Pitcher Parents - If you could do it all over again...?

it all started when my DW said DD should go try out Rec softball. i had absolutely NO idea what that would entail or where it would lead.
fast forward 5 years. DD had 2 years of HE pitching before we decided to move to I/R. it's still a struggle, even so now that DD's in HS. we butt heads at times, but I still have all my hair

I'm tired when i get home from work, but practice is necessary. interesting enough, as soon as the first pitch is thrown, i 'forget' how tired i am and get into 'Coach Dad' mode.
DD hates it when i talk too much and for the first time told me, "Dad, quiet. I got this". Growing up or just becoming a teen?

She's not there yet, but getting there. Many times I ask myself how in the world did we get here?

My son just tried out as catcher for his baseball team and he loves it. He also does underhand/windmill pitching emulating his older sis. I told him please don't ever pitch like that in your baseball team.

So, would i do it over again? YES! but would skip those HE years!

stickpile39 said:

Rubber, Interesting post. My DD is only a freshman in HS and still recovering from injury but your post reminded me of a story I just heard about another freshman (HS) in a neighboring town. This girl worked hard to make varsity as a freshman. She throws 4 pitches: 4 seam, 2 seam, drop and change. HS pitching coach informed her (after making the team) that pitchers on his team throw ONLY screwball inside and rise outside. Essentially you have two weeks to learn those pitches.
Can you imagine?

Click to expand...

As a famous general said one day => NUTS!

sbcowboy said:

Great thread. Did u guys ever struggle with motivation to do the pitching work? What did u do to get by this?
What about team selection?
Thanks!

Click to expand...

There were days when my DD didn't want to work and I knew she needed to. I would tell her. "That's OK. It's not me who was going out there and sucking." That usually worked. My wife would want to side with the DD at times and I had to fight that battle occasionally. What I wanted her to learn is that she needed to go out and perform well even when she wasn't feeling 100% motivated. I knew there would be days like that in college. I think because of that she did not have too many "off" games.

As for changes. I should have worked harder on her CU with her. She was a power pitcher with a great rise and curve. Her screw was very good and her drop average. Her CU was spotty at best. When it was on it was good. Any other time it was bad. She would consistently K 7+ hitters a game so I at the time I didn't realize the real need for a good CU. One of the things that I did do and I think it helped a lot was we would only work on 2 pitches at a time when she worked, giving her the chance to work and tweak the pitches till she was satisfied with them.

The biggest mistake I see parents making with their DD's is the length of pitching workouts. Most lessons are 30 minutes. When the girls go out and practice they will go out for 30 minutes. What I'm seeing is girls who run out of gas in the last couple of innings because they lack the pitching stamina to complete a game at or near 100% of their capabilities.

My daughter is almost 12 now and the main regret that I have is her 1st 10u travel team's HC's daughter was a pitcher. Never again will I pick a travel team where the HC has a kid that pitches. We learned that lesson the hard way.

When we played in rec league, it was a struggle to get her out there to practice during the week. Once we switched to travel ball and the level of competition improved, she stopped complaining.

sbcowboy said:

Great thread. Did u guys ever struggle with motivation to do the pitching work? What did u do to get by this?
What about team selection?
Thanks!

Click to expand...

All in all, the only thing I would change would be how I gave my feedback and suggestions (not always constructive ). Best thing I ever did was get the hell out of the way after teaching her the flip changeup. Became evident quickly that a "professional" PC was needed. And we've had great luck finding awesome PCs.

I'd like to think - working now with my great-niece on pitching - I'm a much better coach.

stickpile39 said:

Rubber, Interesting post. My DD is only a freshman in HS and still recovering from injury but your post reminded me of a story I just heard about another freshman (HS) in a neighboring town. This girl worked hard to make varsity as a freshman. She throws 4 pitches: 4 seam, 2 seam, drop and change. HS pitching coach informed her (after making the team) that pitchers on his team throw ONLY screwball inside and rise outside. Essentially you have two weeks to learn those pitches.
Can you imagine?

Click to expand...

This doesn't even sound like a great plan for someone with a pretty good riseball and screw let alone someone who has neither.

TECHNIQUE:

My DD and I both agree that she should have worked more on the changeup.

TEAM SELECTION:

The team selection worked out pretty well. She was on a medicocre TB team for two years, and pitched almost every game. She learned how to pitch. When she became "good", the good teams started calling her.

The mistake parents make is that the team is all about *them* not about making their DD a better player. E.g., we will have posts on this board like, "We love team XYZ. We love the coaches and her teammates. And, the practices are only 10 minutes away. But, she doesn't get to pitch. What should we do?"

If your kid wants to be a pitcher, then she has to pitch. Watching someone else pitch, whether you are at SS or sitting the bench, will not make her better.

PERSONALLY

My biggest regret: I should have watched her play more.

riseball said:

She and I both agree that we should have invested more time and effort into mastering a change-up. The interesting thing is that kids like her that are power pitchers can do quite well without a CU. But once they do develop the pitch it becomes extremely effective, more so than for a pitcher that is a spinner.

Click to expand...

Can you define power pitcher and a pitcher that is a spinner?

Monica Abbot is "power"...cruising speed at 65mph and higher.

Cat Osterman is a spinner. High 50's and low 60's but her movement pitches were top of the line which made her one of the best.