Knight Dd

[Josh Greer]

Congrats from one Missouri family to another!

 

[knightsb]

Dd (and dad) were looking forward to playing them several weeks ago. Unfortunately the tournament was on a weekend, and this year it rains nearly every weekend!

I was looking forward also, but not so much for the matchup, but the adult refreshments I owed you for all the hitting advice you've provided over the years. BTW, RHC's DD can rake.

 

[knightsb]

There is not a Softball Parents Anonymous group with a 12-step program just yet, so your obsessions is still better than a lot of things!

And congratulations!

We need to get together sometime. Your DD and mine have a lot of similarities. I've really appreciated your honesty in your posts when she does good and bad. It's easy to talk about the good, difficult to talk about the struggles, and we have had our share of both.

 

[knightsb]

BTW, that skills video is two years old. As I mentioned to Ken, since then we have made many adjustments, some good, some bad.

If you notice how the video begins, that's her in Rec league. We were called the "Lady Knights" you can briefly see it on her jersey. My handle knightsb (Knight SoftBall) came from those rec ball days.

The acknowledgements / accolades are a double edged sword. It's nice to be recognized for past accomplishments. It's also a curse for the player to try and live up to the hype. There is a lot of self induced pressure these girls put on themselves to try and live up to the hype. At this age, mental training takes as much practice as the physical.

From the cheap seats, I can tell you,
when you're winning: you're never as good as they say you are.
when you're losing: you're never as bad as they say you are.

 

[JAD]

We need to get together sometime. Your DD and mine have a lot of similarities. I've really appreciated your honesty in your posts when she does good and bad. It's easy to talk about the good, difficult to talk about the struggles, and we have had our share of both.

I just looked up your DD's TB team, and I am pretty sure we played y'all last year at PGF. I honest cannot remember who won the game, but I am pretty sure we played. If I remember correctly it was a hotly contested one run game. It may have been in the first round, in which case y'all won, because we lost our first bracket game. DD was picking up with the GA Elite - Hoover.

 

[knightsb]

I just looked up your DD's TB team, and I am pretty sure we played y'all last year at PGF. I honest cannot remember who won the game, but I am pretty sure we played. If I remember correctly it was a hotly contested one run game. It may have been in the first round, in which case y'all won, because we lost our first bracket game. DD was picking up with the GA Elite - Hoover.

I wasn't there. Sissy gave up a HR in that game. She said the girl was pretty big. Wife said there was a bunch a parents on our side screaming and yelling over some calls (usually they are a pretty tame group).

 

[JAD]

I wasn't there. Sissy gave up a HR in that game. She said the girl was pretty big. Wife said there was a bunch a parents on our side screaming and yelling over some calls (usually they are a pretty tame group).

I remember it being a hotly contested game! Since we were just picking up and DD was not pitching, so I just kept my mouth shut and watched the fireworks! LOL

 

[rdbass]

I thought this was the support group.

That's why you're the 'boss' you got the 'tongue a cheek'.
I get what Knight was saying. Sometimes 'we'(plural) get a little passionate and need to step back....

 

[redhotcoach]

The acknowledgements / accolades are a double edged sword. It's nice to be recognized for past accomplishments. It's also a curse for the player to try and live up to the hype. There is a lot of self induced pressure these girls put on themselves to try and live up to the hype. At this age, mental training takes as much practice as the physical.

From the cheap seats, I can tell you,
when you're winning: you're never as good as they say you are.
when you're losing: you're never as bad as they say you are.

EXCELLENT POST! Excellent advice! At high levels of travel ball I think the girls learn that the infamous greats have bad days, sometimes many of them. The unknowns sometimes have great days. You see players with huge reps and huge homerun numbers that can't put a ball in play vs top pitching. You see unknowns striking out lines of all stars.

I think at 18U it is more important than ever to remember that it is just a game. A ton of politics can happen...but who cares, just a game. Pressure to live up to a rep...it's just a game. Bad days in front of big company, great days with just the crickets watching...it's a game.

The other big thing that is important in my mind is to just play YOUR game. There are so many things that can stress out a girl, but the only thing that they can control, the only thing that really matters, is the next pitch.

 

[Cannonball]

I think for my dd and others, in the end, you still have to love the game. Above all, that kept my dd even keeled. I remember one time BB came home on her one day off during a week. She asked to go hit. I told her that she had a day off and needed to rest. Her response was that she just wanted to go hit and not have any responsibilities but to have fun with me hitting. I'd bet that if we asked most of your dds, they say that without a doubt they love the game.