Expectations for 8 yr old beginner

cvsoftball said:

in my 3 DD's world, once practice/games started, I was not dad, I was coach. doesn't mean that they'll be more agreeable but it does draw a useful line.

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csb43 said:

My 8yr old dd has recently started taking pitching lessons. As this is my first time going through this, I would greatly appreciate some advice on what to expect out of her instructor as far as how she teaches. The instructors close to me are your typical former college players that now give lessons at thel local batting cages. The ones I've talked with seem to be genuinely interested in teaching the girls, and quite a few girls from our rec are taking lessons from them. They seem to teach basically the same, starting them out with the strong finish (HE) stuff. Her instructor at my request does not teach that to my dd, she did not pitch that way so no big deal for her. She does not stress arm whip, but does stress pinky to the catcher at the bottom of the arm circle and not being behind the ball pushing. My question is what should the lesson consist of? They start out with snaps, which I have told dd to incorporate arm whip into to keep from locking her elbow, then back up and do t's, then back up and full pitch. It's just pitch after pitch with mostly verbal and very little hands on instruction. DD looks forward to lessons, really likes her coach and I do too, but if I'm investing the money I want to make sure it's well spent. There's a very reputable coach on my side of town, but if (and that's a big if) I can get weekly lessons with him, it's a 45 minute drive one way and a Tincher instructor over an hour away on the other side of Atlanta from us. Those do not seem like good options to me as I feel that an 8yr old will tire quickly of those weekly drives on top of team practices and games. I've spent hours watching Hillhouse, Rick Pauly, Scarburough, Java, and countless other pitching videos on youtube. I know how she needs to pitch and can help her with some basics, but don't want to be a bucket dad that thinks he's a pitching coach. There's too many of them already. I'm not expecting her to be a #1 pitcher on an 10u A travel team this time next year, or have five pitches, but as long as she's wanting to pitch I want to give her the best resources to learn, improve and succeed. Sorry for the long post and again, any advice will be greatly appreciated!

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