Any Fastpitch Dads/Coaches here (4 Viewers)

[belljr]

I go out to center field when my daughter pitches.

I'm in the dugout cowering in a corner

 

[belljr]

Pitcher is a stressful position for sure, I just think the pacing and coaching from the sidelines just adds to the pressure. Let the kid pitch, just be supportive and talk to them after the game about form and technique. Or let the coach chat with them in the dugout. Some girls look so dejected out there it can be heartbreaking. :(  

I've read a lot of books and articles on the mental part of coaching young kids.

One of the hardest things is to not put pressure accidentally on the kids.  Even things like "just one more strike" can derail kids at a younger age

 

[belljr]

Also highly recommend this book for anyone interested or kid

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1491748435/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[belljr]

7th/8th grade school tryouts today!

7th graders today 

8th tomorrow

Pitchers/Catchers Thursday

excited and nervous for her.   She is talented enough to make the team no question.  But I've always been her head or assistant coach.  This is her second tryout without me involved. (her first time for travel and this).   Our middle school is a bit weird as there is "some politics involved".  They weigh 8th graders over 7th even if the 7th is better. ( I know this from past experience).  And the teachers don't do a lot of coaching.  This is more for the school experience.  I talked to her after the tryout and she was like "it went good"    they keep like 14 kids there were 7 - 7th graders - which I know all of them.   She should be the top today but you never know how these things go.  We've all seen the tryout warrior and the good kid tank one day

 

[Cowboysfan8]

Assistant Coach for 10U....  My daughter is starting her 1st full year Pitching - Been going to a Tincher Pitching coach and having some fun with it...

Crazy how Girls pitching seems 10x harder than Boys at this level... Been on the fastpitch Forums more than here lately!!

Guessing this is the big year which should flow right into Williamsport and possibly Travel where they should take a big step up... 

So far, having a blast... But, last thing i want to do is start travelling anywhere.....lol, we'll see.

Waiting for the Snow/Cold weather to end so we can get out there instead of indoor time.

What's the bolded mean?

 

[Reaper]

What's the bolded mean?

After the Spring league we have an "allstar" Williamsport team which plays other towns and can make it to Williamsport?

So I was told...lol... Also I was told most of the players make it since many go away to camp.

Bottom line that team is more intense and practices will be a step up for us, as will competition.

 

[Snotbubbles]

I've read a lot of books and articles on the mental part of coaching young kids.

One of the hardest things is to not put pressure accidentally on the kids.  Even things like "just one more strike" can derail kids at a younger age

For the first two years of my daughters pitching development she was never told to "throw strikes".  Myself and her coaches always instructed her to throw hard and not to worry about where the ball went.  There were many games where we would lose 13-12 and the other team wouldn't get a hit.  But in the long run it really paid off.  

 

[belljr]

After the Spring league we have an "allstar" Williamsport team which plays other towns and can make it to Williamsport?

So I was told...lol... Also I was told most of the players make it since many go away to camp.

Bottom line that team is more intense and practices will be a step up for us, as will competition.

Somebody might want to tell your league, Little League Softball World Series is in Oregon

 

[belljr]

For the first two years of my daughters pitching development she was never told to "throw strikes".  Myself and her coaches always instructed her to throw hard and not to worry about where the ball went.  There were many games where we would lose 13-12 and the other team wouldn't get a hit.  But in the long run it really paid off.  

  Been there

yeah my daugther has been pitching for only about 2 years.  going on 3. She started a little "late".

10U - she average 2.5 strikeouts an inning and 2.3 walks an inning

11U - she had a tough time adjusting to the distance.

This fall she made a big stride and we will see how it pans out in the Spring.  Her other 2 pitches are not consistent yet. Shes our #3 so we don't need to rely on her luckily   But she still wants to practice so we continue to do it.

 

[Reaper]

For the first two years of my daughters pitching development she was never told to "throw strikes".  Myself and her coaches always instructed her to throw hard and not to worry about where the ball went.  There were many games where we would lose 13-12 and the other team wouldn't get a hit.  But in the long run it really paid off.  

For the 1st few years once Spring broke and weather was good enough - what was the home practice like? Almost Every day?

I can see her getting burned out if I push too hard - Feel like there's a fine line at this point between pushing a little and her trying to find out what she wants to do and if she loves pitching THAT much to train like your going to the Olympics....

 

[Reaper]

Somebody might want to tell your league, Little League Softball World Series is in Oregon

Oh..... lol, It's Called "williamsport"..... Maybe it's "Williamsport Rules" that you have to play by to be eligible for certain tourneys?

That said, I'm not buying tickets - I don't foresee this group dominating and traveling much past the few close towns....

Again, the real goal is just a step up in competition and intensity of practice 

 

[Snotbubbles]

For the 1st few years once Spring broke and weather was good enough - what was the home practice like? Almost Every day?

I can see her getting burned out if I push too hard - Feel like there's a fine line at this point between pushing a little and her trying to find out what she wants to do and if she loves pitching THAT much to train like your going to the Olympics....

No, we try not to throw back to back days.  She gets the month of August (except tryouts) and December off from pitching and only does team related activities.  On the days she doesn't do full throwing, she works about 15-20 minutes on different spins.    

In the Fall we go Monday, Wednesday, Friday (private lesson with pitching coach).  All for one hour.  We usually do about 4 tournaments so some weeks she'll throw 3 days, some 4 or 5.  I adjust the throwing schedule if she has to throw too many days in a row.  So if she has a lesson on Friday and then throws in a game on Saturday, we won't throw on Monday.

In the Winter we go Tuesday, Friday (private lesson) and Sunday.  All one hour.  Mostly because the team gets discounted indoor tunnels so I will go before hitting and fielding.

In the Spring, we go back outdoors and we'll do Tuesday and Friday (private lesson) with tournaments almost every Saturday and Sunday.  In the Spring, on the days we don't throw, we'll go out and hit for 45 minutes.    

 

[Jaysus]

you guys are way more serious about this than I am   

 

[belljr]

That a little more than our schedule as I don't do as many private lessons but all fall we throw 2-3 days a week.  Winter closer to 2 days (sometimes 3).  

Spring there is no set days but she will throw 2-4 days a week. 

I giver her all of August off also, Mid November to January (off) maybe throw once a week.

But to be perfectly honest - she is a much better catcher and fielder than pitcher.  I spend more time hitting than anything else.

Pitching started out as a need for our team, she/we do enough to make her a valuable inning eater when needed.  Right now she won't be pitching many Championship games.  She's a 1st game Sunday - with #2 potential.

@Reaper -If your daughter really truly decides to pitch as she gets older - you are going to have to start throwing 3 days minimum in the offseason.  We didn't at first because she wasn't sure if she wanted to pitch. So she is a little "behind"

It also depends on the level of play.  Our team and Snotbubbles team is rated A level in USSSA (basically the highest).   It's "serious" but I know we have fun. They are still only 12.

Just for example.  If we were at a different level/team my daughter could probably be a good #1 somewhere based on other kids in this area and age.  It appears Snotbubbles daughter is more on a #1 Pitcher path.  

So the point I am trying to make.  It really depend on age/level on how much you need to throw. Some tournaments my daughter will pitch up to 3 games.  Some half of a game.  It really depends.  If your daughter is decent she will be valuable to a team to help rest the better pitchers. Or she could be the best pitcher at a different level.  It really depends what you want out of it.  For me personally, we are not trying to become the best pitcher but good enough that its part of her overall skillset - if that makes sense

 

[Reaper]

Good Stuff.... I'm just trying to figure it out - yet, if she does want top go All-In and be a #1 pitcher then we are at least on a path towards that.

Gonna be an interesting season - Checking weather reports every day for a break - tough to get enough cage time right now then the occasional sickness sets us back.

Been seeing the PC like every other week then trying to get cage work in so, really just throwing 1x a week right now till weather breaks. 

She does do some drill the PC told here at home - not enough, of course....

 

[belljr]

Good Stuff.... I'm just trying to figure it out - yet, if she does want top go All-In and be a #1 pitcher then we are at least on a path towards that.

Gonna be an interesting season - Checking weather reports every day for a break - tough to get enough cage time right now then the occasional sickness sets us back.

Been seeing the PC like every other week then trying to get cage work in so, really just throwing 1x a week right now till weather breaks. 

She does do some drill the PC told here at home - not enough, of course....

It wont ever be enough    Just try not to go crazy. Shes still 10.  There will be some long and frustrating sessions.  Just when you think she turned a corner - she will take a step backwards

Then she will reach a point and you introduce a second pitch.  Now you need to work on both.  Frustration again.   Then you start introducing locations (ie actually aiming for inside/outside/high) -- more frustration.  Then you might work on pure speed.

 Then maybe introduce another pitch.   Some girls are able to pick up pitches quickly others aren't.  The change-up might click right away but the drop doesn't. You don't need to know how to throw 5 pitches.  The college coaches coaching clinics I attend they almost all say the same thing.  You are better off being able to throw 2/3 pitches really well than 5 pitches averagely.

That doesn't mean you don't introduce these pitches ever or that girls aren't capable.  It just means as they get older and progress you may not end up throwing all the pitches you learned.  Sometimes parents think my kid needs to know how to throw all the pitches RIGHT NOW.

Even if you're daughter is playing at a high level at the 10-12/13 age range.  You're still  laying the foundation and developing for when they are older.  Sometime its a tough line of not overloading

My daughter looks miserable when throwing.  I ask her every time - you sure you still want to pitch and she says she loves it     I've told her you can stop at any time lol

 

[Kraft...]

If a pitcher can locate their fastball and throw a solid changeup they should be fine. A lot of the fancy pitches wind up as flat fastballs most of the time in my experience. Keeping the ball down and on the corners is more valuable that throwing crappy risers or screw balls IMO. 

 

[Gally]

For the 1st few years once Spring broke and weather was good enough - what was the home practice like? Almost Every day?

I can see her getting burned out if I push too hard - Feel like there's a fine line at this point between pushing a little and her trying to find out what she wants to do and if she loves pitching THAT much to train like your going to the Olympics....

My daughter wanted to pitch and just did it on her own starting about 8-9 yrs old.  She would practice in the backyard off an on mostly in season.  She was always on a team that had a #1 so never really got much game action until she was 11/12 and then she pitched about half the time and some in all-stars.  As she got into high school she found herself in a position where there wasn't much pitching competition and ended up pitching half the time as a freshman on the JV team and then most of the time on JV as a sophomore.  As a Junior she was Varsity #2 pitcher but played CF every game since the team rolled with their #1 for 90% of the innings.  This year as a senior she is the only pitcher they have.  She has never gone to a pitching coach regularly and only worked in the back yard.  She has pitched some the last couple years on her travel team but probably 3-4 innings a weekend for tournaments as the team had a few pitchers they rotated between. 

She is serviceable and throws strikes but needs a solid defense behind her because balls are put in play.  She always wanted to pitch more and now she is getting that chance out of necessity. 

I guess my point is that you can be a pitcher and be effective even if you don't go to a pitching coach and spend every waking moment pitching.  It depends on the player and their motivation.  Don't push to hard or play too much especially at that age because they will burn out.  It's part of the reason why my daughter is the only pitcher on the team.  Other pitchers got burned out/injured and quit.  Just keep it fun and keep them engaged.  Don't push too much or it can go bad in a hurry.

 

[Cjw_55106]

I've read a lot of books and articles on the mental part of coaching young kids.

One of the hardest things is to not put pressure accidentally on the kids.  Even things like "just one more strike" can derail kids at a younger age

The key imo, is to know the player. What you can and what will motivate one player can shut down another. 

 

[Cowboysfan8]

If a pitcher can locate their fastball and throw a solid changeup they should be fine. A lot of the fancy pitches wind up as flat fastballs most of the time in my experience. Keeping the ball down and on the corners is more valuable that throwing crappy risers or screw balls IMO. 

Exactly this. Especially at the ages you guys' daughters are

 

[Cjw_55106]

Looks like the area high school has a severe pitching shortage this year. My  8th grader will be moving up. I assume to pitch for the Freshman team, but I don’t have all the details yet. 

 

[Snotbubbles]

If a pitcher can locate their fastball and throw a solid changeup they should be fine. A lot of the fancy pitches wind up as flat fastballs most of the time in my experience. Keeping the ball down and on the corners is more valuable that throwing crappy risers or screw balls IMO. 

At 10U I've seen some absolutely awful CUs work.  Problem I see, is most coaches at the younger ages are intoxicated by velocity so they rarely call the CU.  Little Susie at 10 can throw the ball 48-50 mph so they just call FB, FB, FB and never have the kid throw CUs.  Then the kid gets to 12U, moves back 5 feet, the ball gets bigger, the kids get better and Susie starts getting shelled.  

 

[Cowboysfan8]

At 10U I've seen some absolutely awful CUs work.  Problem I see, is most coaches at the younger ages are intoxicated by velocity so they rarely call the CU.  Little Susie at 10 can throw the ball 48-50 mph so they just call FB, FB, FB and never have the kid throw CUs.  Then the kid gets to 12U, moves back 5 feet, the ball gets bigger, the kids get better and Susie starts getting shelled.  

 

[Kraft...]

In tournament play last Summer if a hitter got down 2 strikes in the count they almost always saw a change up. The girls learned to adjust but there were some pretty silly swings at the start of the season. If they could foul it off is was considered a victory. 

 

[Gally]

In tournament play last Summer if a hitter got down 2 strikes in the count they almost always saw a change up. The girls learned to adjust but there were some pretty silly swings at the start of the season. If they could foul it off is was considered a victory. 

I think its a victory at any level to get a piece of an offspeed pitch at 0-2.  Spoil pitches and hope the pitcher makes a mistake....

 

[Cowboysfan8]

I think its a victory at any level to get a piece of an offspeed pitch at 0-2.  Spoil pitches and hope the pitcher makes a mistake....

Foul it off and sit fastball. Rare (in my experience) to see 2 offspeed pitches in a row at that level

 

[Jaysus]

First practice of the spring rec season is tonight!  Which is good, because it is going to snow the rest of the week  

 

[belljr]

First practice of the spring rec season is tonight!  Which is good, because it is going to snow the rest of the week  

   We had practice Saturday - it was cold.    We are supposed to have a friendly tournament on Saturday playing 14U (we are 12u) - if we get the foot of snow don't think thats happeing

One guy I'm on the board with keeps asking me when the water is going to get turned on at the field.  I keep telling him it can't get turned on when the temperatures dip down into the 20s.

BUT we're starting practices!@#!#!   

Dude I can't beat mother nature

 

[Kraft...]

Winter Club over yesterday, team came in 3rd. Today is the first day of high school tryouts! No club for a while which is a nice break for us parents, much less driving. 

Oh and after the Storm last week it's all indoors  :(

 

[belljr]

Man the last 2 weeks has been brutal.  The snow - the cold.  We had like nice days of practice but wasn't on our scheduled days.

Our first tournament was canceled - we are supposed to play this weekend.  I'm afraid they are going to make us play even though our game would not be above 32 degrees.  I really hope they show some common sense.  that is not fun for anyone.

on a side note - the 3 girls in our school district on our travel team made the school team.  They kept 15 girls so there may not be a lot of playing time (as I said before they tend to favor 8th graders a bit).

The coaches and league are not great but at least its an accomplishment for them. We'll see how the season plays out.  They haven't even had a practice yet and have a game Tuesday they get back

Actually all the girls made their respective school teams so thats a nice thing.

 

[Reaper]

Man the last 2 weeks has been brutal.  The snow - the cold.  We had like nice days of practice but wasn't on our scheduled days.

Our first tournament was canceled - we are supposed to play this weekend.  I'm afraid they are going to make us play even though our game would not be above 32 degrees.  I really hope they show some common sense.  that is not fun for anyone.

Just came here to post similar.... We made TWO indoor practices total before the season starts next week....

Not even sure if my girl can throw a strike - we pitched for the 1st time in cleats yesterday and it was Freezing.

We did vacation in Antigua last week so IMO it was nice for her to stretch out the arm in warm weather but, jeez, waiting for the thermometer to pass 40 today to get out there a little bit.

 

[Reaper]

We face the best pitcher in Game 1......  She's so far ahead of everyone else and will throw Heat many of the younger kids never seen before.

I'm gonna tell my kid to not swing until she throws a strike - I sense this is frowned upon with younger kids but, I want her to try to time it better instead of just guessing early.

 

[belljr]

Our first tournament was this weekend.  And it probably should have been cancelled in hindsight - it was freaking cold out.  I will give the organizers some credit as they were proactive and moved saturdays games back. But it was no fun playing sunday and probably shouldn't.  It was a high of 45 and that was for our afternoon games.

This was our first tournament as a higher team as we only played 1 open tournament before.

We went 1-1 Saturday (L 4-1) and looked very very rusty and played a really good team.  Hey it was our first games.  We struggled early but fought back.  Sunday we struggled out the gate but came back to win our first game.  We won our next 2 pretty easily and made it to the finals.  We played the team that beat us Saturday 4-1.  They are a really good team, and I think one of the tops in Pennsylvania.  We got to an early 4-0 lead.  Then we had one of those innings that we are proned to do and just imploded.  We had a play at the plate where the cathcer had ball drop out of her glove when the player slid in, it was a tough play.  So instead of 2 outs and no run a run scored and still 1 out.  And from there hits were dropping all over and we gave them an extra run or 2. The other team could hit the crap out of the ball so it's not like we gave them all their runs.   We gave up a 7 run inning.   So it probably should have been a 4 or 5 run inning.  They are 12 (which i forget sometimes) so physical errors happen, but it feels like once a tournament we have one of those innings, where nothing goes right. 

My daughter let one through the wickets to a give up a "HR" for that 7th run. :(   Anyway, we still battled and we ended up losing 9-5.  

We'll take the second place out of 20. Overall the girls played so hard.   Our first baseman is still injured, so that hurt a little.  We are probably one player away from being where we need to be but overall the girls work hard and have great attitudes.  No excuses because the team that beat us are good.  On Sunday of the 4 games we played we were the only ones to score any runs, so we will take it.        It was a good weekend this weekend.   I'm sure we'll have plenty that don't go our way.

small look at me.  My daughter hit a "grandslam". I put it in qoutes because it was a shot in the L/C gap but the field we played on fence is like 300 feet. 

 

[Jaysus]

It was bad enough having team photo day yesterday with a high temp in the low 40s... I could not imagined our girls playing one game, let alone a weekend tourney in that. 

ETA:  I had a stray mom use my phone to snap some candid photos while the girls were posing for the team photo (she took, like, 20 photos in about 2 minutes BTW) and some of the mid-chill expressions on the girls faces are hilarious

 

[Reaper]

small look at me.  My daughter hit a "grandslam". I put it in qoutes because it was a shot in the L/C gap but the field we played on fence is like 300 feet. 

How old is she again?

Mine just turned 10... I'm still having simple discussions like what a force out is, at bed time...

Last night I was telling her how a bunch of the girls on the team can/should clobber home runs this year.... She asked if she could...

I told her, you're gonna get a full swing to hit squarely on the ball and you better run fast....

So much fun, to see the girls start to "get it" but, i think Home run Training and mentality is something I want them all to expect... Seemed like mine still thought it was a pipe dream...

I mean we still have 3rd grader newbies in the outfield in this league...... A decent Grounder can easily be a home run.

Got 2 abbreviated Pitching session in the cold done this weekend. 

 

[belljr]

How old is she again?

Mine just turned 10... I'm still having simple discussions like what a force out is, at bed time...

Last night I was telling her how a bunch of the girls on the team can/should clobber home runs this year.... She asked if she could...

I told her, you're gonna get a full swing to hit squarely on the ball and you better run fast....

So much fun, to see the girls start to "get it" but, i think Home run Training and mentality is something I want them all to expect... Seemed like mine still thought it was a pipe dream...

I mean we still have 3rd grader newbies in the outfield in this league...... A decent Grounder can easily be a home run.

Got 2 abbreviated Pitching session in the cold done this weekend. 

She is 12. Will be 13 in September.  No one had a chance to catch it. But if we're playing on regular 200ft fences it's probably a double maybe a triple. (She's got wheels).  Some fields we play on don't have fences or deep fences. So it's always tough to play good depth when you play on these fields without fences.

Of all the "homeruns" I've seen for or against us only 4 have cleared "legitimate (~200ft-210)" fences.   There were some if there were a fence probably would have cleared it but who knows.  But our team has had a lot of no fence homeruns  and 3 "real"

 

[Zerp]

Fastpitch was a big part of my life for almost 2 decades. Coached 18 seasons. 2 daughters. Started in rec at 6. Earned D1 schollies. Random thoughts:

My 'fastpitch FBG' is DFP. For you pitching dads, there is a lot of expertise in a specific pitching forum. 

If your daughter isn't hitting 3x a week by 12s, a lot of other kids are. I always found a place on the roster for kids that can hit. If your daughter can't hit, I'm sorry, but she's out. 

I've been through the whole rec to travel ball thing twice. And watched or heard countless others do the same. Will try to check back on this thread to over any advice. 

For cjw, you will want to do your homework now. MN teams hold tryouts in late July/early Aug. But actually girls are guest playing dome ball and deciding on clubs, and coaches are scouting girls June-July.  Tryouts after age 13 are a formality. 

That's all for now, but I'd be happy to share my experience with winter clinics, PCs, tourney's, etc. ASA, USSSA, PGF, (For cjw, MMFL), etc. 

 

[Zerp]

Just re-read my post. I left out the most important comments. This is what you dads with girls 8-11 need to hear. 

From ages 6-7 to 16, until I handed them off to better coaches, I spent about 40 hours a week of quality time with my girls. All through those so-called terrible teens. We are closer than most any other dad-daughters I know. They've learned to take great pride in their accomplishments. Become teammates. Suffered losses. Struck out. Committed errors. Told another girl that errors 'Hey. I got you. Let's get the next one'. Driven in the winning run. Gone 'superman' to make catches and throws worthy of ESPN highlights (one has 2 triple plays). Led their respective teams in HRs, SLG, and AVG. Done the work. Practiced 3 hours even when it was raining and SNOWING. Missing birthday parties. Countless times the discipline to finish the homework by 8 Friday night because Saturday up at 5 AM to drive 2 hours, warm-ups at 7, first pitch at 8, a hotel room but coaches said no one can use the swimming pool, lights out at 10, and we expect to be in the championship Sunday game at 6, getting home at 10 exhausted. With hardware and huge smiles. 

And I would do damn near anything to do it again. 

 

[Reaper]

Just re-read my post. I left out the most important comments. This is what you dads with girls 8-11 need to hear. 

From ages 6-7 to 16, until I handed them off to better coaches, I spent about 40 hours a week of quality time with my girls. All through those so-called terrible teens. We are closer than most any other dad-daughters I know. They've learned to take great pride in their accomplishments. Become teammates. Suffered losses. Struck out. Committed errors. Told another girl that errors 'Hey. I got you. Let's get the next one'. Driven in the winning run. Gone 'superman' to make catches and throws worthy of ESPN highlights (one has 2 triple plays). Led their respective teams in HRs, SLG, and AVG. Done the work. Practiced 3 hours even when it was raining and SNOWING. Missing birthday parties. Countless times the discipline to finish the homework by 8 Friday night because Saturday up at 5 AM to drive 2 hours, warm-ups at 7, first pitch at 8, a hotel room but coaches said no one can use the swimming pool, lights out at 10, and we expect to be in the championship Sunday game at 6, getting home at 10 exhausted. With hardware and huge smiles. 

And I would do damn near anything to do it again. 

Ha.. AWESOME....

I'm as excited as all hell the take this journey..... But, I"M NOT DOING THAT!!!!!! I probably can't.... I already got beat up this weekend with pitches in the dirt and may need a Cup and full gear ASAP...lol

I already feel the bond and it's fun.... 

Seems to me at this age of 9 / 10 even the best coaches I know are handing their kids off to travel coaches who are doing 2 hour+ practices / Day and games a few times a week leaving no where near 40 hours a week for Dad / Daughter.... 

Our top coach laughs that now he has to pace and be quiet - He still coaches the Rec league and the Williamsport team.

I guess if she's some All-World player we can think of all this but, Damn!!!!!!

Funny thing is, WAY back in 1992 my Sister got a scholarship to Hofstra softball which, at the time was one of the top programs.... Back then ppl didn't do all this, she did play boys little league for a long time as one of the better players then just crushed Girls HS Softball.... Very little of all this coaching, money, equipment, Travel, intensity... She just played and had fun.

 

[belljr]

Ha.. AWESOME....

I'm as excited as all hell the take this journey..... But, I"M NOT DOING THAT!!!!!! I probably can't.... I already got beat up this weekend with pitches in the dirt and may need a Cup ASAP and full gear ASAP...lol

I already feel the bond and it's fun.... 

Seems to me at this age of 9 / 10 even the best coaches I know are handing their kids off to travel coaches who are doing 2 hour+ practices / Day and games a few times a week leaving no where near 40 hours a week for Dad / Daughter.... 

Our top coach laughs that now he has to pace and be quiet - He still coaches the Rec league and the Williamsport team.

I guess if she's some All-World player we can think of all this but, Damn!!!!!!

Funny thing is, WAY back in 1992 my Sister got a scholarship to Hofstra softball which, at the time was one of the top programs.... Back then ppl didn't do all this, she did play boys little league for a long time as one of the better players then just crushed Girls HS Softball.... Very little of all this coaching, money, equipment, Travel, intensity... She just played and had fun.

Yep - I hate todays landscape but am playing the hand thats dealt.   It was funny - we had a mom coach come to our clinics last night and was like I notice they don't teach elbow up anymore and thats how i played for 17 years.   it was neat talking changes over the years with how things are taught etc

 

[playin4beer]

Fastpitch was a big part of my life for almost 2 decades. Coached 18 seasons. 2 daughters. Started in rec at 6. Earned D1 schollies. Random thoughts:

My 'fastpitch FBG' is DFP. For you pitching dads, there is a lot of expertise in a specific pitching forum. 

If your daughter isn't hitting 3x a week by 12s, a lot of other kids are. I always found a place on the roster for kids that can hit. If your daughter can't hit, I'm sorry, but she's out. 

I've been through the whole rec to travel ball thing twice. And watched or heard countless others do the same. Will try to check back on this thread to over any advice. 

For cjw, you will want to do your homework now. MN teams hold tryouts in late July/early Aug. But actually girls are guest playing dome ball and deciding on clubs, and coaches are scouting girls June-July.  Tryouts after age 13 are a formality. 

That's all for now, but I'd be happy to share my experience with winter clinics, PCs, tourney's, etc. ASA, USSSA, PGF, (For cjw, MMFL), etc. 

I'm about halfway there... I have a 16 year old sophomore playing on varsity and a 12 year old 6th grader playing middle school ball.. Both play travel and I'm the head coach of the 16 year old's team.  She's played since t-ball...  This week starts the crazy season.. middle school practice monday, varsity DH tonight, middle school practice tomorrow, varsity and middle school games on Thursday, middle school game on Friday, varsity tournament on Saturday..  I know I'll miss it when it's all over, but damn it's a lot of work!

 

[Gally]

Just re-read my post. I left out the most important comments. This is what you dads with girls 8-11 need to hear. 

From ages 6-7 to 16, until I handed them off to better coaches, I spent about 40 hours a week of quality time with my girls. All through those so-called terrible teens. We are closer than most any other dad-daughters I know. They've learned to take great pride in their accomplishments. Become teammates. Suffered losses. Struck out. Committed errors. Told another girl that errors 'Hey. I got you. Let's get the next one'. Driven in the winning run. Gone 'superman' to make catches and throws worthy of ESPN highlights (one has 2 triple plays). Led their respective teams in HRs, SLG, and AVG. Done the work. Practiced 3 hours even when it was raining and SNOWING. Missing birthday parties. Countless times the discipline to finish the homework by 8 Friday night because Saturday up at 5 AM to drive 2 hours, warm-ups at 7, first pitch at 8, a hotel room but coaches said no one can use the swimming pool, lights out at 10, and we expect to be in the championship Sunday game at 6, getting home at 10 exhausted. With hardware and huge smiles. 

And I would do damn near anything to do it again. 

Good info but you left the #1 thing out of this.  Your kid must WANT TO DO THIS AND NOTHING ELSE!!!!!!   If you are going to put in this much time.  Most kids do not have the drive, self discipline, work ethic, etc to do this.  Most will get burned out rather quickly with this type of pace.  This is not for everyone. 

It is good to explain and ask the kid if they want to do this and they may think they do.  It's a different story to actually do it.  I am happy it has worked out for you and wish my daughter had the drive to put this kind of work because I think she had the physical tools to succeed.  She just didn't have the drive to put in that kind of time.  She played all 4 yrs in high school (currently a senior) and likes playing.  She has had some small schools interested in giving her a scholarship but she doesn't want to go to the schools offering (mostly NAIA schools in the Midwest/east).  She may try to play at the school she is going to attend as a walk on but she hasn't decided.  I wouldn't change anything we did with her as she just didn't have the attitude work ethic to do what you did. 

Bottom line you have to let your kid decide what they want on their own.

 

[Jaysus]

And I would do damn near anything to do it again. 

Dude, you can have my daughter. 

 

[Zerp]

leaving no where near 40 hours a week for Dad / Daughter.... 

I wasn't clear. I coached. 40 hours a week with my daughters on the ball fields. 

 

[Reaper]

I wasn't clear. I coached. 40 hours a week with my daughters on the ball fields. 

OK... Still WOW..... This whole thing was just a slap in the face, once I realized 9yo girls were leaving Rec for Travel and Full time jobs as Softball players I was like WTF??????

I'll take it a game at a time and just enjoy it.... 

I'm kinda regretting the whole pitching thing already b/c I can see even with a top coach we go to, it's going to be way intense where she could have aced fielding and hitting instead....lol

 

[Zerp]

Your kid must WANT TO DO THIS AND NOTHING ELSE!!!!!!  

Bottom line you have to let your kid decide what they want on their own.

My daughters played travel basketball until 12s. Rec basketball until 14s. Concert choir, with travel from MN to NYC and LA, college prep courses with internships, and church youth groups (no practice Wednesdays) and service trips; eg habitat for humanity in NO and La Paz.

In my experience, kids have a ton of potential. 

Completely agree the kids decide. And all of this is extra curricular, after school work. Heck, Fastpitch was the reward for getting everything else done. 

 

[Reaper]

My daughters played travel basketball until 12s. Rec basketball until 14s. Concert choir, with travel from MN to NYC and LA, college prep courses with internships, and church youth groups (no practice Wednesdays) and service trips; eg habitat for humanity in NO and La Paz.

In my experience, kids have a ton of potential. 

Completely agree the kids decide. And all of this is extra curricular, after school work. Heck, Fastpitch was the reward for getting everything else done. 

I'm Failing already..... 

On the 1st sunny day in weeks, I just agreed to let my kid go play with Slime at her friends house instead of Pitching.

 

[Reaper]

BTW - Do All the Girls where Sliding pants?

The Form fitting pants they sent us this year seem pretty tight to where shorts under.... 

 

[Zerp]

I'm kinda regretting the whole pitching thing already b/c I can see even with a top coach we go to, it's going to be way intense where she could have aced fielding and hitting instead....

By 12s, our club teams were all prior Ps and Cs. By 14s half the team were former SS's. Natural selection as the best athletes/hitters progress to the next level. At 13s maybe 10 of a 12 roster are primary positions (I'm a 2B, I'm a LF). 

The point is she should pitch until she can't compete. And that's OK. 

 

[Zerp]

BTW - Do All the Girls where Sliding pants?

The Form fitting pants they sent us this year seem pretty tight to where shorts under.... 

Sliding shorts. And long pants. We coach girls you respect the other team. But even good coaches can't stop teen girls from looking down on a team wearing shorts. Or pink uniforms.