The Sandcastle, Block Wall and Concrete Pillar...

[slugger3]

A cheesy thread, but bear with me...

Being the dad to 3 girls who love playing fastpitch is rewarding and challenging at the same time, as we all know.
Many of you are like me, where you are teaching them the skills of the game.
There are many types of attitudes, physical capabilities and limitations to teaching our DDs.
Here's some of what I've seen so far from my DDs.

My 2nd DD is a sandcastle. We can build her skills up to near perfection in short order. Defense, throwing and swing.
And give her 1 week of not playing or practicing...and it seems a lot of those beautifully defined skills have eroded...."what happened," I say to myself.
Bring back some of the wet sand and start building...as she gets older she's turning into more of a block wall...

My 3rd DD is a Block wall. If any of you have built brick or block walls, you know how this works.
You build a foundation, and the block wall stands firm. If you want to add or modify another skill (or the block wall), simply remove some blocks and add to the wall with mortar and more blocks.
Simple as that, her skills never seem to erode or go away....Man, is that nice!

My oldest DD is a concrete pillar. Not stubborn or arrogant... it just takes a lot of work, and time, to modify a skill and get it to stick.
And if she loses a skill over the winter, or for whatever reason, it takes time and effort to build it back.
But once the skill is built back up over time, it is rock solid.

What type is your DD?
Add to the list if you'd like...

 

[1696]

DD1 is a Border Collie. Very trainable but happy to be distracted (Squirrel!). Eager to please. Boundless energy. Up for anything. A muddy field just made practice more interesting! Will chase balls for hours. A lightning rod at the plate.

DD2 is a Doberman. Intelligent. Sleek. Military precision. Textbook form from do-or-die to swing plane. Works through her progressions. Approaches each at bat like a clinician. We plan our work, and we work to the plan.

 

[ian]

Oldest DD (15) is a different breed. She can do just about anything. 3.8 GPA not factoring in AP classes. Smart, athletic, pretty. Sings solo in church. Cant tell if she just struck out or ripped a double to the gap by looking at her. When people try to take a jab at her she will dodge it and turn her back. She will learn fast if she believes in what she is being taught. If confronted with a try out full of older girls she elevates her game.

Last week i walked in her room to ask her if she wanted to work and I found her painting a forest of birch trees and listening to clasical music. What kind of 15 yearold does that? I just closed the door and walked away. I dont know if she is a brick wall or border collie, she is different.


Youngest DD is 7. What a personality. Blond hair and dimples. Crazy work ethic. Loves school. Allways wants to help. Loves being taught stuff. Atleast once a day she asks to play catch or hit, usually right when I walk in the door from work. Never heard her say she is tired. She is gonna wear me out. Long legs and does circles around me...ill say she is a wimeriner.

 

[The Maj]

DD#1, I would refer to as a "natural" - worked hard but never really had to, picked things up quickly, slender build - tall and fast, developed game sense very early, became a leader... had/has the "next play / shrug it off" mentality... she always had a love of the game and always will but I do not think it will affect her one way or the other when her playing days are behind her... Of course, she already has that planned out because she is going to be a "coach" when that happens...

DD#2, I would refer to as the "worker" - she had to overcome a foot issue (right foot turned in and caused her to fall when she attempted to take off running sometimes) and her natural body build was on the thick side when she started playing, very little came "natural" for her... She grew up at the ball field watching DD#1 play and actually watched the games as a kid... She has worked her butt off and continues to work her butt off - rust develops if there is a break in the work but the skills don't fade away totally... She has an absolute love of the game and gets highly upset when there is a cancellation or rain out - if her team is not playing on a weekend she wants to pickup with someone else...

DS is what I would call a "natural worker" - he was born running... his "switch" is either ON or OFF - there is no in between... He has a very athletic build and it looks like he will be tall as well... a few reps and he has the concept firmly grasped but he wants to work constantly - to the point that I have to slow him down as his body continues to grow and develop... his hand/eye coordination has always been outstanding... you can combine both DDs competitive nature and his will exceed that - kid hates to lose at anything...

All that said, all three kids are different and over time they have developed in their own way but I honestly believe that DD#1 had a significant influence on DD#2 and DD#2 had similar influence on DS...