Extremes

[YoungBuck]

When practicing with your DD have you ever soaked balls, practiced in the cold, rain, mud, etc for the purpose of getting used to the conditions? Or would you see this as counter productive?

In football you hear of balls being soaked to get used to a heavy or slippery ball. I'm sure we've all heard of Earl Woods standing tall in front of a young Tiger while he practiced flop shots.

I know there was a a thread a few weeks back about 'How Cold is Too Cold.' What are your thoughts about intentionally changing the conditions?

 

[James Smith]

We certainly practice in different conditions but nothing as extreme as you might be suggesting. We also practice with a mixture of new and game used balls.

She should be able to ask for a new ball if it gets heavy, muddy or too wet that she can not dry it off herself.

I guess I am thinking of it from a pitching point of view but the same applies to fielding, except we don't use new balls.

 

[PEPPERS]

DD is a pitcher she has pitched using wet balls dipped in a bucket of water, hit in light rain, practiced in the cold just because it was cold and pitched from a wet and slick mound.

I saw a good pitcher fall apart when a light rain started, she was in command until the rain started I don’t know if it was the wet ball or the mud caking on her shoes so when I saw that it said to me a player needs to experience these conditions before it happens in a critical game.

DD and I attended a clinic with Lisa Fernandez where she advised that when she practiced she looked for the worst ball in the bucket and the worst mound she could find, she felt if she could practice in the worst conditions, if would make it easier under the better conditions.

 

[About Them]

I watched my dd complain about losing her grip with a dusty ball during a game. We never practiced with a good ball again...ever. I think she's amazed by how much dust dad can actually put on a ball.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Around here, they are a little too cautious with weather conditions. If someone spits on the field, it could be cancelled. We don't practice in extreme cold conditions, mostly because they are extremely rare in the south.

One time in DD's HS years I had to pull a "fast one". I'm not proud of it, but at the time I had to use the official rules as leverage, so "extreme" is not always physical.

I'm running late to the game tonight, pull up and see we are losing to our county rival, then I look out and see DD on the rubber. I immediately start going into shock. So I head to the crazy dad section to see what the scoop is. They inform me DD just entered the game after the other pitcher gives up 8 runs. ( I call 911 to tell them false alarm )

DD came in the 3rd with bases loaded and shut them down. So now it's top of the forth ( we are home ) and raining like cats and dogs. I call DD to the fence before we take the field and tell her after her warm ups to call time and tell the ump she is slipping in the mud. ( and she has that "why" look on her face ) "Just do it", I say.

So we are down 8-1, visiting batter steps in and ump calls the game for safety reasons.

After the game I ask her , "you understand now right"? "Y'all finally had that game in the season where you can't hit, you can't make a play". ( it happens to everybody ) "But you had the rain on your side and by the ump calling the game it's considered a rainout because an official HS game is not until the 5th inning". ( I could see her lights turning on then )

Bold copied from an old post.

 

[JAD]

I need to work with my DD learning how to pitch with a wet and muddy ball. We were in a tournament last year and had to play in a slow drizzle because the umpires and tournament director were determined to get the game in. It became a walk fest for both teams. We end up bringing in our #3 pitcher because she was the only pitcher we had who could throw strikes in the adverse conditions.....after that she was officially our "mudder"!

 

[sleepwalker]

My dd spent her first three years of pitching in the Pacific Northwest. While other teams were cancelling practices, she was pitching in the rain and drizzle. When she was 11, we moved from the Pacific Northwest.

She is now 18 and has been pitching in the cold and wind for 6 to 7 months out of the year. If she didn't pitch in extreme weather, she wouldn't get to pitch at all for 6 to 9 months out of the year.

I have seen my dd lose several games pitching in the warm and dry weather games, but what I haven't seen is my dd lose a game when she has pitched in the rain or drizzle. Never. While other pitcher's are complaining about their footing, visibility, grip, slippery ball, etc., my dd is able to throw the ball by the batters in the rain. In the Pacific Northwest, if you didn't throw down some Diamond Dry and play in the rain, you didn't play. In other parts of the country, no one has ever heard of Diamond Dry.

My dd and I were watching Tennessee and University of South Carolina on ESPN last Sunday afternoon. The ESPN commentators were commenting on how many walks Ellen Renfroe had given during Saturday and Sunday because of the cold weather. They said that the 50 degree temperatures were just wreaking havoc on her control. We looked at each other and laughed. My dd looked at me and said, "I wish it would get up to 50 degrees around here so I could take off these ear muffs and sweatshirts". She had just returned from pitching on a warm 37 degree day with mild 25 to 30 mph winds.

 

[Coachw01]

I try to have practice with DD in as many different elements/places/situations that I can. One time last summer it was 95 degrees and we had just left the lake and there was a ball field that looked like it had no business being out in the middle if no where so we stopped, threw a little, hit a little, and went for ice cream.

We practice in cold, heat, rain, snow, inside, outside, early, late, dark.... As much as this appears to be a physical situation and done for the purpose of preparing them for anything and everything, don't discount the MENTAL side of this. The conversations that you can have with DD about the many times that have practiced in the cold/heat... and the time, work, and effort that they've put in could go a long way in developing and maintaining a great mental attitude and toughness. Imagine how DD might be able to rally her team physically and mentally when others may be down and out because DD were prepared for almost any and every situation and circumstance.

I know Tiger Woods dad was mentioned in the thread and I can promise you whatever Earl did was just as much for Tiger mentally as it was physically. If any of our DD's can have the kind of mental toughness and edge that Tiger Woods has on a golf course. We'll be blessed with very talented young ladies.

The very best part of this is the LIFE LESSONS they learn. Perseverance, resilience, diligence, work ethic, toughness, pride...