What Makes Your Pitcher Exceptional in the Circle?

“My daughter needs another pitch. They’re starting to hit her hard.”

“My daughter needs to throw harder if she’s going to be successful moving up an age level.”

I hear versions of these two statements all the time.

And while adding a pitch or developing more velocity may eventually be part of a pitcher’s development, it’s rarely the reason she’s successful — or unsuccessful — at a particular level.

When a pitcher starts getting hit harder, struggling to get swings and misses or having less success as she moves up, we’re often too quick to assume she needs more.

More pitches.

More velocity.

Something new.

But what if the answer isn’t more?

What if the better question is:

What is she already exceptional at?

And if the answer is...

I’m not really sure.

Then maybe that’s where we need to start.

Because there’s a big difference between having something and being exceptional at it.

Having a change-up isn’t the same as having a change-up you can confidently throw in any count against any hitter.

Having a curveball isn’t the same as having a curveball that consistently creates swings and misses or weak contact.

Throwing strikes isn’t the same as commanding the zone.

Throwing hard isn’t the same as having usable velocity you can locate, maintain and pair with other speeds.

And having four, five or six pitches doesn’t mean you have four, five or six weapons.

So maybe instead of immediately asking:

“What does she need to add?”

We should first ask:

“Of the things she already has, which of them are actually weapons?”

Because sometimes the path to becoming a better pitcher isn’t adding more.

Sometimes it’s taking what you already have and doing the tedious, repetitive work required to make it exceptional.

Sometimes Getting Better Means Doing Less

I worked with a pitcher who entered her freshman year at a Division I program throwing four pitches: a fastball, curveball, riseball and change-up.

And she had some really good weapons.

Her curveball had exceptional spin and movement. Her riseball had true backspin. And throughout her youth career, she hadn’t needed to rely heavily on her change-up because her curveball already gave hitters a different speed from her fastball. She could use those two pitches to disrupt timing and keep hitters off balance.

She was also a strikeout pitcher. She was used to getting swings and misses and being able to put hitters away.

Then she got to college.

The hitters were better. They made adjustments. They covered more of the zone. Pitches that youth hitters swung through were now being fouled off or put in play and she was giving up more hard contacts than she was used to.

She wasn’t getting the swings and misses she had relied on throughout her high school career.

I talked with both her and her college coach about what we were seeing. The answer wasn’t that she needed another pitch. Actually, it was almost the exact opposite.

We realized she was struggling to transition consistently between all four pitches. Her change-up needed to get better, but because she was also spending time maintaining and developing three other pitches, she wasn’t investing enough work into the change-up to make it the weapon it needed to become.

We also noticed something when she mixed pitches in competition: the riseball was the pitch she had the most difficulty transitioning in and out of while maintaining her movement and command with her other pitches.

So her coach did something that probably sounds backward to a lot of pitchers and parents.

She took a pitch away.

They simplified.

She primarily used her fastball to her arm side and her curveball to her glove side. Then they put more emphasis on developing the change-up and learning to use it in more situations.

And instead of spreading her work across four pitches, she spent the next two years getting really good at three.

She learned to command her fastball and curveball to both sides of the plate.

She developed a change-up she could confidently mix into more situations.

She got better at transitioning between all three.

And in her second college season?

She won 20+ games for her team with those three pitches.

Think about that for a second. She didn’t need five or six pitches. She didn’t even need the four pitches she’d arrived on campus with.

She needed to become exceptional at what she could execute.

The riseball wasn’t gone forever. After two years of focusing on her fastball, curveball and change-up, she now has the command and confidence to begin working it back into her pitch mix.

That’s development.

Sometimes taking a pitch away doesn’t mean you’re giving up on it. It means you’re deciding what deserves your attention right now.

Having It vs. Being Exceptional at It

This is the distinction I want pitchers and parents to really think about.

Having something doesn’t automatically make it a weapon.

You have a change-up.

Great.

Can you confidently throw it when you’re behind in the count? Can you throw it after you just threw one over your catcher's head? Can you throw it with runners in scoring position? Can you throw it against the best hitter in the lineup when everyone knows changing speeds would be a good idea?

You have a curveball.

Great.

Does it consistently do something to hitters? Does it create swings and misses? Weak contact? Can you command it for a strike AND use it to expand the zone?

Maybe you have two movement pitches.

Is either one truly exceptional?

You throw strikes.

Great.

But can you command the zone? Can you work both sides of the plate? Can you intentionally miss just off the plate when you’re trying to get a hitter to chase? Can you execute a location when you absolutely cannot afford to miss over the middle?

You throw hard.

Great.

Can you command that velocity? Can you maintain it? Can you pair it with a different speed that makes it even harder for hitters to time?

You have three different speeds.

Can you confidently transition between all three without sacrificing your mechanics, command or intent?

That’s the difference.

It’s not about how many things you can say you have.

It’s about how good those things actually are when there’s a hitter standing in the box.

Every pitcher is different. The goal isn’t for every pitcher to be exceptional in the same way. The goal is to figure out what can separate YOU.

What makes hitters uncomfortable?

What can you go to when you absolutely need an out?

What does a coach see in you that makes her want to put the ball in your hand?

And once you figure out what that could be, there’s another part of this conversation that isn’t nearly as exciting.

Exceptional Is Built When Nobody Is Watching

Learning something new is fun.

Throwing a new pitch for the first time feels like progress.

But becoming exceptional at something?

That can be pretty boring.

It’s throwing your change-up again and again — not just until you can throw a good one, but until you trust it enough to throw it 2-0 with runners on base and their best hitter at the plate.

It’s working both sides of the plate until hitting a spot isn’t something you hope you can do that day. It’s something you expect to do when the game demands it.

It’s tracking how many pitches it takes you to hit a location instead of just saying, “I threw pretty well today.”

It’s throwing your best movement pitch hundreds — and eventually thousands — of times until you know exactly what it feels like when it’s right, what it feels like when it’s wrong, and how to fix it without someone having to tell you.

It’s mixing pitches over and over until transitioning between them becomes second nature.

Those things don’t happen in one lesson.

Your pitching coach can teach you.

She can help you make adjustments.

She can give you feedback.

She can help you understand what needs to get better and give you a plan for getting there.

But your coach can’t do the reps for you.

Exceptional is built between the lessons.

It’s built when it’s just you, a bucket of balls and a target.

It’s built during the boring reps.

The frustrating reps.

The reps when nobody is standing beside you telling you whether it was good enough.

And it doesn’t happen in a week.

Sometimes it doesn’t happen in a season.

It takes weeks. Months. Sometimes years.

Remember the college pitcher I told you about?

Two years.

She spent two years focusing primarily on three pitches.

And in her second season, she won more than 20 games with them.

Only after developing great command of those three and learning to confidently transition and change speeds did she begin pulling that fourth pitch back into her competitive mix.

She didn’t stop developing.

She simply put better before more.

Before You Ask, “What Does She Need Next?”

Take an honest look at what she already has.

Can she command it?

Can she transition in and out of it?

Can she use it against both right-handed and left-handed hitters?

Can she throw it when the count or situation gets uncomfortable?

Does it create the result she wants — swings and misses, weak contact, ground balls, pop-ups?

Is it actually a weapon?

Because more isn’t always what makes you better.

Sometimes getting better means going deeper with what you already have.

What makes your pitcher exceptional in the circle?

If you don’t have an answer yet, don’t rush to add something new.

Find what you already have that could become exceptional — and put your work there.

Because exceptional isn’t something you add.

It’s something you build.