All Star Practice

[sluggers]

I am speechless as well...Boy, what to say & how to say it? An 8YO throwing 50? Where can I get that gun?

It isn't that big of a deal. It is relatively easy to teach a girl to throw 50 MPH. It is tough to teach someone to throw 65.

If you work hard enough with any kid, she can learn all kinds of crazy stuff. She appears advanced to other kids their age, but that doesn't mean the child is special. It only means she was trained. People come around all the time with their "math genius" child who learned the multiplication tables at 5. Memorizing multiplication tables is easy. Calculus is hard.

So, right now she is a great 8U pitcher--for whatever that is worth. She might be the best in the US. She won't be the best for long...she will simply be one of many.

If she were 12 or 13 YOA and made a *CHOICE* of how she wanted to spend her time, great. But, we all know that didn't happen.

Softball is fun, and I love the game. But, that is all it is--a silly little game. To decide for a child that softball is the be all and end all of the universe is irresponsible.

I have a ton of videos of my kids winning games, getting awards and holding trophies. If I showed those videos to you, you would start yawning in about 30 seconds.

My favorite video? My DD (8YOA at the time) is holding a mobile she made during craft time at a summer camp. The mobile has got huge pinecones and sticks hanging from the arms. It is about the size of a small car. She can barely hold the thing in her arms, and she is proudly telling me how she made it.

 

[chinamigarden]

It's true and this thread made me realize it. I'm seeing now that they don't kid around here. Just the fact that they have tournaments for 6u divisions goes to show how early they get started. Most parents around here skip the 6u all together. You'll see many 8u teams with 5 year olds on it.

Sorry for hijacking the forum with what some would consider bs. I was not coming in here to discuss how SoCal players are but was looking for some cool ideas regarding all star practices.

I would also like to say that this forum handled itself poorly in this thread. Many of you need to get off your high horse. I came in here with a simple question and letting you know up front that I was fairly new to this. I've been around fastpitch softball for about 6 years now and in SoCal softball, according to you guys that can equate to 15 years. I'm not entirely new but am new to coaching an all star team. Instead of suggestions i got ridiculed and slapped in the face.

With the exception of a select few, the rest of you who i've seen on here regularly were beyond childish.

For those of you that put in some nice comments, thank you!!

I have absolutely no problem discussing SoCal fastpitch and it's ways so i'll still be in here logging in to check how this thread is going.

I didn't mean to ridicule you, I truly thought someone was cobbling together all the stereotypes of a crazy softball coach and making a joke posting. I had no idea this is the norm in Southern California.

 

[quincy]

We have a trip planed later this year to the left coast. My wife and DD have never been west of the Mississippi river, neither has the other family we are going with.

Because of the comments in this thread we have put attending a few softball games, younger teams, on our agenda.

 

[SD DAD]

Let me know when you decide to make it to the west coast and i'll see if there are any good tourneys for you to stop at for a bit.

As far as softball being the one and only thing. I'm sure there are parents in the west coast that are that way. I fortunately am not one of them and that's why my daughter is third pitcher and not first but i'm completely fine with that. My DD is the type to sit with me and watch National Geographic. In fact, we planned a trip to Yellowstone later this year just based off one of their specials. My DD is also a phenomenal guitar player. can't sing to save her life but damn she can play good!!! She's also starting to learn Russian, why....I don't know but I didn't want to tell her not to. The main reason she plays softball year round is because she's tried other sports and simply does not like them. I think a large part of it is the fact that she has sooooo many friends in FP. We'll have double headers on Saturdays, get home and first thing she wants to do is work on her throwing. Although i'm sure this is not the norm, there are other parents that force their kids. You can read all about them in the thread about traits that bad softball parents have

Sluggers also brings up a very very good point. And it's a point that i've personally seen over and over again and i'm assuming it's because they are girls, don't see it too much with boys. Girls develop differently and for that reason, you just don't know what any player will turn into.

My favorite DD video....her trying her absolute hardest to try to play Led Zepps Bron-Y-Aur Stomp with her guitar. Wasn't even close but she tried her hardest and had the biggest smile on her face!!! I think someone was cutting onions next to me at that moment......

 

[DOG310]

Thought I was on wrong forum. Sounds like Rae Rae has competition! Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[SoftSocDad]

Thought I was on wrong forum. Sounds like Rae Rae has competition!

While there are 9yo's who can throw it 45mph, and 10yo's who can throw 50, I don't know how common it is.

But an 8yo throwing 51mph? And cruising at 45-46mph? That's killer speed from 30 feet away. That's the kind of speed you'd see covered on ESPN, or at least in SI or on YouTube, because even if she only gains a modest 2.5 mph each year, she'll be throwing at least 70 by the time she leaves high school, assuming she stayed with softball.

 

[SD DAD]

It's not common at all. My daughter played with this pitcher i'm referring to. They played in All Stars and numerous tournaments right after winter ball. They did not come across a pitcher that was as fast as her. She literally was untouchable. There was just one team we came across that had a pitcher just as fast, faster in my eyes but with no control. It was a travel ball team that had hitters like i had never seen before! I think they had roughly 5-7 players hitting off our pitcher over and over again. hell, their first baseman was as tall as me!! and i'm 5'9".

It really isn't common. She has since fell a little into reality, coming across a few pitchers in the 10's that can match her speed.

But what is common is to see 8u pitchers hitting 41-44 and cruising around that speed. Each team in our rec league had a pitcher that was hitting in the low to mid 40's so I believe that to be more common.

 

[D.G. OutLaws 16u]

Phew...so i just spent a few minutes reading ALL the posts,as this thread just wouldn't/shouldn't go away. And perhaps I should think twice before I type but....ooops , to late. Here's Robert (aka SD Dad)...long time lurker seeking advice to assist in running a practice on what I think is the best forums on the net. Kudos to you Robert! As a 1st time AllStar coach I see you stirred up the rest of the nation on what softball life is like growing up in So Cali......thank you for that. Simply put young kids in their cultured part of the world become products of their environment. We now get to hear what its like for a 7yo girl growing up a softball fan in sunny Cali. Soccer worldwide i guess is the most popular sport....i wonder how many hours 5,6,7...year old kids play each day. See where I'm going here? Im 44, back in the day at that age I spent my summers playing ball from the moment I woke up till mom rang the dinner bell...EVERY day! I don't think i'm alone here either, you know who you are. If these kids have the passion to play and a supporting cast to nurture them in an extremely healthy environment, Is that wrong? Really? IMO it sounds like a wonderful environment I wish my DD could have grown up in. Here in Chicagoland my family and some friends thought we were freaks with the amount of time we spent with softball. softbal...softball. Truth is I couldn't drag her away.(DD also 1st chair trumpet, cheer leader(till 8th grade), 6th man on varsity basketball, varsity volleyball, honor student and highschool embassidor) I know if a team with that kind of practice schedule and deicated players was around here when she was that age (DD;s a HS senior now) she'd want on it in a heartbeat....and i'd let her. Some may think the kids deprived of a childhood. I'll bet the house if you asked a 20yo who WAS that kid...they'd say I'd do all over again....same way!! I think its awsome a gradeschool kid knows what dedication, focus, teamwork and commitment means...how cool is that! A product of their environment. Cheers to you Robert!! I'm sure you received tons to chew on with your 4hr practice sessions Good Luck Coach!!