Pitchers only get better with reps, period! That being said I would like to add that on many occasions the rec ball coach knows the situation. If the girl is the best pitcher in the league the coach is willing to take her for what he can get out of her whether it be 4 games or 8 because those are the 4 or 8 games he is likely to win.
Travel and Rec
- Thread starter nixxy311
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
I have been in a situation in the opposite direction. My DD played for our local 10u team and she was by far the best player/pitcher on the team. She play TB but didn't pitch for that team yet as she was still new at it. She maybe missed 1 rec practice and maybe 1 game due to TB. But when she was at the rec games she pitched 1 inning maybe 2 if she was lucky. The coaches daughter was always the #1 and she rolled them across the plate, my DD struck out 3 per inning, the only way the team would get an out.
So fast forward to the fall season and she is on a new TB team where she is #1 pitcher, the coach who also is Head coach of a near by rec team offered my DD to play on his team she jumped all over it. She then got to pitch her max 3 innings a game and played a much more pivotal role. Also the coach planned games/practices around the TB team. Things worked out in the end but honestly I would have rather her played for the old team because she is going to school with them but it was her decision and I supported her.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
So fast forward to the fall season and she is on a new TB team where she is #1 pitcher, the coach who also is Head coach of a near by rec team offered my DD to play on his team she jumped all over it. She then got to pitch her max 3 innings a game and played a much more pivotal role. Also the coach planned games/practices around the TB team. Things worked out in the end but honestly I would have rather her played for the old team because she is going to school with them but it was her decision and I supported her.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
In general I don't think there's a huge benefit for a real TB pitcher to play rec, for anybody. All she has to do is throw fast balls down the middle (at least in our rec program). So she doesn't have to work to improve in order to win games, and the defense gets pretty board with all strike outs. To me it should be more for like a #4 pitcher who is wanting to reach TB level & needs the extra time, or a 10U player who wants to get some 12U pitching in before moving up and does that in rec. I wouldn't put my 10U TB pitcher in 10U rec. It just wouldn't be fair to anybody for us to do that.
IDK, we have team in our league that played all thier TB players at beginning of year but not middle on. Rec started before TB or something.
Enjoyed playing them and getting our butts kicked.
Wouldn't want to do it every game but an odd game here or there was fine. I think it motivated our players.
Enjoyed playing them and getting our butts kicked.
Wouldn't want to do it every game but an odd game here or there was fine. I think it motivated our players.
When my DDs played rec ball, I am glad there were TB players on the rec teams. It gave them the opportunity to improve by playing better players.
One example:
When DD 3 was a second year 10u, she played up in 12u for rec league. There was a pitcher in 12u rec league who played on a 14u TB team. I remember how happy DD 3 was the first time she had a hit off that girl. By the end of the season DD 3 was hitting her regularly. DD 3 was ready for TB after that, and with the encouragement of the rec league, played rec league 2 years after that. She helped some other girls get ready for TB
One example:
When DD 3 was a second year 10u, she played up in 12u for rec league. There was a pitcher in 12u rec league who played on a 14u TB team. I remember how happy DD 3 was the first time she had a hit off that girl. By the end of the season DD 3 was hitting her regularly. DD 3 was ready for TB after that, and with the encouragement of the rec league, played rec league 2 years after that. She helped some other girls get ready for TB
In MS one batter refused to face DD, after a little conference they just called her out and continued with game. 
I've never seen that, but I have seen something very similar with my DD 3.
When she first started pitching, she was fast for her age, but pretty wild. She mostly pitched 12u rec then, so the girls could handle it.
She did play in one tournament, for her LL 10u all-star team. She wasn't used to the smaller ball, which made her wilder, and she was pitching against younger players at a shorter distance, so that made her relatively faster.
In her first game, she hit a couple of batters. After that, the girls on the other team would just get as far back into the batter's box as possible, and cower, hoping she would throw 4 balls before she threw 3 strikes.
The biggest problem she had in rec ball later on was finding someone to catch her.
When she first started pitching, she was fast for her age, but pretty wild. She mostly pitched 12u rec then, so the girls could handle it.
She did play in one tournament, for her LL 10u all-star team. She wasn't used to the smaller ball, which made her wilder, and she was pitching against younger players at a shorter distance, so that made her relatively faster.
In her first game, she hit a couple of batters. After that, the girls on the other team would just get as far back into the batter's box as possible, and cower, hoping she would throw 4 balls before she threw 3 strikes.
The biggest problem she had in rec ball later on was finding someone to catch her.
It was strange what annoyed me about it is it was not like DD was there, she can hear you you idiots.
Talk as adults and figure it out, DD and crowd does not need to be involved.
Was not a big deal but could have been handled better.
Talk as adults and figure it out, DD and crowd does not need to be involved.
Was not a big deal but could have been handled better.
Original poster and interestingly enough, this past season, we had a TB player on our rec team - was on the rec team to get more pitching reps. She was not our #1 pitcher at least but it did make it so DD was not allowed to pitch this season (but she did get much better at catcher).
Her TB team plays in numerous tournaments and she is one of the most used pitchers on that team. She was at most of our games so it wasn't a big problem. The two regular season games she missed, our team won anyway. She was gone for two of the EOS games and we did end up losing one of those games. It may have been good to have her for one since it put us in the loser's bracket and had to win 3 the next day to force the IF game (which we ultimately lost)
I do think she is sad she won't be doing All Stars with us since it's not allowed in our state/county.
Her TB team plays in numerous tournaments and she is one of the most used pitchers on that team. She was at most of our games so it wasn't a big problem. The two regular season games she missed, our team won anyway. She was gone for two of the EOS games and we did end up losing one of those games. It may have been good to have her for one since it put us in the loser's bracket and had to win 3 the next day to force the IF game (which we ultimately lost)
I do think she is sad she won't be doing All Stars with us since it's not allowed in our state/county.
Last year my DD rec team had a travel ball pitcher who also had an early birthday so she was already 13 playing 12u. Having this girl on the team was a great experience for my DD. While this was just my DD second season playing any organized ball and was playing up at 12u instead of 10u, she learned that she was able to catch bigger, stronger, harder throwing pitchers which triggered her move to travel ball that fall. Btw the players loved having this girl on their team.
