist winning 3 state championships since 2010 and a few schools sending players to university with softball scholarships.

It’s hard to tell where the current best competition is, unless you do a lot of research. Don’t make the mistake of thinking all softball is just like city, suburban, or Illinois state softball. Travel teams are called “travel” for a reason. Parents and coaches realized if they wanted to play great teams, they’d have to move around the country. If your daughter has high goals, I’d try not to get caught in the local bubble.

12. One of these is right, “I only need 3 pitches to be effective at a top state level.” Or, “I need 7 pitches to be effective at the top level.”

A player who pitches at a University in the ACC said she only throws changeups, riseballs and screwballs - no fastballs. A college coach at a top DIII level said she recruits players who have 4 pitches and two back-up pitches. I’ve noticed a big difference in what coaches want as far as number of pitches. But one thing is consistent - each of these scenarios the pitcher “has” the pitches. They are exceptionally good at them.

Find out from actual pitchers and coaches at the actual teams you want to play on what their current players can throw, instead of guessing. Then it will be easier to set your goals.

13. “My drop ball just moved! My rise ball just moved! I hit the spot.”

Pitchers have misconceptions about what they are capable of (don’t we all?). Many don’t know where they stand, erring on either side of “competent.” One of my jobs as a coach is to tell them the truth, and to teach parents what the truth looks like.

No matter the age, a location is a location. If your pitcher is getting too discouraged because she’s not hitting her spot, and if at her age that shouldn't be expected anyway, you must switch the game so it's more age-appropriate. The solution isn’t to pretend a ball is a strike.

If you want to know what a ball really looks like when it moves correctly, come to pitching school when the college players are helping coach. Catch for them, but don’t forget your catcher’s mask!. You’ll see what’s possible in a pitch and will be able to tell your daughter the truth. If you “aren’t sure’ if a pitch moved, it probably didn’t.

14. I can drop off my daughter to lessons and someone else will teach her how to pitch.

In my experience the pitchers that were even moderately successful (chance at playoffs in high school, B level or higher travel team, top house team) all had parents who caught for lessons, practices, learned the mechanics, and made sure to be consistent with instruction on a year-round basis.

If parents skip the practice, the results will be more than apparent in games. Softball pitchers must endure some of the most painful failures in all of sports. Because new softball parents don’t understand how difficult the skill is, the immense amount of reps needed, the technical skill required, or how essential formal lessons are, their daughters are left with 20+ of their teammates, opponents, and fans staring at them as they stand on the mound, unprepared, beset with unreasonable expectations. Parents make the mistake of underestimating their own importance.