Teaching control is not particularly difficult, it is just very time consuming. Not surprisingly, you don’t teach a girl how to throw a knee high, inside fastball on the first day. You approach it incrementally.
Step 1: Teach the pitcher to throw to the left and right side of the center line of the plate. In this phase, the only thing that is important is if the ball is left or right. The pitcher gets an that-a-girl for every pitch she puts on the designated side of the plate. Start by alternating “left” and “right”. When she can do that, start randomly asking for a pitch to either left or right.
Step 2: Teach the pitcher to throw high and low and on the designated side of the plate. Again, it doesn’t matter if the high and inside pitch is two feet over your head and three feet inside. Start by alternating the locations, and then when she can do that, randomly ask for the ball in different spots.
Step 3: Divide the strike zone into 4 quadrants. There is a high inside, high outside, low inside and low outside. That-a-girls are rewarded to the pitcher if the catcher doesn’t have to get out of the crouch ( or off the bucket) to catch a pitch AND if the pitch is in the correct quadrant.
Step 4: When step 3 is mastered, you then start calling for the ball in a particular location within the quadrant. She has to hit the mitt. You move the mitt between the different quadrants, but the mitt is always on the edge of the strike zone.
This isn’t going to happen in a day or a week or a month. You’ll find that her ability to locate the ball varies daily, but slowly improves. If one day she can’t do step 4, simply go back and work on step 3. If she can’t do step 3, then you go back to step 2. If she can’t do step 2, she goes back to step 1. Once she can consistently locate to the four quadrants slightly landing her front foot on either side of the pitching plane will enhance her ability to locate. The landing foot will vary only an inch to enhance location. This aspect of locating should be emphasized after step 4 is mastered. Accomplished pitchers can master the mental memory of where their front foot lands even by an inch. Introducing this level of instruction too early can have ill-consequences. Striding more than an inch to the designated side of the pitching plane also will negatively impact control. Remember that this fundamental is for pitchers who can routinely command steps 1-4. Please, let’s not debate whether the hitter will be tipped off about pitch location because of an adjustment of an inch (or less) in the pitcher’s landing foot. If the hitter is watching her foot that distinctly the pitch is by her before she knows it.