KEEPING A PITCHER'S HEAD 'STRAIGHT'
When your young pitcher is on the rubber, their main priority is pitching the ball. They must be able to focus on that to be the most effective pitcher they can be.
That is often times very hard to do with everyone else and everything else going on around them.
If they keep their head "Straight", pointing straight toward the catcher, they will have a much better chance of keeping their focus on the business end of their position.
Many things can contribute to a pitcher losing their concentration. Runners on the bases, the other team's coach yelling, their own coach yelling, the other team, Mom/Dad and the runner they just walked all are contributing factors because they all cause the pitcher to think about something, or someone, that is not "Straight" ahead of them. All these things cause the pitcher to look away from what is "Straight" ahead.
It is hard to be oblivious to everything else going on around them, however, that is what they must strive for if they want to be the best pitcher they can be. They must forget and block out everything that can distract them from pitching.
Here is one thing I tell my young pitchers at the start of the season; there are only 4 people on the field when you are pitching, the pitcher, the catcher, the umpire and YOUR NEXT STRIKE OUT VICTIM.
Those are the only people that are important to you when you are pitching.
Even the well meaning coach that thinks yelling something to his pitcher every pitch, or every other pitch, is going to help her to focus better, is mistaken. The pitcher must turn her head, either to the left or right, to look at the coach when he/she is trying to say something to her. This action alone causes the pitcher to look away from the catcher and the strike zone, where she should be devoting ALL of her attention/focus.
Playing a second position, such as 2nd base, can be especially hard on a pitcher trying to keep their head "Straight" when it comes to their pitching. Right before they go to throw a pitch they sometimes give a quick "check" look at any runners on the bags. They will do the same thing before the ball is returned to them from the catcher. Both of these actions turn their head and their attention away from what is directly in front of them. When a young pitcher gets in a tense situation, or simply starts to 'lose it', the only person that can keep the pitcher's head "Straight" is the only person on her team that is directly in front of her, THE CATCHER!
When a pitcher starts to get distracted and starts losing their focus, the catcher must do whatever is necessary to bring the pitcher's attention and focus back to her. The catcher must say/yell something to the pitcher, right before returning the ball, with every pitch if necessary. The more the catcher keeps the pitcher's head "Straight" and pointed toward the catcher, the more the pitcher will focus on that part of the game and NOT be distracted by everything and everyone else.
The catcher may even, at times, have to give the pitcher a little insulting kick in the pride to get her head "Straight" again. One of my favorites has always been this; Right before the catcher throws the ball back she takes off her mask, takes 2 steps toward the pitcher and yells "Hey, we didn't come here to play slow pitch, now THROW HARD!" then she fires the ball back to the pitcher.
Simply yelling, "Throw hard", 3 or 4 return throws in a row, with a little more irritating tone in the catcher's voice each time, can usually irritate a pitcher enough to force them to focus on the catcher and forget about everything else. They will also normally start throwing very hard to try and knock the catcher on her backside for yelling that during the game.
Whatever you feel is appropriate for the catcher to yell is what she should yell. She should be talking/shouting SOMETHING to her pitcher with almost every return throw.
Doing this constantly during the game not only keeps a pitcher's head "Straight"; it can also be VERY annoying and distracting to the other team's batters.
Yelling something TO your pitcher ABOUT the batter will not only keep your pitcher's head "Straight" and in the game, it will also break the batter's concentration on the pitcher. "OK, easy out", "OK, you own this one" "OK, slow runner, ball back to you, plays at one".
Keeping the pitcher's head "Straight" is something every great catcher has always done for their pitcher and their team.
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