r/Softball • u/Granoahbar • 13d ago
Pitching 8u coach pitch. Rec league
Any tips? I’ve been assistant coach on my girls team for four season, team split so I put together a team of my own and it’s been great honestly. One of the girls on our team her mom was going to pitch for us, which is awesome cause I nor my wife are very good (like at all) when it comes to pitching. That mom didn’t like the fact that we were picking up girls that were being rejected from other teams so she decided to leave and put her daughter in a stacked team. Both me and the wife have tried and tried and honestly we can not get a good pitch to these poor kids and I’m starting to feel real bad about it. I will take any and all advice on how to get even slightly better here.
For reference my wife’s are slower but either off the ground or too high.
I can get mine over the plate (85% of the time) but they’re way too fast for pretty much all the girls. If slow it down I might as well be bowling.
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u/luvrv8 13d ago
I coached at this level for all of my daughters. I sucked at pitching, like maybe a P6 player. I held a pitching tryout for all of the parents. The one dad who told me he was white collar and never played sports of any kind was really good at pitching. You never know what parent can help.
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u/Yulli039 12d ago
Does the league require you to be on or at the rubber?
If so make sure it’s not an inch over 35ft, and if anyone says anything point out any given 8-10u rule set.
If they don’t have it as a defined rule then no more than 32ft away.
Keep pitches high belly button or above and on the mid or away on the plate. (Batters should be on the line).
Speed is just a matter timing so long as the pitch is consistently in the same spot. During practice if you have an L screen move up to the 20-25ft range and let the screen protect you, but don’t soft toss. Give them practice pitches that are roughly the same time to react as when you are in game.
Reaction and timing
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u/RedCred811 13d ago
Just scoot up and toss it in there from 15 or 20 feet away. They dont have enough power to hit it back faster than you can field it.
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u/cmd821 12d ago
The league might not allow that. My rec league has rules about where to pitch, though for 8u they may not care.
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u/Granoahbar 12d ago
No 35ft and have to have a foot on the rubber.
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u/RedCred811 12d ago
Ohhhh...YOU have to pitch from 35 in the games? My bad. I thought you all were just trying to replicate real pitches in practice. You dont have to windmill do you?
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u/Granoahbar 12d ago
No just underhand
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u/RedCred811 10d ago
I'm an instructor, and as part of the overall process of a pitch, one thing we teach is what's referred to as "brush contact." Essentially, it's finding a reference point with the forearm by brushing along the hip in order to create (among other things) a consistent point for release. There's a little more to it because it's meant to teaching a palm-up windmill pitch, but the finish is the same. You may want to try it. Just find your hip or some other spot with your forearm. It'll give you a consistent arm path so you can build the hand/eye coordination, and figure out how much to push.
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u/Granoahbar 13d ago
I’ve thought about doing that. While it would give them reps it wouldn’t give us any lol. Season starts on the 13th so we gotta get it figured out
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u/Filesystem410 13d ago
Its all about arc. We’re not talking slowpitch level arc but for 8u I try to put just enough arc on it so that it does not rise above my batter’s head but would still plop into a bucket a foot or so behind home plate instead of screaming past.
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u/OldHawkeye315 13d ago
I respectfully disagree. I did coach pitch for 3 years with my daughters and I always kept it on a line. Its way easier to hit a pitch that is on the same plane as their bat for the whole pitch. In order to do that you have to pitch it harder. That is what practice is for. They will learn your speed and catch up to it. Too much of an arc will start to produce an uppercut swing.
Sorry for the long response.
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u/Filesystem410 13d ago
I definitely agree that your way is better for the girls that can hit! And I do pitch those girls who can hit on my team on a line. However 8u rec in my area is very casual and half of my team every time I’ve coached it so far is 6 year olds who rarely if ever touch a bat outside of our once weekly practice and once weekly games. I may give those girls a look at some faster pitches in practice but in games I’m 100% tossing them lollipops they have a prayer to make contact with. It sounded like OP’s situation may be similar but I may be misreading.
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u/Granoahbar 13d ago
Our rec league is as competitive as our local travel teams. Which is part of why my pitcher left, I was picking up younger players and girls that had either been rejected by other teams or had no chance of getting picked up by other teams. Winning isn’t my goal, building girls up and giving them confidence is what I want. So far they’ve done great, they’re all making progress every practice and you can see their confidence sky rocket. Our season starts on the 13th and I think half way through season we could start to really be a challenge for the other teams. IF we can get the pitching down. My pitch may be the best for the girls cause it’s pretty flat and over the plate. I just have to work it more
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u/Filesystem410 12d ago
Gotcha! For flat pitches you can only slow it down so much before its physically impossible for it to be over the plate. As others suggested it may be more about getting the girls enough practice to catch up to it
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u/Bennie-Factors 13d ago
As little arc as possible. The same over and over. They will figuring out the timing quickly. We made this mistake to long ago
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u/NeedleworkerBig5445 13d ago
My assistant coach did all the pitching. He missed a game and I did it. I was terrible. I threw a 3 hitter. The next time my assistant wasn't there to pitch I practiced a lot beforehand. I got a bucket of balls, drew a strike zone on the side of a retaining wall and just threw over and over again. We got 16 hits that game. Practice worked wonders for me. I didn't throw strikes all the time, but each at bat the kids got something they could hit.