Little League Key: Coaching Your Pitcher in a Game
Pitching can be the most exciting and rewarding experience on the diamond or the loneliest and most isolating. And it can swing between those two extremes in a single inning. The early little league experience is particularly difficult, when the players are not regularly able to pitch strikes, sometimes not even able to regularly throw the 46 feet from mound to plate. As a coach you will experience the full range of emotion as you watch your players become pitchers, and a key aspect of your role is how you interact with your pitcher on and off the mound.
The pitcher is the defensive captain, taking on the weight of the inning with each pitch. In early little league phase, the burden can be daunting, but the reward can also be huge for a young athlete.
I emphasize a developmental focus for pitching at these early ages, grounded in mechanics as much as possible, with as broad exposure to the position across your team as possible (check out our blog post on the broader topic of little league pitching). This exposure at such an early age to carrying the team, even for a short time, should be a positive one, even when the runs pile up.
Once you have arrived at a game plan, likely with 3-6 pitchers scheduled in the lineup, you and your assistants will settle into the coaching cadence for your pitchers.
Most often, I find that basic reinforcement is the best approach, simple but familiar reassurances to the pitcher as the inning progresses — “just playing catch”, “nice and easy”, “just throwing strikes”, etc. The easy goal here is to emphasize to your pitcher and to his colleagues that you are not demanding strikeouts but rather as relaxed an approach to the delivery as possible.
With some players, you will not need to do much, if anything, to coach a pitcher through an inning. The mechanics will be sound, the mental fortitude will be there inherent, and you will likely watch these players in awe!
But for many other players, they will need more active support. And on occasion, you will want to have a conversation with your pitcher during an inning, and yes even make a mid-inning pitching change.
I encourage you to lean into both of these options, visiting the mound to have a conversation and to make mid-inning pitching changes. Early on in the season, establish as normal that you or your pitching-focused assistant coach make a visit to the mound. Get your pitchers and other players accustomed to seeing a coach make a trip or two to the mound during the game, with a pitcher change often but not always involved.
Even better, let your pitchers know, in practice and before the game, that you may come out and visit them during the inning. Make sure they know that a visit from the coach is normal and always supportive.
The most important objective of the coach’s trip to the mound is to ensure that the player is still in control and having fun, even if frustrated. If you’re doubtful, it’s probably time to make a change, either immediately or within a batter or two. But if you can get your pitcher to smile, tell you he’s still having fun, give you a fist bump, then you’re in good shape. Let him keep going.
In any case, with a trip to the mound, make sure you let your pitcher know what to expect next. Often you’ll be dealing with pitch count constraints or inning run limits. So most often you will not need to do a mid-inning change, and your pitcher will finish the inning. But if you are going to make that mid-inning change, let him know that you’ll have him finish this batter, or the next batter, then you’ll make the swap.
When you’re ready for a mid-inning swap, make it a positive experience. Give your outgoing pitcher a huge fist bump, thank him for the effort, make a clear gesture to your replacement pitcher, and welcome the new pitcher to the role. As the new pitcher gets warmed up, encourage your infielders to take a knee patiently, and make sure your outfielders stay focused.
Very few of your early little league pitchers will pitch in higher-level league play. Fewer still will pitch at the high school level. As we discuss often in the Keys to Coach community, the value in the little league experience — pitching likely more than any other position — is its role in helping to prepare our youth for the bigger picture experiences in life. There will be ups and downs for all of these kids as they grow up, and of course as they grow into adults.
Little league pitching offers a unique opportunity for your little league players to carry the weight of a team and a game on their shoulders, even for a brief moment. Embrace the challenge of making this experience broadly available across your team and as positive as possible.
