Keep your DD's confidence up

If your DD is playing college softball for the first time, you might find her thinking, "Uh, what is going on? I used to be really good. Now, I'm barely mediocre."

The reality: Your 18YOA girl is now playing against 22YOA women. Mentally, physically and experientally, the deck is stacked against your DD.

Most likely, there will be days when she gets overwhelmed. It will get better...your DD needs to plan to work harder and smarter in the off-season. As your DD matures and gets more games under her belt, she will get better and she will become more competitive.

Failure is part of sports. Be supportive, and remind her that her best days are ahead of her.

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I just hugged the DD last night as she heads back to school to get on a plane for the next tourney. She is still awaiting her first moment in live in-season in-circle play. She may not be in the game yet but there is definitely a game playing strong in her head....

She's amazing though in that in all the playing-time challenge in her head she can still rattle off straight A's in pre-med. She'll be just fine......

RubberBiscuit said:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^+1

I just hugged the DD last night as she heads back to school to get on a plane for the next tourney. She is still awaiting her first moment in live in-season in-circle play. She may not be in the game yet but there is definitely a game playing strong in her head....

She's amazing though in that in all the playing-time challenge in her head she can still rattle off straight A's in pre-med. She'll be just fine......

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Pre-med, nice! Any thoughts after graduation of her repaying any of the money spent on TB? lol


Yeah, dd knew play time would be very limited this season but i still wondered how that affected her. She said all I can do is keep my mind ready as if I'm going to get put in every game and keep working my tail off. The talk was more in depth than that but what I took away from the conversation is my little girl is now a woman. I have also been converted from cattle prod to pom pom.

This is one the first things my DD said to me after going off to college.

"Mom, these are women!" DD had just turned 18 when she went off to school.

Fortunately for the both of us, she never had overwhelming confidence problems and I think a lot of was because from the very start of her softball life she was always having to fight for her position, she grew up fighting and competitive and it really paid off in the end.

Her college coach told her and I not to expect much time, that she rarely thew freshman, and DD was actually glad to hear that--she had been injured her senior year and hadn't pitch a game since her injury.

We drove 6 hours to "maybe" watch her play, in her team's first 3 game outing the fall of her freshman year.
Senior, got game #1, Junior game #2, Sophomore game #3. Then the last inning of the last game, DD takes the field.
I took a picture of her standing on the rubber (You know that priceless picture whenever everything has finally paid off).
2 strike-outs and a pop-up and it was over. But it was the best!

slingnit said:

Pre-med, nice! Any thoughts after graduation of her repaying any of the money spent on TB? lol


Yeah, dd knew play time would be very limited this season but i still wondered how that affected her. She said all I can do is keep my mind ready as if I'm going to get put in every game and keep working my tail off. The talk was more in depth than that but what I took away from the conversation is my little girl is now a woman. I have also been converted from cattle prod to pom pom.

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Dead on slingster - you and I shared the same moment here

Jojo said:

We drove 6 hours to "maybe" watch her play, in her team's first 3 game outing the fall of her freshman year.
Senior, got game #1, Junior game #2, Sophomore game #3. Then the last inning of the last game, DD takes the field.
I took a picture of her standing on the rubber (You know that priceless picture whenever everything has finally paid off).
2 strike-outs and a pop-up and it was over. But it was the best!

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing! My DD is only a sophomore in high school, but I know that it will be here before we know it!

Jojo said:

We drove 6 hours to "maybe" watch her play, in her team's first 3 game outing the fall of her freshman year.
Senior, got game #1, Junior game #2, Sophomore game #3. Then the last inning of the last game, DD takes the field.
I took a picture of her standing on the rubber (You know that priceless picture whenever everything has finally paid off).
2 strike-outs and a pop-up and it was over. But it was the best!

Click to expand...

Hitting the nail on the head! Made our way to Tempe and no mound time. Then she got in the next week while playing in Texas. I was fortunate enough to be there. But when I watched her go to the bullpen it was a twisted gut for dad. NO WAY could she have been more nervous than me! lol But hearing everyone's stories is awesome. To think how I or you felt seeing them for the first time and how many other parents, grandparents,... get to experience that is just outstanding!!!

Thank you for sharing. I've driven 2-3 hours 5 times to see 8 games. DD#1 hasn't made the field yet. 3 losses. She is losing her mind when coach says 'the team didn't play to their ability'.