Need advice about dd's new travel team

Had 1st practice last night and my dd said they started trying to change everything about her swing when they were hitting. I pay for hitting lessons that she has been getting weekly. How should I approach this?


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Coach this year changed everything with DD swing, they told her she could not hit with her swing.

I think she hit the fence just to annoy them.

DD and me work on it but she wants me not to say anything, she will figure it out.

IMO age is a big factor.

Can you just let the coach know you're in private hitting lessons and you'd prefer he not mess with her swing?

Of course, sometimes it doesn't end up being all bad. There's a girl on DD's team who's been in hitting lessons for a year and still just not hitting. Our HC told her mom he'd leave her alone since she was in lessons and mom said no, please don't leave her alone if you can help. He worked with her for about 3 minutes and suddenly she's hitting ball after ball into the outfield. Sometimes hearing something a different way can be helpful (and sometimes, someone teaching lessons may not be all that great). But I also know how I'd feel if a coach started telling my DD how to pitch. NO, just NO. So yeah, if you don't think they're adding value just politely tell them to knock it off. Personally I think a coach with any degree of experience should already know not to mess with kids who are in lessons without checking with the parents first. I don't mean for general things but for specifically teaching hitting (or pitching) mechanics.

While age is a factor its really all about performance is she hitting the ball well off of a tee, side toss, front toss, machine, live BP and live pitching the coach should be able to figure this out very quickly.

Usually our second practice we ran hitting stations then machine after an hour I knew what I had (which just validated what I had already seen at tryouts), if the girl is crushing the ball I'm not going to say much. If your DD struggles at every station and has flaws in her swing I can see from the other side of the field I am going to say something, if you tell me she is getting hitting lessons we will have a serious talk about what you are getting for your money.

You don't get the cop out of she is taking private lessons if I throw front toss and BP for five minutes and all she has done is hit weak grounders to the infield.

Same with pitchers if you can't throw three strikes before you throw four balls I don't care how much your pitching lessons cost, I'm gong to throw my two cents in.

This should have been taken care of before she even joined the team. The coach should have asked if your daughter sees a hitting/pitching/catching/fielding coach, and then asked for the numbers of whichever was applicable. Then the conversation should happen at the coaches level, where the team coach may notice something and contact the appropriate coach to discuss her/his concerns.

This should be addressed now. If your DD is 12u or younger, you should contact the coach and let him know that you have a hitting coach for her and you would appreciate the s/he respect that and if there were concerns, then s/he should contact the hitting coach and provide her/him with the coach's contact info. If your DD is 14u or older, she should be the one to tell the coach this. If the coach insists that it's her/his way or the highway, then you have a decision to make.

Legendsmom said:

Had 1st practice last night and my dd said they started trying to change everything about her swing when they were hitting. I pay for hitting lessons that she has been getting weekly. How should I approach this?


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If she is seeing an outside instructor this needs to be addressed in the first 5 minutes of tryouts. Need to have that conversation ASAP.

Honestly this is the 1st time that I have had to do the tryout thing because she had played for a local team before and it was a given she was on the team. I'm starting to find out that there are things I should have asked before I put her on the team that I didn't. This is an upper level 16u team and it is obvious they know what they are doing because most of the girls on the team were crushing the ball in tryouts. I just think that there is no way to see how she is hitting the ball at the 1st practice. Pitching is her strength but I think she has made significant improvement with her hitting. I think I'm going to have her talk to the coach about it at the next practice since she is 16u. Makes me concerned that pitching will be next and I definitely want that left alone.


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Legendsmom said:

Honestly this is the 1st time that I have had to do the tryout thing because she had played for a local team before and it was a given she was on the team. I'm starting to find out that there are things I should have asked before I put her on the team that I didn't. This is an upper level 16u team and it is obvious they know what they are doing because most of the girls on the team were crushing the ball in tryouts. I just think that there is no way to see how she is hitting the ball at the 1st practice. Pitching is her strength but I think she has made significant improvement with her hitting. I think I'm going to have her talk to the coach about it at the next practice since she is 16u. Makes me concerned that pitching will be next and I definitely want that left alone.


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Translation: My DD does not hit as well as the other girls...that is OK especially if she is going to be #1 pitcher but if she is going to be a #2 or #3 pitcher and you want to get her on the field when she is not pitching she is going to have to start crushing the ball just like the other girls...and if this is really an upper level 16U team most of the girls should be driving the ball hard to the outfield especially during BP. Again it all comes back to performance if she was crushing it odds are coach would not have said anything to her. The same is going to go for pitching if she can consistently hit her spot with good movement and speed the coach will probably leave her alone.

P.S. You CAN tell how someone is hitting the ball first practice...the only time you get fooled is the girl who crushes it at practice but chokes against live game situation pitching it is never the other way around.

As long as they are not trying to rebuild her swing totally, what has she got to lose by trying out something new? If it doesn't work, don't do it anymore. The team coaches probably have some beneficial input if they have been coaching an upper level team like that for while. Even if she's crushing the ball, it never hurts to listen (within reason) and experiment. Knowledge is always a good thing, even if it's knowledge of what not to do. I would suggest that you make sure your DD really understands why she does certain things beyond just that a coach told her too. Once she really understands the principles of why she does certain things in a swing, and why they work for her, she can ask intelligent questions of a coach who wants to try something different and determine for herself if they are beneficial, neutral, negative or just plain dumb; and also determine if a coach (team, private or other) are making intelligent recommendations. I find the phrase "methods are many, principles are few" usually relevant when it comes to getting advise from multiple sources.

I guess what I meant was I don't think they gave her a chance. I have been watching her hitting lessons and she has been hitting very well. I think they immediately saw she had a different style and wanted to change it. I don't mind her learning a different style but I also don't want to pay good money for lessons if it's not benefitting her either. She has only been with this hitting coach for a few months and hasn't had a lot of games to see her hit in since she has been with him. I would have liked to have seen a few live hitting situations before changing completely her swing.


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