Me_and_my_big_mouth
witty softball quote
Hi all.
My dd just turned 13, will be on a 14u exposure team 2014-15 season. She's very excited. Just began playing softball in 2013 - rec, then went 12B 2014, then got picked up by a 12A team and now made it to an exposure team. Good on her! Hard worker, has lots to learn - naturally athletic (didn't get it from me) and loves to push herself. Softball bug bit her hard!
Started taking pitching lessons from a local college pitcher in 2013. Has done pretty well. Getting strength and working hard to figure things out. Not number 1 by any stretch - but aspiring to be. We as parents are really no help here (although we're trying very hard to educate ourselves) as we are new to this softball thing - and we really have trouble "seeing" things that the coaches can see.
That being said, she's getting conflicting instructions from pitching coach and team coach - and we're trying to make sense of it. After reading the threads on I/R, we think that's what she is doing and how she's been taught to throw (but she does a "chicken wing" - which her pitching coach and team coach both told her to correct PRONTO) and she's been working on being looser. She was also taught a rollover drop, rollover change (forgive me if I get the names wrong - again, newbie here) and she's been working on hitting her spots. Coach that she picked up with on 12A team told her that her change is great - nice speed, comes in flat and low. He says he likes that she doesn't do a flip-change, because those can arc. Ok, so good to know . . .
New coach (who has many, MANY years experience) and whom we just love, tells her that he wants her finishing her fastball with her elbow pointing toward the catcher, and her hand over her shoulder. He sends me video that shows that her "drop" ball and her "fast" ball look virtually the same - there seems to be no difference. He is correct. I can see no difference. She is very opposed, however, to "finishing with her elbow" because she says it "feels weird" and "makes her back hurt". We took her out to practice yesterday, had her using the elbow thing that coach suggested - and by the end of the practice she was complaining of pain and very, VERY frustrated. He also told her that her change needs to be a flip-change instead of what she's been doing, because a flip is a better pitch and harder to hit. She worked so hard to get a decent change-up, those words sank in to her brain and I could see her looking dejected.
We are trying to read up and educate ourselves - and we respect and admire this coach. We are worried that we're "helping" our dd the wrong way. We're going to see the pitching coach tonight and try to figure out what's happening. I have never in my life been a parent to question a coach or go against something they tell my kid - especially when I am so far from being an expert. Coach told me to read the book "The Softball Pitching Edge", so I bought it today. I also don't want them to think that she's uncoachable or isn't listening. Heck, for all I know, they read these boards - and I should be addressing these issues to them. Dunno . . . don't want to rock the boat or be a p-i-t-a parent.
I'm providing the link to a video of dd pitching. It shows her from back in beginning of Aug, when she was still pitching from the 40' mark, until yesterday - when she was trying to learn from 43'. I'm hoping some of you more esteemed parents and coaches can help me understand what words to use to help my dd. She might spend a couple hours each week with coaches, but she's with her dumb parents the rest of the time - and this frustration is now affecting her confidence. She said yesterday, "When I do it this way, I feel so much slower". I couldn't tell a difference - just seemed like she had lost control and was all over the place, no matter what she did. :::sigh::::
She's an intense kid, and takes a lot internally. We're really worried that this will mess with her head. This is a tough age to begin with - and she already feels like she's so far behind the other girls who have been playing the game since they were little. We're going to meet with p coach tonight and try to work on it. Thanks in advance!
My dd just turned 13, will be on a 14u exposure team 2014-15 season. She's very excited. Just began playing softball in 2013 - rec, then went 12B 2014, then got picked up by a 12A team and now made it to an exposure team. Good on her! Hard worker, has lots to learn - naturally athletic (didn't get it from me) and loves to push herself. Softball bug bit her hard!
Started taking pitching lessons from a local college pitcher in 2013. Has done pretty well. Getting strength and working hard to figure things out. Not number 1 by any stretch - but aspiring to be. We as parents are really no help here (although we're trying very hard to educate ourselves) as we are new to this softball thing - and we really have trouble "seeing" things that the coaches can see.
That being said, she's getting conflicting instructions from pitching coach and team coach - and we're trying to make sense of it. After reading the threads on I/R, we think that's what she is doing and how she's been taught to throw (but she does a "chicken wing" - which her pitching coach and team coach both told her to correct PRONTO) and she's been working on being looser. She was also taught a rollover drop, rollover change (forgive me if I get the names wrong - again, newbie here) and she's been working on hitting her spots. Coach that she picked up with on 12A team told her that her change is great - nice speed, comes in flat and low. He says he likes that she doesn't do a flip-change, because those can arc. Ok, so good to know . . .
New coach (who has many, MANY years experience) and whom we just love, tells her that he wants her finishing her fastball with her elbow pointing toward the catcher, and her hand over her shoulder. He sends me video that shows that her "drop" ball and her "fast" ball look virtually the same - there seems to be no difference. He is correct. I can see no difference. She is very opposed, however, to "finishing with her elbow" because she says it "feels weird" and "makes her back hurt". We took her out to practice yesterday, had her using the elbow thing that coach suggested - and by the end of the practice she was complaining of pain and very, VERY frustrated. He also told her that her change needs to be a flip-change instead of what she's been doing, because a flip is a better pitch and harder to hit. She worked so hard to get a decent change-up, those words sank in to her brain and I could see her looking dejected.
We are trying to read up and educate ourselves - and we respect and admire this coach. We are worried that we're "helping" our dd the wrong way. We're going to see the pitching coach tonight and try to figure out what's happening. I have never in my life been a parent to question a coach or go against something they tell my kid - especially when I am so far from being an expert. Coach told me to read the book "The Softball Pitching Edge", so I bought it today. I also don't want them to think that she's uncoachable or isn't listening. Heck, for all I know, they read these boards - and I should be addressing these issues to them. Dunno . . . don't want to rock the boat or be a p-i-t-a parent.
I'm providing the link to a video of dd pitching. It shows her from back in beginning of Aug, when she was still pitching from the 40' mark, until yesterday - when she was trying to learn from 43'. I'm hoping some of you more esteemed parents and coaches can help me understand what words to use to help my dd. She might spend a couple hours each week with coaches, but she's with her dumb parents the rest of the time - and this frustration is now affecting her confidence. She said yesterday, "When I do it this way, I feel so much slower". I couldn't tell a difference - just seemed like she had lost control and was all over the place, no matter what she did.
:::sigh::::She's an intense kid, and takes a lot internally. We're really worried that this will mess with her head. This is a tough age to begin with - and she already feels like she's so far behind the other girls who have been playing the game since they were little. We're going to meet with p coach tonight and try to work on it. Thanks in advance!
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