Why are you here?

[Vertigo]

I initially came here to learn. I joined in 2013 when dd was just a 10U Little Leaguer. Now she’s 18 and heading off to college in the fall. She was just starting out with pitching so I wanted to seek out ways to help her, look for advice on PC in my area, etc.

Through the years I’ve stayed because many were on the same journey with DD’s similar in age. I enjoyed following their journey and hearing updates on their kids. I also started to share our experiences as I thought I could help others just starting out. Honestly, it has also become a way to pass time in the off-season and on my lunch break.

The unfortunate downside to social media is that some seem to forget there is an actual real person they are responding to. People tend to get very brazen behind a keyboard and no matter how many times they say they would talk to people the same way in person, I call BS. I also think that a lot happened in the past year which caused a lot of people to become very opinionated: Covid, presidential elections, quarantine, etc. I must admit that every message board I’ve been a member of there are always those that love to shake the snow globe. I think it will be a part of any internet community you frequent. The best way to stop the insanity is to not engage those posters. Put them on ignore or just sit on your fingers and move on. It really is that simple.

That being said this is a great community with people who do have a lot to share. I thank those individuals for sticking around.

 

[ANNASDAD]

You are doing a sh%# job..

That just made me laugh loud enough that my wife and both kids said “what?”

 

[tim_s]

i came here when i felt i owed it to the girls i was working with to get as good as i possibly could, because they deserved that from me


this place has been an invaluable resource......hopefully i haven't peed in the pool too much over the years

 

[BrianTx01]

I have helped some, and learned some, and had some snarky comments too. I will try to be more helpful.

 

[289nate]

New here. My DD (Daddy’s Daughter???) is just getting serious. Spent years on hotrod and drag racing forums before this. Drama is everywhere. Don’t let it drag you down. The people with any common sense will recognize trash from treasure.

 

[bmakj]

New here. My DD (Daddy’s Daughter???) is just getting serious. Spent years on hotrod and drag racing forums before this. Drama is everywhere. Don’t let it drag you down. The people with any common sense will recognize trash from treasure.

Darling DAughter (because they are all darlings )
and also DH (Husband) S (SOn) and W are all darlings too!

 

[FP26]

I initially found this site as I was looking for resources to help DD with pitching. DD was still in rec ball but considering travel ball at the time. She had been working with a pitching coach for a local D1 school, but we had just learned that this coach accepted a position as a head coach for another school and had to move. While I didn't know much about pitching myself, I could tell that the way this coach taught was dramatically different than the other pitching coaches in my area, and I wanted her to continue on that path. With the help of this site and the information provided in some of Boardmember's threads, I was able to find another pitching coach to help DD.

After that I switched my focus to hitting. I thought I had a decent knowledge of hitting prior to joining, but I was intrigued because of all of the different terminology that was being used in this forum. At that time there were numerous very knowledgeable posters. Yes, there was quite a bit of tension, and sometimes the discussions broke down into arguments. But there was always good content included. Sometimes you had to sift through the BS to find it, but it was there.

I lost interest in the hitting forums about a year ago. It just became too much BS and not enough content for my taste. Perhaps some people enjoy that, but I don't. Now my focus is on the more general discussions. Although I am at a different point now (DD is a junior in college instead of a rec ball player), I am still very interested in the sport. We are currently in Oklahoma City attending games and it is awesome! I would suggest it to any softball fan.

Over the years I have learned a lot from this forum and appreciate that greatly. It's a great community.

 

[Tatonka]

S3 - good question and good post. As with everything, DFP has changed (some might say evolved), in some ways it may be better and in some ways it's probably not. I originally stumbled onto this site as my twins were early along on this softball journey. I needed to know more than what I was finding locally from Rec coaches and was searching for advice, tips, drills, feedback and explanations. As they've progressed through Travelball, HS and now into college the search has continued. We've been blessed with so many wise, experienced coaches and others who have shared their wisdom and ideas on this Board. The time and energy that they've put into DFP to help others has been amazing really.

It has been unfortunate that some have been chased away from this site, the loss has been noticeable. Others have just left for their own reasons, either due to aging out, graduation, DD leaving the sport, injury or worse. Given that one of my DD's pitches I really miss quite a few of the old guard that posted here and fostered some really great debates. Personally, we were very fortunate to meet and work with a few exceptional coaches. The other DD has excelled behind the dish and props definitely need to be given to a few others on here. We never got quite as much regarding playing OF or 3rd and I usually avoided the hitting forum although some tidbits were gleaned. Buying bats through Core is way better than any other store or site on the planet. Talking gloves with AD...priceless (and costly, lol). Off Topic is a good diversion!

Honestly, I'm not sure how much value I've given back to others on this site? I feel like overall I've received more than I've given. Sometimes, I've come here just for a laugh but more often it was to escape the "real" world news and take a myopic dive into the sport that was consuming all of my families time (and money) or so it seemed. Certainly, I've gotten snarky with some on here and I'm sure I've been taken the wrong way and vice versa. My apologies for those I've offended through crude words or phrases that didn't quite come off the same way in text as they might have in person. That probably won't change btw... ;-)

My time as a parent visiting this site is changing rapidly and it's too soon to tell whether my DGD will take up the sport or not. Thank you all for sharing the journey...it's been a trip for sure.

 

[clarity]

More seem to want to come here to make a statement, call others out, point fingers, or whatever. Likely the outcome of the escalation of social media.

Hmmm.

 

[Cannonball]

Concise answer = To amaze others with my stupidity!