Skip practice for private pitching lesson.

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May 16, 2016
1,024
113
Illinois
Had a player skip a practice for a private pitching lesson this past Tuesday. Certainly not the end of world but I don't like players to do this in this scenario. This is a 10u travel team. I have a hard time penalizing a player for a decision that was most likely made by her parents, the penalty would have been not pitching in our first game of the season. This is what I personally consider to be our #1 pitcher.

We have been practicing indoors every Tuesday at the same time since January, and we have been practicing outdoors on Tuesdays when the weather allows. If she had skipped a practice that had not been planned months in advance I would certainly understand.

Our first game is tomorrow and we are still going over a lot of scenarios that these girls are not too familiar with. There are certainly good reasons to miss a practice but this is not one of them IMO.

How do coaches handle this situation? The parents were told she can go to all the private pitching lesson that she wants to on Tuesday's but don't expect to pitch in the game the next time this happens.
 
Jun 29, 2013
589
18
Not a coach, but a pitcher's dad. I find it extremely disrespectful. We could easily make this decision every week (our pitching coach holds lessons 3 days a week, and practice is on two of those nights. The third night is one where I would absolutely love to give DD a day off from no activities) but we don't. I've actually taken my 10 year old for her pitching lesson at 8:30 at night, after practice gets out at 7 to make sure she is part of the team's practice. I'd lay down the law on this one right now or it's going to happen again.
 
May 5, 2014
93
0
Pacific Northwest
I have 3 DD’s, two play TB and one swims 5 days a week year-round (hung up her softball cleats this year, very sad day) . I coach my youngest 10U travel ball team as well, so I know where you are coming from. Hopefully they informed you ahead of time they were going to miss practice for a lesson. If not that is a different problem. I would recommend asking them if it is possible to arrange for a different time in the future and find out what is going on. Maybe this is just temporary until they can get a spot on a night you don’t have practices. Unfortunately, many of the good instructors are hard to get into. My DD’s pitching instructor (she does hitting as well so it is a 2-hour lesson on Tuesday’s) only does three nights a week and it is extremely hard to get on her regular schedule when you do you keep that spot. We inform the coach at the start of the season of the situation and that it takes priority. My DD #2 team just changed one of the regular week day practice to Tuesday’s for the spring because it worked better for the coaching staff, unfortunately we are going to miss many of these practices. We will skip a few lessons here and their. Does it bother them yes, however we informed them ahead of time of our lessons. My DD doesn’t like missing the team practices either these are her friends and she really likes the coaches but there are times when it just is what it is and you deal with it.
Most of the kids on my team are multi-sport kids (which I encourage) and they do miss a practice from time to time in the off season which are pre-arranged. March – June practices are mandatory.
One of the reason’s I first started coaching was because I only had two nights a week free and the only way to make sure practice was on those nights was to be the coach. My wife told me one night we can only practice these nights so guess what you are going to sign up to be the coach, good luck…. (this was Little League many years ago) I have really come to enjoy coaching softball but the reality is practices must work around my schedule first and I realize this doesn’t always work for everyone else all the time so we work it out.
I will say I would have a tough time penalizing a 10U old for missing a practice to go to a pitching lesson, rather I would work it out with the parents. Good Luck with your game.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Sounds like you talked to the parents about it? Now they know if they do it again she won't pitch. Sounds like it's taken care of to me. Personally I think sickness and the occasional planned vacation are okay reasons to miss practice but not much else. You let your team down when you do that, and it's not about punishment to have those girls sit more IMO. It's about it not being right to have a girl who comes to every practice sit so one who misses practice can play. That's if it's a regular problem. So I think you're correct in how to proceed in the future. With this being the first time, and having laid out expectations with her parents now, I'd not worry about this particular instance.
 

bmd

Jan 9, 2015
301
28
Maybe most will not agree but there is a line between developing a team and developing an individual. maybe pitching coach had to change lesson date and time at the last minute?? Maybe they felt pressured to go to lesson instead in order to fine tune before first game since she is your #1??
 
May 4, 2016
70
18
East Coast
"Our first game is tomorrow" and "consider to be our #1 pitcher." = I'm willing to bet her parents are nervous as all get out about tomorrow. It's 10U travel ball and they've probably figured out that pitching is #1, #2, and #3 on the most important things list at this age. If the only realistic lesson available was on a practice night, most would do the same thing as the parents. As long as they let you know prior to missing practice, it's a win for the team. Not ideal, but not that bad.

Pitchers need different handling whether you like it or not. (Also, a good pitcher / parent is putting in as much time and money into their craft outside of the team as they are with the team.) And please remember, she skipped practice for specialized instruction that will benefit the whole team and is not available at practice.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
If the kid is a pitcher and she is your #1, all things equal her lesson trumps your practice. You should ask the parents to work around your practice schedule and they should do all they can to oblige. But unless you have the ability to develop her as a pitcher, which it sounds like you don't since she has a pitching coach, the lesson is paramount. Regardless of what wisdom you may instill in practice, come game day without pitching it is a moot point. Again, both parties must work together.

Also having team rules that proscribe specific penalties is a very foolish practice. That is the easy way out and teaches no life lesson as it does not reflect a life experience. You need to treat your players fairly and with respect, not equally. There is no one size fits all answer, find what motivates the individual player and coach them.

FWIW - For a 10U team it sounds like you may be taking this a bit too seriously. Remember that TB is about developing the individual, not chasing plastic and t-shirts. :)
 
Last edited:
May 4, 2016
200
28
"Our first game is tomorrow" and "consider to be our #1 pitcher." = I'm willing to bet her parents are nervous as all get out about tomorrow. It's 10U travel ball and they've probably figured out that pitching is #1, #2, and #3 on the most important things list at this age. If the only realistic lesson available was on a practice night, most would do the same thing as the parents. As long as they let you know prior to missing practice, it's a win for the team. Not ideal, but not that bad.

Pitchers need different handling whether you like it or not. (Also, a good pitcher / parent is putting in as much time and money into their craft outside of the team as they are with the team.) And please remember, she skipped practice for specialized instruction that will benefit the whole team and is not available at practice.

On most teams pitchers and catchers don't receive specialized instructions on how to play their positions. While it's regrettable to have to miss a team practice for a lesson and shouldn't happen very often in the long run it benefits the team.
 
Mar 20, 2014
918
28
Northwest
In my experience, getting time with a good private coach is a struggle because you are working around their schedule, not the other way around. DD used to do hitting lessons with Julie Wright (now head coach at Maryland) and because of the demands for her time, DD would sometimes miss or be late to team practice. We always let the coach know and it was never an issue - he realized that it was to his benefit for her to get the instruction that she did. And since it was a semi-private, there was another of her teammates that was there too.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
I concur with Riseball. Tread lightly with your #1 pitcher or next week she will be another team's #1 pitcher. The OP says that they have been practicing every week since January, but you get a little twisted when your #1 pitcher attends a lesson rather than practice. If she misses practices regularly, then a conversation with the parents needs to be had. She didn't skip practice due to another sport, a birthday party, dance recital, etc. IMO this is no big deal. You should be happy that she is trying to get better, to make the team better. My past pitchers sometimes would get an extra lesson in before a tourney to work on something specific on mechanics or to tweak something in their delivery. It's okay.

Side Rant: It is beyond me how the catchers get less attention in team practices than other infield positions. DD is a catcher that requires additional outside workouts beyond normal practices too. She played SS the other night and had NO balls hit to her the entire game. But when she catches, she touches the ball nearly every play....done.
 

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