Coaching a 12U travel fast pitch team. 2 solid starters with great fundamentals/mechanics and change ups and one is working on another pitch or two. Both got grit and have performed well. Easy and obvious 1 and 2.
Then I have a 3rd who needs a lot of work over the winter but I definitely see the potential and hope she’ll fix a couple of her mechanics over the winter and be solid in spring/summer.
Then I have FOUR other “pitchers”. These are girls that all pitched off and on at rec ball. They want to pitch, but all their mechanics are SO bad they need to start over from scratch. All four of them are really awesome kids and say they want to pitch. They are not throwing strikes, are wildly inconsistent, lobbing the ball barely over the plate, but their parents keep at it that they want them to pitch.
I don’t want to hurt these girls feelings or even discourage them because who am I to tell them they can’t work and get better. As a coach and life long softball player/fan, I know that most likely these four girls do not have what it takes to put the amount of work in that they need to fix what is wrong and then the drive to work to push harder and more. I’m not saying they can’t do it, just that it is very unlikely as anyone who knows fast pitch pitching knows how much dedication, drive and work it takes to be successful. I would never tell them this but I have talked about the work and dedication it truly takes to become a pitcher at travel level.
The parents of these four girls keep reminding me that their daughters are also pitchers. I don’t know what to tell them at this point because I know they just don’t see it. I’ve thrown 3 of them randomly at scrimmage games/round robins and they all bombed and walked girls and hit girls, it was a major detriment to the team and hurt our vibe and score but it was a scrimmage game so I wanted them to have the opportunity to step up and show what they got. Their parents still seem oblivious to it and are asking to warm their daughters up too.
It is not possible to warm up 7 pitchers before a game. The parents don’t have gloves or offer to help with that either. Do I tell them to get a real pitching coach and start from scratch and once they at least have correct mechanics they can try again? I just don’t think it’s fair to the team to let them go out there in an actual tournament and bomb and put the team into such tough game deficits and situations.
I know as a coach I should be able to easily verbalize this to them, but I do care about the girls and while I have tried to help them, it’s just not there. I just can’t have a 7 pitcher rotation but the parents are just not getting it. They know that this is travel team and the rules were very clear that playing time and positions are earned, yet here I am getting emails asking for their kids to pitch in games or at least have them warm up before the game.
After another email, I need to address this because it’s weighing on me and it just keeps coming. Then they see one of the other bottom pitchers pitch and they want their kid too.
FYI, I have given basic drills and helps to have them get their basic mechanics changed and fixed and not one girl seems to have changed, gotten better or worked them. Main problem with all four, they bend over, all weight forward, no push/drive and all arm. I’ve spent time with them all, showed the player and parents the drills, but I’d easily bet they are not doing them or working them.
Then I have a 3rd who needs a lot of work over the winter but I definitely see the potential and hope she’ll fix a couple of her mechanics over the winter and be solid in spring/summer.
Then I have FOUR other “pitchers”. These are girls that all pitched off and on at rec ball. They want to pitch, but all their mechanics are SO bad they need to start over from scratch. All four of them are really awesome kids and say they want to pitch. They are not throwing strikes, are wildly inconsistent, lobbing the ball barely over the plate, but their parents keep at it that they want them to pitch.
I don’t want to hurt these girls feelings or even discourage them because who am I to tell them they can’t work and get better. As a coach and life long softball player/fan, I know that most likely these four girls do not have what it takes to put the amount of work in that they need to fix what is wrong and then the drive to work to push harder and more. I’m not saying they can’t do it, just that it is very unlikely as anyone who knows fast pitch pitching knows how much dedication, drive and work it takes to be successful. I would never tell them this but I have talked about the work and dedication it truly takes to become a pitcher at travel level.
The parents of these four girls keep reminding me that their daughters are also pitchers. I don’t know what to tell them at this point because I know they just don’t see it. I’ve thrown 3 of them randomly at scrimmage games/round robins and they all bombed and walked girls and hit girls, it was a major detriment to the team and hurt our vibe and score but it was a scrimmage game so I wanted them to have the opportunity to step up and show what they got. Their parents still seem oblivious to it and are asking to warm their daughters up too.
It is not possible to warm up 7 pitchers before a game. The parents don’t have gloves or offer to help with that either. Do I tell them to get a real pitching coach and start from scratch and once they at least have correct mechanics they can try again? I just don’t think it’s fair to the team to let them go out there in an actual tournament and bomb and put the team into such tough game deficits and situations.
I know as a coach I should be able to easily verbalize this to them, but I do care about the girls and while I have tried to help them, it’s just not there. I just can’t have a 7 pitcher rotation but the parents are just not getting it. They know that this is travel team and the rules were very clear that playing time and positions are earned, yet here I am getting emails asking for their kids to pitch in games or at least have them warm up before the game.
After another email, I need to address this because it’s weighing on me and it just keeps coming. Then they see one of the other bottom pitchers pitch and they want their kid too.
FYI, I have given basic drills and helps to have them get their basic mechanics changed and fixed and not one girl seems to have changed, gotten better or worked them. Main problem with all four, they bend over, all weight forward, no push/drive and all arm. I’ve spent time with them all, showed the player and parents the drills, but I’d easily bet they are not doing them or working them.