I've been coaching my oldest DD in rec ball for the past 4 years. I've always been very conscious of treating the team fairly and not having a "Daddy ball" team. I can honestly say that up to this point, I get more complaints about her lack of playing time as to the opposite.
This year, we moved up to 10u and this is our leagues 1st division for team pitch. I didn't want my DD to be a pitcher. I would rather her spend her time working on fielding and hitting. Very few make it into high school as a pitcher, but many will play if they can field and hit.
Well, I found out at our 1st practice that NO ONE has ever pitched. We only had 1 girl in her 2nd year of 10u. It's been a struggle to say the least, especially since I'm not a pitching coach. My DD started early on asking to pitch. I tried my best to move her focus to other aspects of softball. I told her that if she still wanted to at the end of the season, I would get her a pitching coach.
She had her 1st practice this past Saturday. She is doing the air drills on her own and is showing a lot of progression over the past week. She's noticing this as well. Compared to other pitchers I've seen in 10u, 12u, and 14u, she has very good speed. She's always had a stronger than average overhand throw. Now she's really focusing on throwing hard in our pitching practices. She's starting to throw some strikes, even though I keep stressing that she shouldn't worry about where it goes yet.
Here is the surprise, when she makes a bad pitch, she's telling me what she did wrong, ie, short stride, arm coming to the side, improper foot work, and ect. I've been real impressed at how she's picking up the instructions of her pitching coach.
Hopefully, she continues through the year with the same desire. Only time will tell. I'm also currently recruiting someone else to take over the team next year. We're starting to get to that age where she needs someone besides Dad giving her instructions. I've been expecting this to come and seeing how she's responding to another coach only confirms my predictions.
Just thought I would share.
This year, we moved up to 10u and this is our leagues 1st division for team pitch. I didn't want my DD to be a pitcher. I would rather her spend her time working on fielding and hitting. Very few make it into high school as a pitcher, but many will play if they can field and hit.
Well, I found out at our 1st practice that NO ONE has ever pitched. We only had 1 girl in her 2nd year of 10u. It's been a struggle to say the least, especially since I'm not a pitching coach. My DD started early on asking to pitch. I tried my best to move her focus to other aspects of softball. I told her that if she still wanted to at the end of the season, I would get her a pitching coach.
She had her 1st practice this past Saturday. She is doing the air drills on her own and is showing a lot of progression over the past week. She's noticing this as well. Compared to other pitchers I've seen in 10u, 12u, and 14u, she has very good speed. She's always had a stronger than average overhand throw. Now she's really focusing on throwing hard in our pitching practices. She's starting to throw some strikes, even though I keep stressing that she shouldn't worry about where it goes yet.
Here is the surprise, when she makes a bad pitch, she's telling me what she did wrong, ie, short stride, arm coming to the side, improper foot work, and ect. I've been real impressed at how she's picking up the instructions of her pitching coach.
Hopefully, she continues through the year with the same desire. Only time will tell. I'm also currently recruiting someone else to take over the team next year. We're starting to get to that age where she needs someone besides Dad giving her instructions. I've been expecting this to come and seeing how she's responding to another coach only confirms my predictions.
Just thought I would share.
