At What Point Do You Stop

[canyonjoe]

The question t I haven't seen asked or answered is where your DD is having fun? Does she enjoy playing with these kids or like to play the game? I think so
many parents are all hung up on playing in college, but I know when I signed my 7 year old up to play 6 years ago it was to have some fun. When I was a kid
we all played 3 sports or more. I was 5'6" and played High School Basketball and football. I knew I would never play in college. I could have played college
baseball, but went to a D1 school and went to school. My DD last year decided to stop playing for a top TB program around hear and step back a little. She has
a good amount of talent and drive and could likely play college, but she said she might or might not want to do it. She might get back into acting or singing or
game developing. She still plays at a good level and is the one early to practice to hit and hits on other days, but also enjoys just hanging out in the pool Saturday
evening with the other kids. DW would love for her to go back to top team and she many as she gets older but for now she is looking to play High School and make
the team she is on better. She is having fun and through all of this reminded me that's why she plays.

 

[Shelbylynn]

I just stopped bringing it up and after 2 weeks of no practice, I announced that "I" was done with pitching.

What was the result of that?

 

[RetiredCoach]

My DDs, with an appropriate amount of effort, could probably play college ball somewhere. Playing softball in college has always been a "mild" goal for them. My 16 year old just began considering whether or not she really wants to play at the college level. She now realizes that it is a lot of work and may interfere with her school work, which is the most important thing. I don't think she has formally made up her mind but she seems to have the desire to put in extra work now. I guess we'll see.

 

[FP26]

I agree with most of what PA SB Dad has written in his post. But I would just like to focus on the "resilience" part of it. Pitching has more to do with how you perform on the next pitch and being able to forget about the previous pitch. I have seen some very athletic and talented pitchers give it up because the adversity was too much for them to handle. IMO, much of this comes down to the other factors PA mentioned; ability and development. But the support structure is also incredibly important. As others have mentioned, practicing pitching can be extremely boring. But without a bucket dad/mom or someone else to work with on a regular basis, success will be extremely difficult. Good luck with whatever you and your DD decide.

 

[Shelbylynn]

I appreciate all of the honest responses and input. While her PC certainly wasn’t terrible, he’s wasn’t ideal. We just began with a new PC who is much more serious, but that transition isn’t overnight. We had “the talk” last night, and she assures me she still wants to play TB. Is she college material? Not at this point, and I am absolutely fine with whatever level she wants to play. Going forward, I’m going to make more of an effort to catch for her (I’m not a catcher!), and if she expects to work with her PC, she has to throw x number of pitches/week. I am hopeful that a different travel team, with higher expectations and better, committed players, will force her to play better and compete for a position.

Thanks all!