Any Fastpitch Dads/Coaches here (2 Viewers)

[belljr]

We did town travel at 10u. It's a step above rec.

At 11u we also did town travel but played a club travel schedule 

12u we made the full jump.

There have been others that started earlier. There really is no wrong /right answer but, if her league is going to stunt her development you could change.  I know some that did both for one season.  I think the answer would vary based on local level of competition etc. My daughter actually developed some bad habits when she was 9.  She threw hard and a lot of kids couldn't catch her so she would love throws to first.  That was the year we switched. It took a couple months to break that habit lol.

Good luck.   We hit 4 homers this weekend.  My daughter, another kid, and another girl hit 2 back to back at bats. The first be her first honer ever  we reached a point where it's just a lot of fun now because for the most part they can play the game

 

[Gally]

Here in SoCal, most leagues are still not allowing games due to State Covid guidelines, but teams are finding ways to get around it by going to private fields and playing in areas where local officials aren’t strictly enforcing rules.  My daughter is finishing up her first year 10U season on the select rec team and finally getting some games in the past 2 weeks. She’s thrown 11 innings, has  31 K’s and 5 BBs. When Spring starts (early Feb) she should be one of the best 2-3 players in our local 10U league which should lead to a fun summer of All Star tourneys.  Recently, I’ve had a couple of local travel coaches reach out and offer her a spot on their teams. 

Any thoughts on when the right time is to jump to travel?  I have no illusions of grandeur- I just want my girl to have fun and have enough success to keep playing. I’m guessing the answer is that the right timing is different for every girl, but I’m currently leaning toward letting her have a dominant spring playing in our local rec league, and hoping the confidence boost and fun will lead to more long term growth than the immediate benefits she would reap from going to a better program right now.  But who knows - a couple of friends who have daughters in travel teams tell me that my girl should be playing with better players.  

It depends on what your local rec league competition is like for her.  If she is completely dominating and not getting challenged at all then it's time to start seriously thinking about it.  Do your research though before jumping to a team because all travel teams are not created equal.  The bottom line is you want her to be challenged and not completely overmatched.  You also want to make sure you have a good group of girls and parents on the team otherwise it will be a miserable experience. 

 

[Cjw_55106]

Bought my daughter a new bat at a great price. Anyone have any experience with it? The reviews all seem good.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/demarini-fnx-rising-fastpitch-bat-2020-10-19demwfnx10blkwhtfpb/19demwfnx10blkwhtfpb
 

 

[Jaysus]

Bought my daughter a new bat at a great price. Anyone have any experience with it? The reviews all seem good.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/demarini-fnx-rising-fastpitch-bat-2020-10-19demwfnx10blkwhtfpb/19demwfnx10blkwhtfpb
 

My daughter hit a bunch of new bats recently... I think the FNX is the one that hurt her hands on contact. 

P.S. picked up the 2020 end loaded Quattro Pro for $100 that was marked as a demo but still in the plastic. It is a -9 which is new for her. 

 

[Hot Diggity Dog]

Bought my daughter a new bat at a great price. Anyone have any experience with it? The reviews all seem good.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/demarini-fnx-rising-fastpitch-bat-2020-10-19demwfnx10blkwhtfpb/19demwfnx10blkwhtfpb
 

Both my daughters use this bat and love it.  

 

[Hot Diggity Dog]

Here in SoCal, most leagues are still not allowing games due to State Covid guidelines, but teams are finding ways to get around it by going to private fields and playing in areas where local officials aren’t strictly enforcing rules.  My daughter is finishing up her first year 10U season on the select rec team and finally getting some games in the past 2 weeks. She’s thrown 11 innings, has  31 K’s and 5 BBs. When Spring starts (early Feb) she should be one of the best 2-3 players in our local 10U league which should lead to a fun summer of All Star tourneys.  Recently, I’ve had a couple of local travel coaches reach out and offer her a spot on their teams. 

Any thoughts on when the right time is to jump to travel?  I have no illusions of grandeur- I just want my girl to have fun and have enough success to keep playing. I’m guessing the answer is that the right timing is different for every girl, but I’m currently leaning toward letting her have a dominant spring playing in our local rec league, and hoping the confidence boost and fun will lead to more long term growth than the immediate benefits she would reap from going to a better program right now.  But who knows - a couple of friends who have daughters in travel teams tell me that my girl should be playing with better players.  

We did only rec ball until my daughters were 10, and then less intense travel teams rhrough 12 year olds.  Unless your daughter is a no doubter on her love of softball i think burn out can be a real problem and we always wanted our daughters to play other sports / do other things.   Try not to get sucked into the thinking you have to be on the best team.Even when they get old enough for college recruiting you only need to be on a "good enough" team.  Good enough to get invited to showcase tournaments once you are there coaches can see you, they don't care what team you are on.  You and your daughter's happiness and sanity level are a key ingredient if you are going to play through high school and think about college.   

 

[Hot Diggity Dog]

@tommyGunZ

I would also add that if your daughter is going to try and pitch stay away from the travel ball teams where the coach has a daughter that pitches.  On most teams there well be enough politics around pitching time you don't want to add in a father daughter dynamic.  Really any position is hard if the daughter's coach plays the same position as your daughter but pitching amps it up a lot and since there is no limit to  how much a player can pitch in youth softball things can head south in a hurry.

Maybe SoCal is different and parent coaches aren't a real problem because from our limited exposure to SoCal teams everything seems very organized and the organizations there seem to be in control.   In Colorado anyone can start up a team and go for it, in SoCal that seems like it would be a much less successful plan.  Goid luck and have fun.

 

[Gally]

@tommyGunZ

I would also add that if your daughter is going to try and pitch stay away from the travel ball teams where the coach has a daughter that pitches.  On most teams there well be enough politics around pitching time you don't want to add in a father daughter dynamic.  Really any position is hard if the daughter's coach plays the same position as your daughter but pitching amps it up a lot and since there is no limit to  how much a player can pitch in youth softball things can head south in a hurry.

Maybe SoCal is different and parent coaches aren't a real problem because from our limited exposure to SoCal teams everything seems very organized and the organizations there seem to be in control.   In Colorado anyone can start up a team and go for it, in SoCal that seems like it would be a much less successful plan.  Goid luck and have fun.

This is the same everywhere

 

[Hot Diggity Dog]

OH MY GOD, (12u)

The Drama... We just played pretty much a full season just shifted later into Summer..... Great times!!!!

Then Try Out season started.

Parents are INSANE... they panic, they huddle up, they feed off each other and Explode.

All season my thing was "Man I've been in Travel for almost 1.5 years and I feel like I can write a book"... then it goes to another level then another.

MINDBLOWING

To make it quick - Me and another Dad left an organization that was just horrible - 1st time young girl coach - Zero training. She was basically alone - Dad had to help coach in games. She coudn't manage the pitchers and put pitchers in with little warm up. She listened to the parents that Whined and played those kids...She had little time for the game and ran horrid practices that we sat there and mocked.

So me and this Guy Left last December and even 3 weeks ago we were saying it was so stressful at the time but, it was one of the greatest moves we could make

I talk to this guy almost every day for almost 2 years - Big Italian mafia guy tells me "Hey we're family My kid wants to play with your kid wherever we go we go together" Mostly talked and joked about how inept the old team was and how the parents were just not good people,

Last week he's like "Don't be nuts No one is leaving and no one would ever go back to that #### team"

This Weekend "LOL a bunch of the kids tried out just for fun at that old team... ha ha? 

Saturday "yeah they went back for 2nd tryout - NO ONE IS GOING THERE!!!!! Trust Me FAM"

Sunday....... This guy goes back to the Old ####ty team and brings 2 of the best players we have with him and never answers my calls again....

They take 1 pitcher who was slated now to be our #1 with a brand new Coach from St Josephs University - A Great College coach!!!! What's better????

She goes to this #### team and is now the 4th/5th pitcher - the same exact slot we ran from.  and she's the 3rd player at 3B.. She's going around telling kids that she has more opportunity there... REALLY!!!!??????  Parents LIED straight up to this kid and that team LIED... But, if your dumb enough to think 4th/5th pitcher with a Neophyte HC is better than #1 with a College Coach then Best of luck.

ETA - Mind you being the 4th pitcher at Alabama or a Top Travel team may be cool - or even a Competent travel team..... But, to go to a ####ty organization to be THAT??? Just DUMB guy was given the hard sell and fell for it.

WILD.... JUST WILD. 

Of course there is Drama wrapped in Drama all surrounding my take on all this and the guy had other pressures and probably lost 3 good friends in the entire ordeal but..... YAY!!!!! So much Fun!!!!

Tryouts and team changing is one of those things that will test your patience and show people's true colors.  I am certain I have daggers in my back i don't even know about.  My younger daughter just last week changed teams because she did not get along with the other girls on the team.  I think we are finally in a place where most of the parents are understanding of that decision.  But we are in 18s and most parents still going through travel ball have some perspective and know things will go on as long as half the team doesn't leave.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Played an 8 team 10U tournament in SoCal yesterday.  Our #2 starter hurt her wrist in Game 2, so the team rode my daughter in the circle all day. Started all 5 games, and threw 4 complete games, 351 pitches total.  Got beat in the Finals when she simply ran out of gas. 

My daughter had the time of her life but can barely walk today.

 

[belljr]

Bought my daughter a new bat at a great price. Anyone have any experience with it? The reviews all seem good.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/demarini-fnx-rising-fastpitch-bat-2020-10-19demwfnx10blkwhtfpb/19demwfnx10blkwhtfpb
 

I got this bat 60% off about 2 months ago. My daughter has always loved demarini.   Shes tried all the others but always comes back to them.

She has a current CF.

The difference between the CF and the FNX are the CF is a more balanced bat.  The FNX say is end loaded but it isnt really - its more dispersed through the barrell but not true end loaded like others.  Its a 2 piece bat - so your daughter will feel mi####s more than other bats.  The handle will sting.   Beacuase of the this the FNX has less give at impact. Meaning most of the power transfer should go to the ball. With the CF there is a "slight give" at impact.  The FNX is a replacement for the old insane demarini,  It is slightly geared for a faster swing speed and power hitter.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Had the following situation happen Saturday......"YOU MAKE THE CALL!"

1 out, runners on 3B and 1B.  Batter hits fly ball to CF.  CF catches the ball.  Runner on 3B tags up, and beats the throw to the plate, ball gets by the catcher and rolls to the backstop.  Runner from 1B had a brain fart and never tagged up, and ran all the way to 3B while all of the attention was being paid to the play at the plate.  Catcher retrieves the ball from the backstop, throws to 1B, and doubles that runner off for the 3rd out.  

Does the run count?  

 

[belljr]

Run counts 

The MLB rulebook also contains an Approved Ruling scenario that is very similar.

APPROVED RULING: One out, Jones on third, Smith on first, and Brown flies out to right field. Two outs. Jones tags up and scores after the catch. Smith attempted to return to first but the right fielder’s throw beat him to the base. Three outs. But Jones scored before the throw to catch Smith reached first base, hence Jones’ run counts. It was not a force play.

 

[playin4beer]

Had the following situation happen Saturday......"YOU MAKE THE CALL!"

1 out, runners on 3B and 1B.  Batter hits fly ball to CF.  CF catches the ball.  Runner on 3B tags up, and beats the throw to the plate, ball gets by the catcher and rolls to the backstop.  Runner from 1B had a brain fart and never tagged up, and ran all the way to 3B while all of the attention was being paid to the play at the plate.  Catcher retrieves the ball from the backstop, throws to 1B, and doubles that runner off for the 3rd out.  

Does the run count?  

Yes.. run counts

 

[belljr]

People confuse a live appeal with a force.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Blue got it wrong, and did not score the run. My daughter was the batter, and also happened to be in the circle that game, so I briefly argued with Blue and he told me it was a force play and that I was wrong.  

We won 5-2, so the bad call ended up not costing us.  That said, my daughter got the hook 1 out away from a CG, because the tying run was at the plate.  If the score had been 6-2, I think her coach would have given her one more batter.  

 

[belljr]

Blue got it wrong, and did not score the run. My daughter was the batter, and also happened to be in the circle that game, so I briefly argued with Blue and he told me it was a force play and that I was wrong.  

We won 5-2, so the bad call ended up not costing us.  That said, my daughter got the hook 1 out away from a CG, because the tying run was at the plate.  If the score had been 6-2, I think her coach would have given her one more batter.  

I'd have him read the rules on what a force means.... 

It literally states in the rulebooks an example of a live appeal (tag up) 

 

[tommyGunZ]

Personal update - moved my 10U daughter to a well regarded travel team in my area (Power Surge) 3 weeks ago. It has been a bit of a shock going from the #1 player in her rec league to coming off the bench for her new team, but the coaching she is getting and the level of competition is much better.  She is batting anywhere between 7th-9th and getting about 1/2 the innings in RF, and is in the 3 girl pitching rotation.  Team is 2-0-1 (tie game due to darkness) in games she started in the circle, so far so good. 

Hopefully she will continue to improve and earn a starting position, but the truth is her glove is behind the other infielders, and she has never played any OF in rec so she is raw there.  We'll see if she sticks. 

 

[Gally]

People confuse a live appeal with a force.

This is a tough one for most people to grasp because the mechanics are the same as a force out (tag the base while in position of the ball - don't need to tag the runner).  However, as you stated, you are actually completing an appeal play so it is a timing issue and not a force out issue.  You have to know what you are actually doing (appeal) vs the actual action (tagging the base while in possession of the ball).  

 

[Jaysus]

People confuse a live appeal with a force.

Is it still a live ball appeal if the play is ongoing?  Was the play still ongoing in the situation above?  If so, does that make it a force play?  

 

[belljr]

Its not a force

7.10 Any runner shall be called out, on appeal, when— (a) After a fly ball is caught, he fails to retouch his original base before he or his original base is tagged; Rule 7.10(a) Comment: “Retouch,” in this rule, means to tag up and start from a contact with the base after the ball is caught. A runner is not permitted to take a flying start from a position in back of his base

Its implied what is being appealed with play still going

A "normal appeal" - the ball would be dead. Before the next pitch - pitcher takes the rubber,  Waits for umpire to give "play" signal.  You step off, throw ball to base - and let the umpire know.   Sir the runner miseed the base.  THe runner left early etc.

THat appeal the play "started" after a dead ball.  You still have ball and tagging base.

On a tag up you are doing the same thing technically "The runner left early"  but you are doing it because its a time based play and you need to do it before the runner gets back.  So its an implied appeal the runner left early

*This is all implied that the ball was never called dead.   There may be some timing issues where you have to appeal a tag up in my "normal scenario"

ETA: Hope that  didnt come across snarky - I didnt mean it to be

 

[Gally]

Is it still a live ball appeal if the play is ongoing?  Was the play still ongoing in the situation above?  If so, does that make it a force play?  

You are mixing up the physical action with the type of play.  As @belljreloquently explained the type of play is what matters and not the action used to complete the appeal.  You are using a "force" action (contacting the base while in possession of the ball)  but the play is still an appeal.  

The easier way to think about it is defining what a "force" play is.  The meaning of "force play" is that a runner is forced to go to the next base by the action of the batter putting the ball in play on the ground.  The batter is going to 1B so he is forcing the runner at 1B to have to go to 2B.   In the event of a caught fly ball no runner is forced to go anywhere so there is no "force play" enacted.  

 

[belljr]

We had one not like this but this just reminded me of it.   Runner on first no outs  I'm the first base coach. Runner stealing second, a little hump back towards second baseman. I'm yell "BACK BACK"... Girl stops starts to come back.  The 2b running for it hits her glove and falls out.

I'm now yelling GO! GO!   The girl was probably 10 ft from 1st at this point, 2nd baseman throws to first (gets the batter out). The first baseman comes off throwing to second. As she throws I yell BACK BACK! Girl would have been dead at second. Girl stops turns around and starts running to first, I'm yelling get down get down. She slides in before they get the ball back to first.  The other coach is yelling tag her!!!!  the poor gassed girl at first has no idea what just happened   They know that once you tag first, and throw to second you need to yell tag and its a tag play but I don't think many of them realized you could actually run back

Once we explained it after the game you could see all the light bulbs pop over there head , ohhhhh :  

THe other coach is yelling she's out !!! Great job. Luckily the umpire was on it

 

[Gally]

We had one not like this but this just reminded me of it.   Runner on first no outs  I'm the first base coach. Runner stealing second, a little hump back towards second baseman. I'm yell "BACK BACK"... Girl stops starts to come back.  The 2b running for it hits her glove and falls out.

I'm now yelling GO! GO!   The girl was probably 10 ft from 1st at this point, 2nd baseman throws to first (gets the batter out). The first baseman comes off throwing to second. As she throws I yell BACK BACK! Girl would have been dead at second. Girl stops turns around and starts running to first, I'm yelling get down get down. She slides in before they get the ball back to first.  The other coach is yelling tag her!!!!  the poor gassed girl at first has no idea what just happened   They know that once you tag first, and throw to second you need to yell tag and its a tag play but I don't think many of them realized you could actually run back

Once we explained it after the game you could see all the light bulbs pop over there head , ohhhhh :  

THe other coach is yelling she's out !!! Great job. Luckily the umpire was on it

I thought you were going to say the runner ended up at second because the other team just touched the bag and didn't tag the runner once the force was removed by getting the batter-runner out at 1B.   I have seen that get argued over and over again as well.  

At least your runner was good at following directions even if she had no idea what was going on.  hahaha.  There are so many situations like this that you can only replicate in games because you can never think of all the iterations or possibilities and you hope that when they happen you can get the players to understand the concept so they will remember it in the future.  Without knowing the force play concept that situation will confuse the hell out of anybody.  

 

[belljr]

Yeah - I mean they are older and we play pretty high level - but even doing situations (yes we still practice these)  - 15 year olds still dont get it even when you practiced or situations arose that you didnt think about.

We do double plays they touch first - they yell tag - SS KNOWS she has to tag.  But it never clicked its not a force anymore SHE CAN RUN BACK?!?!?  lol  - weve had a few of them... We also had what you described - where they never tag her especially when younger.   THe girls "know the answer" most of the tie but its doesn't click "the why sometimes"  Heck even now I sometimes have to think things through.

We've had a couple coaches completely botch infield flies lol

I've been invloved with baseball/softball in some capacity on and off over the years but "ON" - I'd say I have 30 years-ish of time involved and still see things i've never seen before on occassion

 

[tommyGunZ]

Update:  My daughter is now 3 months into her travel ball journey, and I think I chose the wrong team.  The team is outstanding (just won a 10U tournament in AZ) but about 6 weeks after my daughter joined, the Head Coach added another pitcher to the roster.  My daughter is now 4th in line, and the coach only uses his top 2 on bracket days.  In short, this means my daughter is only getting a relief inning here or there.  

So I’m faced with this dilemma: stay with this great team, watch my daughter grow as a hitter and RF’r, and enjoy PGF Nationals in July in Huntington Beach.  Or, go back to rec ball, where she’ll be the ace on her rec team and for the Gold All Star team, and get the overwhelming share of ininings in the circle for her All Star team in the 5-6 tournaments they play this summer.  

I’m leaning toward moving her back to rec so she can grow in the circle.  At 10U, reps should be the priority, right?  I reached out to 4 coaches who I respect for feedback and to make sure my obvious bias toward my daughter was not clouding my view.  All 4 coaches insisted my daughter absolutely has a future as a pitcher and that I would be crazy to give up on that now just because she is on a stacked team. 

Sorry to ramble. I have to make a decision next week and I’m struggling.  

 

[SWC]

can you just run her on both teams or what take that to the bank brohan 

 

[tommyGunZ]

can you just run her on both teams or what take that to the bank brohan 

That’s what she’s doing now, but USA Softball has a 4/15 deadline where girls who play travel ball can’t participate in All Star tournaments in the summer. So she has to choose 1 or the other by Wed. 

She wants to pitch. Guess I should have included her thoughts.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

Update:  My daughter is now 3 months into her travel ball journey, and I think I chose the wrong team.  The team is outstanding (just won a 10U tournament in AZ) but about 6 weeks after my daughter joined, the Head Coach added another pitcher to the roster.  My daughter is now 4th in line, and the coach only uses his top 2 on bracket days.  In short, this means my daughter is only getting a relief inning here or there.  

So I’m faced with this dilemma: stay with this great team, watch my daughter grow as a hitter and RF’r, and enjoy PGF Nationals in July in Huntington Beach.  Or, go back to rec ball, where she’ll be the ace on her rec team and for the Gold All Star team, and get the overwhelming share of ininings in the circle for her All Star team in the 5-6 tournaments they play this summer.  

I’m leaning toward moving her back to rec so she can grow in the circle.  At 10U, reps should be the priority, right?  I reached out to 4 coaches who I respect for feedback and to make sure my obvious bias toward my daughter was not clouding my view.  All 4 coaches insisted my daughter absolutely has a future as a pitcher and that I would be crazy to give up on that now just because she is on a stacked team. 

Sorry to ramble. I have to make a decision next week and I’m struggling.  

Not a fastpich dad here, but as the father of travel baseball kid, I saw the same dilemma there.

My 2 cents says that at this age, instruction should probably be the top priority, as now is when she'll learn the right habits/mechanics that she'll then develop through repetition in the coming years. Facing the best competition available should also be a priority; she'll learn more from taking her lumps against good hitters than mowing down rec ball hitters, even if she would get more chances doing the latter.  It's easy for me to say this now that those days are past for my son, but I think that being 'buried' on the bench of a good team is fine, as long as she's getting good instruction. If this is a team of trophy chasers who don't really do much to make the girls better ballplayers, you should probably take what lessons she can get from this experience and look into moving after the current commitment is over.  Leaving before that throws everyone's timing off, as they should all be locked into the current season/schedule and don't want to think about next year yet.

 

[Gally]

can you just run her on both teams or what take that to the bank brohan 

Same think I was going to post but not as eloquently

 

[Gally]

To add to @Charlie Steinerinstruction is so key at that age and playing against really inferior players will develop bad habits.  It the coaching is good on the travel team she will likely get more out of practices (if they are run properly) than playing against inferior players.

However your daughter has to have the right approach to practice to get out of it what she needs to get out of it.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Not a fastpich dad here, but as the father of travel baseball kid, I saw the same dilemma there.

My 2 cents says that at this age, instruction should probably be the top priority, as now is when she'll learn the right habits/mechanics that she'll then develop through repetition in the coming years. Facing the best competition available should also be a priority; she'll learn more from taking her lumps against good hitters than mowing down rec ball hitters, even if she would get more chances doing the latter.  It's easy for me to say this now that those days are past for my son, but I think that being 'buried' on the bench of a good team is fine, as long as she's getting good instruction. If this is a team of trophy chasers who don't really do much to make the girls better ballplayers, you should probably take what lessons she can get from this experience and look into moving after the current commitment is over.  Leaving before that throws everyone's timing off, as they should all be locked into the current season/schedule and don't want to think about next year yet.

Thx Charlie.  I’m comfortable with the instruction she’ll be getting in whatever direction she goes.  Her All Star coach is outstanding, and she sees an independent pitching and hitting coach on a weekly basis. 

Moving down from travel to rec for All Stars will be a drop off for sure though, especially with the practices. I’m just having a difficult time with the idea that my daughter, if she remains with this team the next 5-6 months, will have spent virtually her entire 2 year 10U year not pitching. The 2nd year in age groups is crucial for in game experience and reps.

 

[Gally]

Thx Charlie.  I’m comfortable with the instruction she’ll be getting in whatever direction she goes.  Her All Star coach is outstanding, and she sees an independent pitching and hitting coach on a weekly basis. 

Moving down from travel to rec for All Stars will be a drop off for sure though, especially with the practices. I’m just having a difficult time with the idea that my daughter, if she remains with this team the next 5-6 months, will have spent virtually her entire 2 year 10U year not pitching. The 2nd year in age groups is crucial for in game experience and reps.

This is where a well run team with good coaches can give you this in practices through intersquad type drills at game speed.  You don't have to lose game reps if a team is run properly.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

Thx Charlie.  I’m comfortable with the instruction she’ll be getting in whatever direction she goes.  Her All Star coach is outstanding, and she sees an independent pitching and hitting coach on a weekly basis. 

Moving down from travel to rec for All Stars will be a drop off for sure though, especially with the practices. I’m just having a difficult time with the idea that my daughter, if she remains with this team the next 5-6 months, will have spent virtually her entire 2 year 10U year not pitching. The 2nd year in age groups is crucial for in game experience and reps.

It's tough comparing what I went through with baseball and what you're going through with softball, so take anything I say with a grain or two of salt.

To me, even though the two sports have their differences, one thing I'm sure both have in common is that pitchers have to have mental toughness that can only be built up by facing live batters.  There were many kids that came and went on my son's teams over the years who were bullpen aces but seized up when facing live batters, so I get your point about game experience.  If the rec ball competition isn't too much of a step down, I don't see why your daughter couldn't get something positive out of facing lesser hitting, but at the same time, it could be a rude awakening when she faces good hitters and doesn't meet the same success, which just goes back to building mental toughness.

This is where a well run team with good coaches can give you this in practices through intersquad type drills at game speed.  You don't have to lose game reps if a team is run properly.

This is a good point.  One advantage for a pitcher on a good team is the opportunity to face good hitters in practice (if they run their practices that way, that is), and also alludes back to my comment about trophy chasers.  If the coaching is relatively equal for either option, I'd say go where she'll face the better competition, even if it's 'just' in practices, but beyond all that--and I should have started and ended with this--let your daughter decide.  If either option is equally enjoyable for her, stick with the more competitive environment, but if she thinks she'll have more fun playing rec ball, go that way instead, because the real key, outside of her having fun, is that she'll get good coaching, which again is what she needs most at this age.

 

[SWC]

That’s what she’s doing now, but USA Softball has a 4/15 deadline where girls who play travel ball can’t participate in All Star tournaments in the summer. So she has to choose 1 or the other by Wed. 

She wants to pitch. Guess I should have included her thoughts.

well i guess maybe find her a second team where she will pitch that is not an all star tourney team and keep her on the high level travel for growth and play on a lower level team for pitches its been a long time for me but i always though the whole pitching game was about having the best private coach and how much money you could throw into that hole anyhow take that to the bank bromigo 

 

[tommyGunZ]

Appreciate the feedback fellas.  

 

[tommyGunZ]

Update:  Ended up moving my daughter back to rec from travel 4/15. She threw 33 innings in rec ball and K’d 94, only walking 10. She then was the P1 for the 10U Gold All Star team this summer, and led her team to the best finish ever for our league (5th place overall in California State tournament).   She pitched every inning of ever game at States, including 2 no-hitters and a 3 hitter where she beat a team that was 32-4 coming into the tournament. Ended up throwing 95 innings in All Star games this summer, K’ing 197.  

Moved up to 12U in August, and it’s been a smooth transition thus far.  37 innings, 54 K’s, and an ERA just over 1. I was expecting the 5 foot difference to be an adjustment but it’s actually made her change up more effective. 

Thanks again for all the feedback earlier this spring. Was difficult to leave travel but she is where she needs to be at this time.  

 

[tommyGunZ]

Working on her pinky change here:  https://www.instagram.com/p/CUp8QsoJAsb/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

[tommyGunZ]

This thing on? :tapsmic:

How was your daughter’s 2022 on the diamond?