Yes it was a private tryout with the assistant coach. He had brought his DD and was drilling with her so I figured it was me or DW. If it was a team practice or game, DD would have been on her own to find someone.
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Is it possible that having at least one crazy parent actually maximizes the odds for a pitcher to succeed at a very high level? I mean that seriously. When you think about it, what "sane" parent spends thousands of dollars for pitching lessons, videos, camps, and equipment for a freakin' game? Sits on a bucket for hours every week risking at the very least shin damage? Goes to out-of-town softball tournaments and proudly calls them "family vacations"? Reads online message boards and stands in a mirror trying to replicate "internal rotation" to make sure they understand the concept. I could go on.
We then turnaround expect these same parents to behave rationally generally but especially when their DD pitches?? Seriously? I have gotten sooo much better over the past 3 years but I still try to keep my mouth full of sunflower seeds to avoid sudden Turrets-like outbursts.
In all seriousness if I see an outstanding pitcher in the circle, I can almost guarantee a crazy Dad/Mom is pacing around muttering incoherently somewhere in the ballpark. So next time you see when of us, please take pity, we are working on it one week at a time.
I don’t know about maximizing the odds for a pitchers success, but I’m pretty sure that (almost) all high level pitchers have at least one crazy parent, for all of the reasons listed by the OP.
The same goes for a successful athlete in any other sport. My oldest DD was horse crazy and determined to train horses for a living since the age of 10. Her Mom and I became “Crazy Horse Show Parents”; we spent thousands of dollars on horses, lessons, tack (did you know that a decent western show saddle costs nearly $10,000?) horse shows across the western states (cost of approximately $1,000 per “A” Show and $7,000 once per year for nationals) and other odds and ends. When DD was in the show arena Mom and I paced, mumbled, video taped, growled and made idiots of ourselves. In the end my DD is doing exactly what we spent all that time, sanity and money preparing her for; She trains and shows Morgan Horses at the top level shows in the western states. Last year she won the Western Pleasure Junior Exhibiter World Championship on one of her clients’ horses. She lives for horses and loves what she does for a living at 22 years old.
When youngest DD decided she wanted to be a pitcher we thought “Cool, softball should be a breeze compared to horse shows!” WELL… We have learned that the cost of softball equals horses, if not exceeds. I have done every single thing that the OP mentions, but I too am getting better. I keep score on my tablet so I don’t have time to freak out when DD is in the circle.
We do this craziness for our kids. We want, more than anything, to see them succeed and will do almost anything to help them. Some go about it differently than their DD wants them to and the kid ultimately quits softball, but some of us are lucky enough to be just the right balance of “CRAZY” to see this thing to the end.
Love this!!!! Accidentally hit page 51 and read this!!!!
I know that my "pucker" factor goes up exponentially when my DD is pitching vs. when she is just playing in the field.