A Little Scared for my Daughter

beachball · Sep 27, 2014

Hi everyone. First post. My daughter recently made a 14U travel team and I am excited beyond belief (and yes, so is she). She picked up a softball for the first time ever in April 2013 so I am very proud of her. They have her starting at third base and I am fearful that she knows not what she is in for.

She played two years of rec ball and played 2B, 3B and for the last half of this past season and all stars she played 1B. She catches with her left hand so that may have facilitated the move to third.

The problem is I don't think she will be used to the level of hitting that she will soon be seeing. They don't seem to practice exceptionally hard grounders or line drives at practice and I know they will be coming at her. It is a first class organization with good coaching so I think I just need to relax but I still have this uneasy feeling. They have been doing this for a long time so I need to assume that they put her there for a reason.

We will be taking her out and hitting grounders to her repeatedly over the next couple weeks as per her coaches suggestion with me hitting and a friend covering first. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what else I could do to relax and have her ready? Our first tournament is Oct 11-12.

Thanks guys. Great forum. I have read it all (pretty much)

quincy · Sep 27, 2014

I hate when DD plays 3rd. It is the liners that worry me, as a parent I do not care about the balls on the ground.

I would think at 3rd she needs to pay attention to how much of the bat she sees at contact. If she can see the barrel of the bat, beer down its coming. (Typo was for me). Don't sqaure up to her when you hit her balls, pull the balls to her like a batter would.

I haven’t done this in a while but I use to put DD in front of a fence and throw balls towards her pretty hard to different locations from about 20 or 30 feet away. Just working on her catching, she just tossed the ball back to me.

I am sure you will get better advice but it can be slow on weekends.

CoogansBluff · Sep 27, 2014

While it's true that a 3B is more likely to be injured by a batted ball than any other position besides pitcher, the actual chances of an injury beyond a bruise are pretty small, IMO. Certainly wear a mask. But she's more likely to get hurt in other ways on the ballfield than from being hit by the batted ball. I can remember only one time in six years of watching my daughter play travel ball of seeing a third baseman having to leave the game from being hit by a batted ball. Maybe it happened another time, but can't remember it. And that wasn't a game involving my daughter. Just happened to be watching it during warmups.

sbmom19 · Sep 27, 2014

beachball said:
Hi everyone. First post. My daughter recently made a 14U travel team and I am excited beyond belief (and yes, so is she). She picked up a softball for the first time ever in April 2013 so I am very proud of her. They have her starting at third base and I am fearful that she knows not what she is in for.

She played two years of rec ball and played 2B, 3B and for the last half of this past season and all stars she played 1B. She catches with her left hand so that may have facilitated the move to third.

The problem is I don't think she will be used to the level of hitting that she will soon be seeing. They don't seem to practice exceptionally hard grounders or line drives at practice and I know they will be coming at her. It is a first class organization with good coaching so I think I just need to relax but I still have this uneasy feeling. They have been doing this for a long time so I need to assume that they put her there for a reason.

We will be taking her out and hitting grounders to her repeatedly over the next couple weeks as per her coaches suggestion with me hitting and a friend covering first. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what else I could do to relax and have her ready? Our first tournament is Oct 11-12.

Thanks guys. Great forum. I have read it all (pretty much)

I would definitely get her a mask...

MandM · Sep 27, 2014

one word- "MASK"

i think both corners should wear them, but third especially as she will starting playing in for the slappers.

beachball · Sep 27, 2014

Thanks guys. She is resistant to the idea of a mask but I may have to override her on that. She also pitched in rec ball and had some hot shots back at her so she has some experience. This is a new animal though. I will sit her down and maybe she can pick the mask she hates the least.

29dad · Sep 27, 2014

Just curious - how does your daughter feel about the move to 3B? We can tell that you're very nervous. Is she? My guess is that she's confident, otherwise the coaches wouldn't have put her there. Playing 3B requires a certain degree of fearlessness. I don't have any technical advice regarding proper form, but I would encourage you to build up you daughter's confidence, Getting her a mask is a good idea, but don't try to scare her death. You cannot play 3B if you're afraid of the ball. So keep things upbeat and positive. Even when she struggles and BELIEVE ME she will struggle. It's a very unforgiving position.

Best of luck and please keep us posted on her progress. I think it's great that she made a travel team after being in the game for such a short period of time.

iMlearning · Sep 27, 2014

mask

Force her to wear a mask. .. she'll get used to it. My DD played without a mask for years and has played 18u A for 1 1/2 years as a starter at 3rd. This year she took a bad hop to the head and got knocked out, got rushed to the hospital and ended up having a moderate concussion. A few weeks later at a D1 prospect camp we saw a senior get hit hard and taken out by a bad hop. I could go on. .. It happens to very good players.
Not trying to scare you, but the mask is worth it.

beachball · Sep 27, 2014

29dad said:
Just curious - how does your daughter feel about the move to 3B? We can tell that you're very nervous. Is she? My guess is that she's confident, otherwise the coaches wouldn't have put her there. Playing 3B requires a certain degree of fearlessness. I don't have any technical advice regarding proper form, but I would encourage you to build up you daughter's confidence, Getting her a mask is a good idea, but don't try to scare her death. You cannot play 3B if you're afraid of the ball. So keep things upbeat and positive. Even when she struggles and BELIEVE ME she will struggle. It's a very unforgiving position.

Best of luck and please keep us posted on her progress. I think it's great that she made a travel team after being in the game for such a short period of time.

She is appropriately confident, by that I mean she knows she is new to travel ball and has a lot to learn but also knows that she can play. I like that I have to draw it out of her though. She is not full of herself and knows that this is a beginning. I am very careful what I say to her just for the reason you mention: I don't want to freak her out. I also don't want her playing "dodge ball" with a hard hit liner. I'm thinking repetition and experience will take care of that. She thought she would get a few innings split in the outfield and maybe first base as it wasn't a given that she would make the team at all so the fact that they have her playing a demanding infield position to start is very exciting to me. I think it is lost on her

On a personal note, I have not been this excited about ANYTHING in a long time, the travel the hotels, the potential that exists when you are just starting something like this. She is good but I don't yet know how good she might get. I'm going to enjoy every minute. I will post a pic of her and keep you posted and thank you for your feedback. I am totally new to this too and I have a lot to learn.

But I will get her a mask

RichK · Sep 27, 2014

Honest question: why are you not trusting her coaches to put her in the right position and be sure she is ready? If you like the team and coaches and are, as you say, "new to this" let them do their thing and sit back and enjoy it. Let your enthusiasm=enjoyment, not stress. She'll do fine and if not she'll learn and get better : )

A Little Scared for my Daughter

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