dd want to move to pitch only

[spleen1015]

It's her journey.

 

[Sparky Guy]

When my DD was playing she was an average fielder. Her home to 1st times could be timed with a sun dial. She was a .150 hitter on a good day. But she excelled at pitching and fielding the pitcher position. So she concentrated on pitching. Once in a great while she got a chance to hit. In college, if the coach wanted to send a message to someone who was struggling at the plate she would have my DD hit for them. It only happened a few times.

There is a scene in the TV series Rome where one of the soldiers is teaching a teen-aged Julius Caeser how to sword fight. Young Julius asked how he was doing and the soldier told him he was a middling swordsmen. Young Julius responded "The graveyard is full of middling swordsmen. I believe I'm wasting my time trying to learn how to fight with a sword."

 

[mmeece]

My brother and I were serious baseball players and pitchers, but my dad realized at about 16yo that we had to make the journey our own. I probably would have quit if someone had tried to make me a pitcher-only (even though it was clearly my best position). My brother likely would have quit if they had continued to make him work much on playing the field and hitting. If she has aspirations to play in college then it needs to be at the position where she is most motivated to be great.

 

[Lozza]

You’ll find a lot of the top pitchers in college are great hitters. They could all play in the field if they trained there and be good.

But they don’t. Because pitching at the elite level is a full time job. For a college coach to bat their pitchers they must be exceptional. (For example Gabbie Plain is a great batter. She bats in junior national champs in Aus and excels. She’ll likely never bat college)

But ultimately this is your daughters sport. Her choice. Support it

 

[bmd]

My biggest concern is putting all eggs in one basket. She is a good fielder and has worked hard. At one point she didn't get to pitch much because she was more valuable on the field. Now the tables have turned I guess. I just need to accept and hope that she is making the right choice. Its hard to let it go.

 

[chinamigarden]

Does she rake? If she isn't a top flight hitter, focus on pitching is smart. Wither way If she can hit a college will find a way to get her some at bats.

 

[FP26]

My biggest concern is putting all eggs in one basket. She is a good fielder and has worked hard. At one point she didn't get to pitch much because she was more valuable on the field. Now the tables have turned I guess. I just need to accept and hope that she is making the right choice. Its hard to let it go.

I was also concerned about the "eggs in one basket" but for a different reason. When DD started the recruiting process, she selected a dozen or so schools. When she determined what she wanted to study, the list was rapidly reduced to 4 schools. 3 of them expressed a lot of interest, each offering her a roster position if she committed with them. One was relentless, reaching out to her at least once a week for a while. The 4th school also seemed interested, but told her that they already had 3 returning pitchers and several other incoming freshmen. She would need to compete at tryouts to make the team. Of course, the 4th school was the school of her choice. She showed up at tryouts and earned a spot on the roster. In the end, DW and I learned that we were more nervous about the situation than DD was. DD is confident in her abilities and knew that she would make the team. Ultimately it was DD's decision to make. She was happy with her decision then, and is still happy with it. Sometimes our DD's know more than we give them credit for...

 

[riseball]

My biggest concern is putting all eggs in one basket. She is a good fielder and has worked hard. At one point she didn't get to pitch much because she was more valuable on the field. Now the tables have turned I guess. I just need to accept and hope that she is making the right choice. Its hard to let it go.

A players fielding ability will not get them into college. What matters is what they can do at the plate. Obviously if you are going to pitch in college you need the skills in the circle. Beyond that the question is not only can you hit, but can you hit well enough to crack the order? Beyond that if you are a "franchise pitcher" you not only need to be good enough to crack the order, you need to be a top hitter to justify the risk of sending you into the box. My DD was a pretty good hitter before college and may have cracked the order, but because of her value in the circle she was not allowed to take BP or throw BP. Keeping her healthy was paramount to the teams success. The only time she swung a bat was to hit ground balls to infielders. If she got hurt it would effectively end any hope of post season for Chipola and then SC. Contrast her with former teammate at SC, Cayla Drotar. She is arguably their best pitcher this season. But she also hits, very well. Last week she was the SEC player of the week hitting .600+ with 12 RBIs including a school record 8 in one game. Her pitching performance was footnote.

 

[bmd]

Not so much anymore. She used to really hit the ball.

Does she rake? If she isn't a top flight hitter, focus on pitching is smart. Wither way If she can hit a college will find a way to get her some at bats.

 

[sleepwalker]

The problem that I see with kids that pitch only is that often times they develop the yips when making overhand throws to the bases. Kids who play SS and 3rd on occasion are required to throw the ball with some zest to throw a quick slapper out at 1st. This hard throwing overhand transfers over to pitchers being able to able to throw a ball overhand to the bases with a lot more confidence and a little more zest. The position players also understand that their body positioning is critical to firing a ball to the different bases, whereas girls who focus mainly on pitching will throw the ball in a more upright position with their shoulders facing the base that they are throwing to. There are several elite college pitchers at all levels that will toss the ball underhand to first base 60% to 80% of the time, just to avoid the overhand throw because of the yips that develops from focusing on pitching only. I watched this occur to the great Hannah Rogers at Florida, the year that Florida won the national championship with her pitching. Watch enough college softball this year and you will see happen several times.

My opinion would be to encourage her to play SS or 3rd base on occasion just to keep the hard throwing and correct body positioning to the different bases. If she is lucky enough to pitch in college, she won't regret being a good fielding pitcher who can zip a ball to the bases and help her own cause. I believe in transference. I believe that the SS and 3rd base throwing will transfer to a pitcher being able to throw with confidence to the bases.