3ps
Bench Warmer
Posts: 14
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Post by 3ps on Sept 24, 2009 6:38:43 GMT -6
A thought to ponder. How much time you spend on developing a pitcher. A girl in 12U is a #2 or 3 pitcher on a B class team. Most of her time is spent working on pitching. She is a great athlete and can play anywhere on the field (the old saying good everywhere not great anywhere). Also bats +500. At what point do you decide to concentrate on another position and work harder on it and cut back the pitching? Or do you continue to work at pitching to see how she develops? As they get older only so many pitchers are needed.
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Post by jojo3471 on Sept 24, 2009 12:49:00 GMT -6
Practice as much as you can with her. we have a shortage of pitchers in the 14u. If the pitcher is not getting no time on the team she is on, try playing some pick up on a team that need a pitcher for a certain tournament. Sometimes the so called 3rd string pitcher would be or maybe already is as good as the 1st and 2nd. Hang in there.
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Post by fastptch on Sept 24, 2009 12:59:32 GMT -6
find another team.......
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Post by skem22 on Sept 24, 2009 18:46:51 GMT -6
I started pitching my last year of "rec ball," I believe I was 12 or 13 maybe. Dad was coach and we didn't have pitchers so myself and my little sister learned how to both pitch and catch. I loved it, moved to travel ball and played outfield mostly. I kept up with lessons and learning mechanics of pitching. I continued doing this for a few seasons with little innings in the games we played and even had a coach tell me that I wasn't good enough to come in the last inning when we were winning 15-0. Had lots of people tell me I should just quit but I did not want to.
Freshmen year of high school (I am from California btw) had three teams, varsity, jv and freshmen. I was pretty much the only pitcher on our freshmen team. This gave me the innings in the game to develop fully. That and I moved to a pitching coach that gave me the edge of learning the mental side of the game, strategy, presence, etc. Pitched jv my soph year and then varsity my junior and senior year. (just to note, I beat a lot of records at varsity that were set by pitchers who pitched varsity all 4 years of hs, me only being there two years)
I worked very hard despite a lot of people telling me I was not ever going to cut it. I played and pitched 4 years in a D1 softball program and got an excellent education for close to free......my point is....if your daughter wants to pitch and she is remotely decent then keep at it, find a team that helps her, find a pitching coach that suits her (you may need to move around to get new blood as well), but she has to be the one that wants to work, if she doesn't and its you dragging her out to practice then its no use anyways.
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Post by skem22 on Sept 24, 2009 18:48:28 GMT -6
sorry another thing to add........a lot of girls peak too early and therefore may be done pitching by 16s. your daughter may be able to fill in that spot.
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Post by jojo3471 on Sept 25, 2009 6:01:55 GMT -6
high school: 1ST HOME GAME LINE DRIVE BACK TO PITCHER; BROKE HER HAND. NEXT PITCHER A FEW GAMES LATER, LINE DRIVE BACK TO HER: BROKE HER FINGER. nEXT PITCHER[FRESHMAN] WAS COMING OFF HAVING A SHOULDER INJURY. SUFFERED DEARLY AND HER BACK UP ALSO GOT INJURED. Needless to say our high school softball last year was not pretty. I was waiting for them to take the middle school pitcher.haha. You never know when your big chance will come. This is one reason why all pitcher on team need to be worked equally. Middle school may be in same position this year due to using the same pitcher last year constantly and now she is in high school.
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Post by fastptch on Sept 25, 2009 7:01:59 GMT -6
These young coaches that have nothing else on their mind than to win and only thinking about today not tomorrow. Its like use them up and spit them out... They are winning games for me. Many are not helping to develop anyone. Its about the moment... Oh, and the coach listen to the pitchers dad who sits on that bucket and catches 1,000 of balls for hours, days, weeks, and years, it is disheartening. Injury in softball comes from incorrect mechanics.. It is not like baseball where you should only pitch so many pitches. But I can bet my life on it. No 10u/12u pitchers form is perfect bad habits form and injury will happen if you use them like a race horse. It may be glamorous to mommy and daddy seeing them on the mound game after game but its not. They will burn out/peak early on. P.S. Thank you Skem22 for chiming in with EXPERIENCE...
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Post by skem22 on Sept 25, 2009 11:58:31 GMT -6
no problem "fastpitch"! being that I am not from this area and I can spectate and observe here and there....and the big thing that I see is that there is way too much negativity.....instead of building girls up and helping each individual grow the way they need to and go the way that best suits them by themself, there are all these cliques and its almost like the idea is that its better to have our team have a good name then to help the players and each player become what their talent holds.
this comes also with the idea that each athlete will not hit, throw, pitch, field exactly the same. everyone has their own body biomechanics that make them work differently and instead of understanding that most coaches are trying to put every player in the same box.....its like trying to shove a triangle peg throw a star shaped hole.
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Post by ballhog125 on Sept 25, 2009 13:59:41 GMT -6
Skem22 and fastptch good reading I know a lot of Daddy and non-Daddy coaches that NEED to read your comments.
Thanks.
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Post by BLUE on Sept 25, 2009 14:47:16 GMT -6
Skem22 and fastptch good reading I know a lot of Daddy and non-Daddy coaches that NEED to read your comments. Thanks. I Agree 1000 % Great Read With Great Info.
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Post by skem22 on Sept 25, 2009 23:06:38 GMT -6
thanks "ballhog125" and "BLUE"....
My ultimate goal is help each student athlete reach their full potential and conquor every goal they make. I think I have a great perspective from the sport and wish I could provide more to the al state area....
It is very frustrating to me watching some of the travel ball being played here. I just love the game and love being a STUDENT OF THE GAME, constantly learning....this is where we lack as a whole from our players. There is so much potential being wasted away out there.....I wish we could understand that our athletic ability is a blessing from God and we can use that blessing to recieve an excellent education and learn a whole heck of a lot from being apart of a team sport....its not about winning a tournament at 10, 12, 14 or 16 years old...
anyways enough of my rambling and thanks again for reading!!
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Post by kraze14u on Sept 27, 2009 7:41:20 GMT -6
Well, from 14U and up there are really two basic positions, pitchers and hitters. At this age most all girls who should be playing travel ball are able to field a ground ball and make a throw or catch a fly ball and that only leaves learning the different responsabilities for each position on the field. So girls, if you aint pitching you better be able to hit the ball if you want to save mom and dad some money on college tuition. As far as being #3 or #4 now, like several other people have posted that is only this year, keep working for next year or the year after that if you really want to pitch, you will get your chance.
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Post by chipper on Sept 29, 2009 8:36:22 GMT -6
My daughter is a pitcher. She doesn't have speed on her ball but has great movement. She is a very controlled pitcher. Our problem is the very thing you all are speaking of. These coaches are constantly comparing her to other pitchers who are throwing much faster than she does. They seem to be impressed that a girl can throw 55. She is greatly underrated and I continue to build her up by letting here know her day will come. Her pitching coach says that no two pitchers body's are built the same. Some are built to throw fast while others are not. She is going into her third year of pitching lessons while some of these girls have been in lessons for 6 years plus. They have been throwing pitches she has just began to perfect for a few years. Due to that I've seen alot of injuries and complaining of pain in their shoulders and arms. When we go to practice pitching we not only work on the pitching but also work on hitting and feilding. Due to that she rarely strikes out and is beginning to drive the ball consistently. The mix of these things keeps the pressure off her and retains her interest. She will be a player to be reckoned with in the next year or two. I tell her and myself that we just have to be patient. We also have changed teams a couple of times to find what we are looking for in coaching. It is not all about winning for us. Sure we second guess the coaches and their decisions sometimes but I try to look at what she is getting from them. What is she learning and where does her position on the team lie? She is not a starting pitcher but she will be if thats what she wants. I only hope some day these coaches realize this game in these young years is not about egos and winning but about winning in life for these girls.
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